Information Paper 18: Guidance in Secondary Schools

The main impetus for the introduction of structured guidance into Scottish secondary schools came from the SEO memorandum Guidance in Scottish Seconda_ry Schools.Published in 1968, it has become commonly known as the 'Orange Pa per'.The Orange Paper did not come out of the blue, however, as from the 1930s onwards there had been a slowly growing realisation of the need for a wider curriculum and a less authoritarian style of human relationships between teachers and youngsters.The development of the whole individual, education for decision-making, preparation for life and social education were emphasised more often.The memorandum Junior Secondary Education (1955) hinted at guidance systems to come, suggesting that larger schools should be divided into houses, and that emotional education, while difficult, was very important.In 1963 guidance structures were established in three Glasgow schools, and in 1965 local authorities were empowered to appoint teachers to posts of special responsibility, such as careers teachers, house master or year group teacher (SEO 1965).This led Dundee and Edinburgh to follow Glasgow's pioneering lead.The Secretary of State's Annual Report for 1965 stated that the growth of guidance structures was 'allied with the beginnings of a system of counselling'.The report added, 'This movement is highly significant and important and will understandably become a major area of growth in the next few years' (SEO 1966).However, the rather insignificant-looking Orange Paper was the first attempt to set out a rationale for guidance, which, it argued, was too important an area to be left to chance.It gave a number of reasons why a more structured effort was necessary, including larger schools, wider subject choice and new stresses imposed on youngsters by the increasing complexity of life, the influence of the media, changing attitudes to authority and their own lack of self-assurance.Guidance was seen to be required in the curricular, vocational and personal areas.There was a very strong implication in the document that personal guidance should be carried out in a non-authoritarian manner through which youngsters should make their own decisions and solve their own problems.It should be personcentred, in that the problems should be those which were 'important to them'.The way forward was paved by the memorandum The Structure of Promoted Posts in Secondary Schools in Scotland (1971), commonly known as the 'Green Paper', which outlined a new structure of promoted posts in secondary schools; and for the first time there was national provision for promoted posts for those involved in guidance roles.Within three years all local authorities in Scotland had implemented the-proposals for guidance appointments and for a long time there was bitterness andtension in many quarters about lack of agreed criteria for making appointments.In 1976 Guidance in Scottish Secondary Schools: a Progress Report by HM Inspectors. of Schools (generally known as the 'Progress Report') was 121 Downloaded from Brill.