56,000 by session 2010–11 there were only 1107 chartered teachers in Scotland
with approximately a further 2000 pursuing the Chartered Teacher programme. Of
the 1107 chartered teachers, 615 are between the ages of 51 and 65 (General
Teaching Council Scotland 2010 ) which raised questions about the long term
development and impact of the Chartered Teacher Scheme. The grade of chartered
teacher attracted a higher salary than that of main grade teacher but there were no
additional responsibilities for chartered teachers (Scottish Executive 2001 ). This
raised a concern about a limited contribution on the part of chartered teachers to
their school and this concern reached its peak in the establishment of a Ministerial
Review of the Chartered Teacher Programme from which a code for chartered
teachers was agreed. This code set out expectations with regard to chartered
teachers working with and leading other teachers in the development of teaching
and learning in the school. However, this did not quell the criticism and the scheme
closed in 2012.
The Chartered Teacher Scheme as an incentivised programme of professional
learning in Scotland is one example of a range of strategies used in different
educational systems to build the quality of teaching across the system. The
recognition of high performance is the approach adopted in one of the longest
established programmes, that of National Board Certification in the USA. Here
through a substantial portfolio of evidence individual teachers are recognised as
having met the standards (Forde and McMahon 2011 ). A set of professional
standards underpins the National Board Certification programme and this use of
professional standards to raise the quality of teaching is another approach adopted.
A key element in the Chartered Teacher Scheme in Scotland was also the devel-
opment of theStandard for Chartered Teacherthat set out the professional actions,
values, knowledge and skills expected of high level performance. The Australian
professional standards for teaching is structured through successive standards for
teaching which articulate the development of teaching: graduate, proficient, highly
accomplished and lead teacher. Another approach used in some systems has been
the establishment of specific roles based on teaching merit. This was a strategy
adopted across the different systems in the UK for example: Advanced Skills
Initiative and Excellent Teacher status and latterly the London Chartered Teacher.
Singapore introduced a more structured career structure where teachers could
progress from senior, lead master andfinally principal master teacher (Forde and
McMahon 2011 ). There are three issues that are noteworthy here,firstly the variety
of different approaches that have been trialled, secondly, many of these initiatives,
like the Chartered Teacher Scheme, are relatively short lived and thirdly, it is only a
small proportion of teachers who engage in these programmes. While systems level
improvement ultimately comes down to individual teachers working with col-
leagues in their school to improve the conditions for effective learning, the
Chartered Teacher Scheme in Scotland highlights the need for a critical mass of
teachers operating at this high level to achieve improvement. The difficulties of
developing high level skill and expertise across a critical mass of teachers is an
issue common to many of the schemes established to drive improvements to the
quality of teaching. Therefore, a different conceptualisation of the role and
92 M.A. McMahon et al.