06/08/2013 Newsnight Scotland


06/08/2013

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You can see more of that report on Our World on the news channel this

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weekend. Tonight on Newsnight Scotland,

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congratulations to all those students who got their Higher and

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Standard Grade results today. But have they been taught the right

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things to succeed either in a job or higher education?

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And wide at East Africans so good at running? We speak to the Scottish

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doctor who has run across Kenya to find out what we can learn from

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their success. Good evening. Whether by post or

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text message, these will be the last students to receive Standard Grades

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results, next year being replaced by new exams, Nationals, but will those

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get pupils -- will do is leave pupils better equipped to handle

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what is next. Both employers and teachers in higher education have

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been critical of the lack of skills among school leavers.

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CHEERING. At Glasgow's Bellahouston Academy today, a familiar scene

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across Scottish schools. More than 150,000 candidates, most of them

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secondary pupils, got their exam results and across the country, past

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-- pass rates went up. Taking Glasgow as an example, results are

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not, attendance up, exclusions down, but along with improvement

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comes with the question our exams getting easier and features getting

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better at coaching pupils to pass them? For those working in the

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education system, the anthers are pretty clear-cut. There is no

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evidence, certainly in Scotland, for the sort of grade inflation, about

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which there are suspicions, maybe in other parts of the UK. The fact of

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the matter is very much that these results are explained entirely by

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the ongoing commitment and hard work of teachers and schools like this

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and across the city and the country. As well as the ongoing hard work and

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application of the young people themselves. That is the story. And

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pupils like Adam McInnes say they have worked hard to get results.

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think it is disappointing, because young people do work very hard and

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you give up so much and to hear it belittled, it is disappointing. You

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work very hard. I think you deserve praise for what you achieve. Maybe

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things are different, but we are working with how things are now.

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is that exam system fit for the modern age? Brian Boyd, a former

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headteacher, says it needs to be looked at again. I am not sure the

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examination system serves the needs of young people very well. Tripping

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hundreds of young people into a hall, sitting in silence, writing

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fast for three hours, it will not do in the 21st century. If you want

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critical and creative thinkers, team players, self-directed workers, the

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examination system does not tell you much about those skills, but narrows

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the range of learning opportunities in fifth year and it is only in

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sixth year that children can flourish, because the pressure is

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off and they can be creative and relax. It is time for a long, hard

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look at the current system. I am encouraged by the standards I have

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seen... So do employers think Scotland's young people are prepared

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for the world of work are sure Mark Bryan Buchan heads up Scottish

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Engineering and reckons the country has entered a golden age when it

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comes to pupils' standards and he is more concerned with university

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graduates. There is a tremendous work ethic amongst this generation,

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who really want to succeed. There is a drive to 60 die have not seen in

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previous generations. As far as -- there is a drive to succeed I have

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not seen in previous generations. But we have graduates we're there is

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work to do to make sure those people coming out with good degrees are

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actually industry ready. So might we see that kind of reforms recently

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outlined south of the border? Education Secretary Michael Gove set

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out plans to reform GCSE two with tougher exams and a move away from

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coursework. Young people in this country deserve an education system

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that can compete with the best of the world, assist in setting and

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achieving higher expectations. that is not a path the government in

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Scotland plans to go down. What we are trying to do in Scotland is

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ensured our education system is aligned closely to the needs of our

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economy. We want to prepare young people for lifelong learning,

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equipped young people to be responsible citizens, but at the

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heart of the education system, we need to prepare young people for the

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world of work. We have seen many changes to education in recent

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years. The introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence, for

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example, and after more than 20 years, Standard Grades have come to

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an end, all part of a drive to help ensure the system evolves to meet

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the needs of an ever-changing world. I am joined in the studio by the

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general secretary of the teaching union, the EIS, Larry Flanagan. And

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from Edinburgh by Lindsay Paterson, who is professor of education policy

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at Edinburgh University. Lindsay Paterson, it is alleged that we have

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these different approaches, from the government, a new exams system

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coming in from next year, these Nationals, meanwhile Michael Gove

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down south talking about a different system there, reforming GCSEs. Is

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there really any real difference in approach between the two systems?

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Yes, there is an emerging and interesting difference, one that

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there will be a lot more emphasis on exams under Michael Gove's. Forms

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than there will be in Scotland, which is very important. It is

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important in one respect, because exams do not give unfitted Vantage

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to people who can get help outside the classroom. And on the one hand,

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it is fear in Scotland, because some people do better with so-called

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continuous assessment than in the final exams. The other major

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difference is that Michael Gove seems to place more emphasis on what

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he calls traditional academic knowledge, whereas in Scotland,

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there is an increasing focus on preparing people for life and work.

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But what is that, in practice, what does it mean to say preparing people

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for life and work, and that that is different for teaching people

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traditional academic values? That is the nub of the matter.

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Traditionally, using that term, preparing people to think, engaging

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them with the tradition of academic thought was thought to be the best

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way to prepare people for life and work. It is only in the last 20-30

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years that there has been a contrast between vocational approaches and

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the kind of approach adopted by Michael Gove. In practice, it

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probably means less attention in Scotland than in England in future

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to learning about traditional structures of academic disciplines,

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moron cross curricular activities and applied knowledge. -- increasing

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cross curricular activities. It will mean the emphasis on bad tackle

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applications will be more important. Is that your view? That

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is a fair assessment in terms of where we are in terms of the

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emergence... But those receiving their results today are the last to

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set Standard Grades. And next year, I am sure the Curriculum for

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Next year's they will be the first to engage with Curriculum for

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Excellence. What will be the difference between the Nationals and

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the Standard Grades? Two key issues. There will be a difference

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in the nature of the exam, and as indicated, broadening out of what is

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assessed, so the units, for example, will look at how you apply

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skills, knowledge and understanding, rather than you pass a test. The

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bigger difference the senior fees from four to six is some of the

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issues you're introduction address, concerns about brother values of

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education, there should be space within the senior fees for schools

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to engage with that. Weird as at the moment, the upper half of secondary

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school is dominated by young people on a treadmill of assessment.

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Curriculum for Excellence senior fees is trying to it increase space

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and breadth in terms of learning experience. Traditionally, next

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year, people might not see much of a difference. Because it is a big step

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forward. I think it will take a few years. A lot of schools next year

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are simply replacing their current Standard Grades exams national four

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and five stop these broader and arguably vaguer aspirations, which

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this grotty system has, --... guaranteeing there will be anything

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in place that can measure these broader and arguably vaguer

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aspirations? There could be a serious question about what the

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purpose of this is? I do not know whether we will broaden all these

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other things, we have quite traditional exams, I do not think

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the Nationals up revolutionary in any sense at all. One of the things

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about this emphasis on application is it threatens to narrow down

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thinking. The best way to make people think creatively is what

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Michael Gove is trying to achieve, which is to get people to engage

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with the widest set of ideas, debate them, read what the best thinkers

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have thought about and respond to them. That has always been thought

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to be the best way to make creative minds and the best way to do that is

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not to force them into applied knowledge prematurely. Is there a

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point in that? I agree the role in deep study, in terms of subject

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disciplines, is important and one of the aims of Curriculum for

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Excellence is to create that in more depth. But a lot of parents...One

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of the key issues here is not everything that is achievable has to

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be assessed through an exam system. Speaking about self-confidence in

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young people, that is not something you can easily assess, but it is an

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aspiration. It would be great to encourage self-confidence, and for

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people to have a broader view, but if you are a university, or further

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education college, or employer, you needs metric by which you can see

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you would like take that one, but not that one, and the worry for

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parents and perhaps students themselves is this sounds terribly

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fine, but wouldn't it be better if I was taught old-fashioned ways to be

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good at mathematics, physics and chemistry and English and French?

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The other stuff can be around the edges. We want young people to be

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good at all these subjects, but one issue raised is that young people

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can actually learn how to pass an exam without necessarily learning

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about the subject, which has been one of the criticisms of the exams

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system. The coaching towards passing the exam becomes more important than

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the understanding and depth of knowledge. The changes being looked

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at in terms of the new qualifications are trying to read

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dressed that balance. One of the things I noticed, a discussion

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several weeks ago on this programme, about the London challenge, the

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extraordinary way they have done schools around in London, and

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looking at some of the rhetoric around Curriculum for Excellence,

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what did not seem to be there, and I might be wrong, is what was central

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to that, the idea of aspiration and that every child should have

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aspiration and what seems to be put into them in London is it does not

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matter how disadvantaged you are, it is you should think you will be as

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good as absolutely anybody else. That is right. There is a variation

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in ability, that is undoubted. It stretches across all social group.

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It hes a appropriate to have high, challenging aspirations for, let us

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say, people living in poverty as people in affluent suburbs. That

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should be a fundamental pl, and used to be a fundamental principle of the

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Scottish education system. We are losing it for everyone. We are not

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talking about intellectual challenges being the main purpose of

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the education system, is it is there as one of many challenges. It loses

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what is supposed to be the core feature of any education system,

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which is to stretch people intellectually. Thank you for coming

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Now, running is supposed to be good for you.

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Tens of thousands of peope of all ages take part in 10k races and even

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marathons, and the health benefits are obvious.

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But a young Scottish doctor has taken it to the limit.

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Dr Andrew Murray runs ultra marathons.

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Three years ago, for example, he ran from Scotland to Africa in 85 days.

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That's more than 30 miles a day, for nearly three months.

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The health benefits of that may not be so obvious.

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More recently, last month, he combined his interests by running

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round Kenya, investigating the idea there's a scientific reason why

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people who come from that region are so spectacularly good at distance

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running. We'll hear from him in a few

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groets to Morocco, accompanied by a documentary film crew. I'm fine.

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Very uncomfortable. There was no record to beat for this sort of

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performance, nobody else had tried! The next big adventure drew on his

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professional, scientific and medical interests. How come the world's top

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marathon runners come from Kenya. It is a statistic that so amazing it

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borders on the absurd. Has been running in and around the hills of

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Kenya who produce a disproportionate number of fast runners, is that due

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to the environment, altitude and environment are perfect for training

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or a genetic kweshg or is it that success breeds success.

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Dr Andrew Murray joins me now from Edinburgh. What was it like doing

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that? It was absolutely fantastic. Kenya is one of the most extreme and

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most beautiful parts of the world. Running 900 kilometers through

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up-and-over Mount Kill minute jar owe, up-and-over Mount Kenya and

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tropical rainforest might sound arduous. Although the altitude is

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great, the heat is great as well. Did you find that physically you

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were adjusted to that? Well, it was great to have expertise and to take

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the advice from the experts and getting advice from Olympics

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champions, world charp champions and record Breakers. You go through

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pretty incredible temperature differences. It's very hot at the

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bottom. You run through tropical rainforest, cloud forest with the

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monkeys and things as that. Up into the moorland and the glacier before

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you you hit the summit and back down. What did you learn about why

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East Africa seems to produce such extraordinary runners? The Rift

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Valley region of Kenya is the single greatest and most productive line of

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talent in world sport, in any sport. Just fascinating to work out what is

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behind this. I actually thought it might be a genetic thing or a secret

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sauce they ate, but I was investigating the reason that

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actually 11 medallists in the last World Championship came from one

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village. One village produced more medallists at the last World

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Championship than a combination of China and Britain. There is no

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evidence there is genetic factors involved in it? A huge number of

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studies have been done in collaboration with Glasgow and

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Kenya. There is no genetic basis. Champions are not born, made. Kenya

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makes champions better than anyone else. It's not genetics and it's

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made. What makes them, is it dedication? A lot of factors that by

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themselves are not sufficient, but necessary to make a champion. Kenya

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produces champions better than most. They train extremely hard. They eat

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the right sort of things. Something that in Scotland perhaps we are not

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quite as good at as a population. What do they eat? Their diet is

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carbohydrates, 70% carbohydrates, fresh organic produce from the

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farms. Most live rurally and live a peasant up bringing and run from

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school and work. They have a lifetime of training. They dedicate

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themle selves to it. There is role modelling. In Scotland we have

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fantastic role models for sport, Chris Hoy, Andrew Murray, most of

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their role models are runners. It's about everything coming together -

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In the village there must be an element, because it has been

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successful already. Presumably it's a way out of poverty for some of

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these people - the statistics - you wrote an article, you said 800 of

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the 4,000 population are professional runners? It's absurd.

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There is more traffic in terms of people running and cows on the

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street than there are motorcars. The most expensive cars and houses are

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owned by professional runners. People look towards these people.

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They see success. They see that could be a way for them as well. An

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example of one World Champion looking at his neighbour, a junior

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World Champion. He had never run before, he said - I'm taller than

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him, I must be faster, I could be ale world champion. Two years later

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he was a world champion. You brought anything back that you could take to

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the Institute of Sport to say, here is something we aren't doing with

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potential long and middle distance runners that we could do? We are

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absolutely serious about supporting our athletes to be the very best.

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Things are on the up. The world championships taking place next week

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- Give me one thing you will apply from your trip? A clear focus on

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being the best. Involving the right people and knowing what to do when

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you encounter adversity. All right. Thank you very much. Now the front

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Thank you very much. Now the front page: the Scotsman lead on the

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tragedy incident, two dead in shooting at equestrian centre, the

:21:29.:21:38.

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