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The hall was packed for 's keynote speech to the Scottish Learning Festival this morning, with the assembled crowds speculating long before Mr Russell's arrival about what they were about to hear.

Could he possibly tell them anything positive in this seemingly bleak time of financial crisis and job shortages? Would he offer solutions to some of the concerns raised by teachers about the new curriculum implementation?

The usual themes were all there: change; responsibility; quality of teaching. However, the Cabinet Secretary did appear to be in the mood for qualifying some of these ideas, telling teachers:

"Sometimes teachers rightly complain of too rapid churn of ideas and schemes over the years. I tend to agree with them - over the last generation, there has been too much re-invention of the wheel, and too much change for change sake."

He went on to say that a jump in the world education league tables would be a "bonus - not an end", that there is a real move "away from rigidity to flexibility and creativity: the hallmark of Curriculum for Excellence".

It was undoubtedly a rousing speech, focusing on the genuine positives, such as his declaration that "we have some of the best teachers in the world - most of our schools are wonderful places to learn and great places to be." There were, of course, some political notes to the address where Mr Russell pointed out that the new curriculum had been born from "consensus"; that is, that it had cross-party support.

I was from the hall, along with a few enthusiastic teachers and the . At one point, people were so overwhelmed by this unrelenting positivity that they started asking "when is the 'but' coming?" It did come, in the form of the financial situation. Local authorities were warned that they will have to rely on Head Teachers more, and teachers were asked to "think different and then do different."

I think many practitioners would say they already are, with fewer resources, less time and more to consider. However, these are undoubtedly hard times for all concerned.

The feedback on Twitter for Mr Russell was - although the biggest applause in the hall was reserved for Paul Campbell from Strathclyde University, a student teacher who raised the question of jobs for Newly Qualified Teachers.

If you were with me in the hall this morning, I'd love to hear what you made of it. I'll be tweeting and blogging more from the Scottish Learning Festival and its associated this evening, so keep an eye on this page for the latest from the SECC.