Blueprint to learn lessons of history

SCOTLAND'S leading history teachers have drawn up a radical blueprint that will transform how the subject is taught in the nation's schools.

Children will learn about the past from nursery onwards in a bid to address the "educational scandal" that has seen teaching time for history cut and classes scrapped.

Under the new Scottish history curriculum, pupils will be taught major dates and events in their local areas before studying the Wars of Independence, epitomised by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, the Highland Clearances, the Scottish Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the two world wars.

Last night the scheme won backing from the country's leading historians, including Professor Tom Devine, holder of the Sir William Fraser Chair of Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh.

The best-selling author of The Scottish Nation said the proposals could end the "anarchic vacuum" of history teaching in schools, replacing it with a chronological structure allowing pupils to properly understand Scotland's development and place in the world.

The new syllabus, which has been drawn up by the Scottish Association of Teachers of History (SATH), follows widespread concern that the subject will be downgraded as part of the Executive's ongoing "Curriculum for Excellence" review.

A row erupted last year following comments made by Peter Peacock, the education minister, which seemed to suggest that history might not remain a stand-alone subject in the first two years of secondary school. He has since stated that it is "absolutely clear" that history will remain as a subject in schools, but could also be taught in other lessons.

However, Scottish history teachers are unwilling to leave the matter to chance and have drawn up their own manifesto for change.

David Armstrong, the president of SATH and principal history teacher at West Calder High School, said: "The statements made last year by Peter Peacock really were quite worrying and the Curriculum for Excellence has not yet defined history's future as a distinct subject. We wanted something down on paper so that they know where we are coming from."

Tom Monaghan, the SATH secretary, added: "If Peter Peacock hadn't said what he said, this wouldn't have happened but these ideas have been floating around for years and it has forced us to act.

"This is only the first step in ensuring a new history syllabus but we are determined to safeguard the subject.

"In many ways we are now acting like a pressure group to ensure the best outcome."

At the moment, teachers are free to decide what history is taught, and subjects studied can vary from school to school.

However, the new syllabus, titled: History and a Curriculum for Excellence, lays down a detailed series of the historic events that children should study and when. For example, local history will dominate schooling until the end of Primary Three, with the next two years being used to learn about the "Making of the Scottish Nation".

Primary Six will focus on the religious upheaval caused by the Reformation, and later the Act of Union with England (1707). The last year of primary school will be dominated by the Highland Clearances but also see pupils learning about the Enlightenment, including the Scottish economist Adam Smith and the philosopher David Hume, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The plans are to be distributed to history teachers this week and discussed in full at the SATH conference on November 25.

However, a "considerable investment of resources" and teacher retraining will be needed if the programme is ever to see the light of day. Monaghan said: "Money will be needed to make this happen and we will make that clear to the Executive."

The new curriculum plans were written by Peter Hillis, professor of history education at the University of Strathclyde.

He said: "We have taken a chronological approach so that children can learn the unfolding story of Scotland's history. It will take time and there will be changes along the way but it is a structured syllabus which can form the bedrock of history teaching under the Curriculum for Excellence."

Devine, who labelled shortfalls in history teaching at school "an educational scandal" last year, and sent his own proposals for reform to the Executive this year, said: "I am delighted at this development. For the first time since the Education Act of 1872 there could be a coherent approach to the teaching of Scottish history. It will get rid of the weaknesses of the anarchic pop-up approach, where pupils dip in and dip out of topics, often repeating the same subjects. The syllabus is progressive and, just as importantly, it is in no way parochial. It is as near as damn a solution as can be found."

Louise Yeoman, historian and author of Reportage Scotland: History In The Making, said: "It is a tremendous syllabus and it pushes all the right buttons."

An Executive spokeswoman said: "We have been working closely with SATH on the development of a new Curriculum for Excellence. This paper is a useful contribution to the review and we will continue our dialogue with history teachers as detailed plans are developed over the coming months."

Fiona Hyslop, the SNP's education spokeswoman, gave the party's full backing to the syllabus. She said: "These proposals are far more than 'useful', they offer a serious and constructive change in how Scottish history is taught at school. We would put it centre stage in the curriculum to give confidence to children about where they come from. The government should grasp the thistle and take these proposals extremely seriously."

However, Professor Allan Macinnes, the Burnett-Fletcher professor of history at the University of Aberdeen, argued that teachers would need considerable retraining.

He said: "There has to be a willingness among staff to get out of the comfort zone of the Second World War and appeasement. The biggest stumbling block will be the teachers themselves."