Scots in education

Old Dominie. A SCRAN licence is required to click through to view the bigger picture.

Old Dominie
© The Bridgeman Art Library / SCRAN

For as long as most of us can remember, the business of education has been to enable children to speak, read and write in standard English, at the expense of Scots, which was seen as inferior, vulgar and to be stamped out.

Unlike most world languages, which tend to be defined by national or regional borders, Scots, although confined within Scotland, is bounded by cultural and social, rather than geographic, borders. Moreover it has lots of varieties, not all of which are either acceptable or intelligible to people from other places.

'There is no doubt that here, as elsewhere, the native dialect of the people is rapidly disappearing, and as each generation passes away, some of the good old pithy words and phrases pass away with it. Books and newspapers are teaching the people, even in remote villages, to think and speak in something like Standard English. But the chief enemy of local dialects is the schoolmaster. He rightly holds it as one of his first duties to teach the village boys and girls to read, write, and speak as correct Standard English as he can, and in pursuit of this aim discourages the use of local peculiarities of pronunciation and idiom. I am inclined to think that this is not the best way to attain his object.'

Sir James Wilson (1915) Lowland Scotch

In Scotland rather than a prescriptive National Curriculum we have guidelines and arrangements. Within the 5-14 guidelines, Scots is mentioned once but significantly as a 'special issue'. Teachers are advised to value their pupils' home language and introduce them to stories, poems and other texts, which use Scots well. Scots has a wealth of writing for adults and children, which is not only of high quality but also great fun and to be cherished as part of our national heritage. Teachers are also advised to help children to be confident and creative in their home language, and this involves no conflict with standard English – in recent decades bilingual children have been recognised as advantaged rather than hindered.

Perhaps most importantly our children should be helped to understand the notion of linguistic diversity, that we have a wide range of languages, that all have their legitimate place in our lives and that none is 'inferior' but each is suitable for its own purposes and audiences.

Scots in education

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