Articles categorised as Education

Plays in Scots for Schools

Roy McGregor and Liz Niven have edited a new book entitled 'Scottish Plays for Schools' through the Association for Scottish Literary Studies and published by Hodder Gibson. This work includes six...

"We like writing in Scots" say children

Children participating in a project run by Literature in Learning and Itchycoo have told of their enthusiasm for writing in Scots. A report about the project in now on the Literature in Learning...

Culture Studies of the Highlands and Islands

This exciting and innovative course gives you the unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the varied and fascinating cultural identity of the Highlands and Islands as you live and study among...

Scots within the curriculum

Anyone with an interest will doubtless wish to scrutinise the Curriculum for Excellence website which contains an online version of the ‘Literacy and English document’ which also mentions the...

Network for Multilingualism in Europe Established

The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) has decided to set up a network to promote European multilingualism, with a particular focus on Europe’s regional and minority languages. Many...

Scots language teaching packs

The following contain a variety of resources for use in the primary level classroom. Turnstones S1. R Robertson, A Donovan, B Fitzpatrick, S Hughes, L Niven, J Allan ISBN 9780340790366 Match...

Craigmillar baby books

The Craigmillar Books for Babies scheme has been going for 10 years. As well as work done in the community there are colourful illustrated rhyme cards which can be downloaded. These include...

Booktrust advice for baby books

Scottish Booktrust have a pamphlet on reading with young children, aimed at parents and carers. It is available in Scots: 'Stertin-up wi buiks'

Scots language at university

Want to study Scots language at university?  Here are courses available at Scottish universities. Edinburgh University Scots language has previously been offered to first year students within...

Bookstart

www.bookstart.co.uk is UK wide literacy development charity with an identifiable Scottish presence. They produce a songsheet/mat of nursery rhymes for babies. This year it includes nursery rhymes...

LTScotland

www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears is the official guidance to those involved in birth to 3 caring provision. There is information on projects and examples of best practice from across Scotland....

Resources for pre-3

The following are links or resources that would be suitable for teaching or using Scots with babies and toddlers. www.scuilwab.org.uk www.mamalisa.com/world/scotland.html www.ichy-coo.com

Secondary level online resources

Secondary level online resources can be found on the following websites. www.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/STELLA/STARN A collection of material by Scots (some in Scots language). Plays, prose, poetry,...

University level resources

Resources for university level Scots study include the following. http://dinamico2.unibg.it/anglistica/slin/scot-bib.htm An online bibliography compiled by Caroline Macafee and maintained by...

ASLS

www.asls.org.uk The Association of Scottish Literary Studies produce materials for schools, run conferences on Scots language issues and produce publications about Scottish writing. Most...

Langholm Academy Project

In 2007 Liz Niven worked on an Arts Across the Curriculum project with pupils at Langholm Academy. The aim was to compile text based on the language of Langholm. Using the poetry of Langholm's...

Kirkhill Primary, Broxburn

Follow this link to read about an ongoing project at Kirkhill Primary, Broxburn. The aim is to encourage the use of Scots at all levels and across the curriculum.

Scots language at St Ninians Primary School Stirling 2002/2003

In 2002/2003 St Ninians Primary School children embarked on a remarkable project involving a collection of Scots words. Assistant headteacher Elaine Wyllie used her previous experience of...

Scots language at St Ninians Primary School Stirling 2008

Since the collection of words started in 2002, it has continued to grow. With help from Scots Language Dictionaries the words have been gathered in a database. Class representatives will shortly...

Introduction

In this section there is information about learning the Scots language and information about how Scots is used in educational settings. Projects, research results and examples of good teaching...

Scots language books for children

Children's Book Press (www.scottishbooks.com/kids/main) have a range of books written in Scots suitable for nursery and primary children. The publisher is also interested in hearing from teachers...

MSP Asks About the Use of Scots Language in Scottish Schools

Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, has written to the education directors of all of Scotland’s cooncils to ask whether in-service days for teachers cover discrimination against...

Jined-up letters: a Scots metaphor

Ma wee lassie, wha's no lang tirnt five, has jist startit lairnin tae scrieve in jined-up letters at the scaill. "En attaché", they cry it here in Fraince. "Dad," she sayz til iz the ither day,...

Aboot the Ainu

Whit d'ye mak o this? - http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/03/asia/03ainu.php Thir's ae braw line, juist at the end, that gar me lauch out loud: "It's not healthy to keep blaming...

Purves outlines the Way Forward for Scots

In the following article, veteran Scots campaigner, David Purves, outlines his views on the ways in which Scots could be encouarged and supported. The article first appeared in the Scots...

Scots evening class

In September 2008 Edinburgh City Adult Education Department is running an evening class titled Storytelling in Scots. It will be held at Tynecastle High School, Edinburgh. The course is aiming to...

Graphic Novel

2008 has seen the publication of a graphic novel version of Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde. The original novel was turned into something similar to a screenplay, the text of which was translated into...

Scots Language teaching seminar

A seminar aimed at teachers wishing to use Scots language in the classroom will take place at the Scottish Learning Festival on 25th September 2008 at the SECC, Glasgow. This seminar is part of a...

Resource for Ulster Scots students

Ullans-L is a free online resource with information about Ulster-Scots. Run by Ian James Parsley it contains information about Ulster-Scots, for instance in a question and answer section there are...

Shetland dialect at Learning Festival

Dialect teaching resources from Shetland will be displayed during Scotland’s Festival of Learning at the SECC in Glasgow this week. (24th-25th September) Da Ditty Box and Da Gaer Box are the...

A counting song

Wir class rules, ok Wir class rules ok was written by Annette Gear and Rena Nisbet and is featured on Gear Box, the new CD available from Shetland ForWirds. The CD is a collection of stories,...

Scots Report from Holyrood

The following report appeared in Holyrood magazine. Thanks to Cera Murtagh and Holyrood for allowing us to reproduce it here. For more information about Holyrood visit www.holyrood.com The...

"Encourage children to speak Scots" says MSP

Rob Gibson MSP, convener of the Cross-Party Group on Scots, called on Scotland's schools to encourage children's use of Scots. Speaking in a debate on the United Nations Convention on the Rights...

"Scots Education is a Human Right"

Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, has lodged a motion stating that a recent pronouncement by the EU Parliament Civil Liberties Committee clearly implied that it was a human right...

Burns Birthday Conference

The Association for Scottish Literary Studies is to mark the 250 anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns with a one day conference entitled ‘Burns’ Language: Then and Now.’ The conference will be...

Teaching English and Orcadian Scots in the primary classroom

The following link is to the Elphinstone Kist and an article containing the experiences of Margaret Flaws from Orkney. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/kist/search/display.php?mrus01.dat A...

Help with encouraging Scots use in the primary classroom.

In 2001 former teacher and lecturer Aileen McEwen wrote about the benefits of using Scots in the classroom, and the wider impact of having two languages. Her article was aimed at probationer...

Scots Language in the Secondary School

The following link to the Elphinstone Kist is to an article by David Johnston about the challenges of Scots use in secondary schools.

An online Scots grammar

The following link leads to a comprehensive Scots language grammar, complete with examples of usage from texts. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~enl038/grammar.htm This is a detailed document and demands...

MSP Spreads Scots from Aberdeen to Argentina!

Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, shared his love of the Scots language with primary school pupils aboard The Reading Bus on Friday 16th January. Dr. Wilson read two Scots poems...

Kay and Riddoch on Scots

This week (Saturday 14 February) Scots language activist, broadcaster and writer Billy Kay was speaking with Lesley Riddoch on her radio programme ‘Aftermath’. Billy began by speaking about...

Equal Opportunities Considers Audit

Last week, the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee considered the Scots Government's recent audit of Scots language provision. The committee agreed to refer the audit to the...

Scots language research

Research papers about Scots language are available online via the following link. www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ScotLit/ASLS/Papers.html#S1 Here ASLS have a series of weblinks to research papers about...

MSP asks for more resources for Scots education

Dr Bill Wilson, SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, has encouraged the Scottish Government to ensure the adequate resourcing of Scots language education. In General Question Time on 5 March, Dr...

Scottish Government Considering Research into Scots in Schools

Last Thursday, the Minister for Schools and Skills, Keith Brown MSP, revealed that the Government is thinking about comissioning research into Scots language provision in our schools. Responding...

ASLS Conference 2009

The Association for Scottish Literary Studies will be holding its annual conference for 2009 at the Iris Murdoch Building, University of Stirling. The theme this year is entitled "Scottish and...

New book on Cromarty Scots

Am Baile – the cultural and historical website of Highland Council – has produced a beautiful little book about the Scots dialect of the fishing community of Cromarty. The book is divided into...

New Dialect Resources for Shetland Schools

Maria Barclay Millar has produced a CD of Shetland songs all sung in the Shetland dialect, 'Evergreen, Dialect Sangs for Schools'. As a singing teacher, Maria felt there was a need for audio...

Scots Dictionaries on the move

Scottish Language Dictionaries have moved from the School of Celtic and Scottish Studies, the home of Scots language lexicography for a good half century. SLD are now in new premises at 25...

Wigtown Primary encouraging Scots language

Wigtown Primary headteacher Stewart Anderson is a lifelong supporter of the Scots language, and has been instrumental in creating a reading incentive scheme which encourages the use of Scots...

Wigtown Primary Passport scheme

Wigtown Primary headteacher Stewart Anderson is a lifelong supporter of the Scots language, and has been instrumental in creating a reading incentive scheme which encourages the use of Scots...

Shetland resources

Maria Barclay Millar has produced a CD of Shetland songs all sung in the Shetland dialect, 'Evergreen, Dialect Sangs for Schools'. As a singing teacher, Maria felt there was a need for audio...

ABC guide to resources

A guide to literature resources has been made available as a leaflet or pdf download. It contains contact details of organisations in Scotland involved with Scottish literature and other resources...

Research into supporting teachers

The Scottish Literature Forum has commissioned study into how best to support teachers. The aim was to find out how member organisations can communicate with teachers and how they can support the...

Childhood memories in poetry

Childhood for some poets is a rich source of ideas, particularly when using Scots language. For many of these writers, childhood was a time of uninhibited language use, a time when Scots voices...

Starting Thursday – Sheena Blackhall reads Minnie on SLC site

From September the Scots Language Centre will be delivering more audio and video based features to its ever growing online audience. Sheena Blackhall’s novella, Minnie, will be podcast on the...

Scots language classes start in September

CLASSES in Scots language will be launched in Ayrshire at the end of September 2009. The short course of weekly classes will be led by Margery Strattan, who sits on the national committee of...

MSP says Scottish cringe could be overcome by improving Scots-language education

Dr Bill Wilson, an SNP MSP for the West of Scotland and a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on the Scots Language, has written to Michael Russell praising the Scottish...

Scots Language Classes

Registration for Scots language classes, taught by Margery Strattan, will be at 6.45pm in the Community Centre, Caerlaverock Road, Prestwick, KA9 1HR. Registration is £40 though there is also a...

Companion to Scotsoun launch

'A Companion to Scotsoun', written by Dr George Philp, will be launched at the Department of English Language, 12 University Gardens, Glasgow, beginning at 7pm. Speakers will include Dr Philp,...

Scotland's Literature

Donald Smith, Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, will be giving a a six week talk entitled 'Scotland's Literature - Scots, English and Gaelic' at the Centre, 43-45 High Street,...

Teaching Scots and GLOW

Scots Language Centre is working with a range of arts organisations to help promote Scots language and literature teaching resources. Working with the GLOW intranet, the aim is to clarify what...

South Lanark Adult Scots Project

South Lanarkshire Council has recently taken a few steps towards literacy for Scots speakers. David McDonald, who is an Adult Literacy Worker with Community Learning Service, has been working on...

Annual Collogue of Scots Language Society

The Annual Collogue of the Scots Language Society will take place on Saturday 10 October 2009 at the A.K. Bell Library, York Place, Perth. This year’s theme is ‘The Interaction between Scots and...

Colour in the first Scots books

Printing in the Scots Language didn't start in Scotland – it started in Paris in 1503, with two incredibly beautiful books. Densely illustrated with finely drawn woodcuts, the books were produced...

Teaching Scots in Falkirk

A network of teachers in Falkirk has been set up to help support the use of Scots language in education. The experiences of one teacher involved in setting up this group has been outlined in an...

Scottish Language and Literature Research Project in Aberdeenshire

The summary of a report analysing the use of Scots language and literature in certain primary and secondary schools in Aberdeenshire is available.

Question in Scots Makes Parliament History

History was made in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 7 January when an SNP MSP became the first person to ask a parliamentary question and a follow-up question in Scots. Western Isles MSP...

Scots used in adult literacy work.

Here's an article about Scots langauge used in adult literacy work, published recently in the Hamilton Advertiser.BBC discussion on Scots attitudes survey

The recent Scottish Government survey on attitudes to Scots is discussed on BBC Scotland.

Alphabet books for bairns.

As part of an ongoing language campaign, Aberdeenshire Council have published an alphabet book for children called 'B is for Foggiebummer'. More information about this project is at Aberdeenshire...

Literature Working Group

The Scottish Government's literature working group has published its policy proposals. The report contains recommendations concerning literature and publising in Scots. This page collects Scottish...

Cross-Party Group on the Scots Language

The Scottish Parliament cross-party group on the Scots language exist to promote the cause of Scots, inform members of the culture and heritage of the language and highlight the need for action to...

Scots language lecture

The Second Angus McIntosh Memorial Lecture takes place next Monday 22 March 2010 at 5.15.Dr Caroline Macafee, Honorary Reader at the University of Aberdeen will talk about 'Scots: A Language of...

LTS launch new site for teachers

Learning and Teaching Scotland have launched a new website aimed at teachers who want more information about using and teaching the Scots language. Packed with  information, activities, songs and...

Shetland web site

This is a link to a webside dedicated to Shetland dialect and culture. Created by the Shetland dialect campaign group Shetland ForWirds, it contains education resources for all levels, information...

Falkirk Pupils learn about Scots

A Falkirk primary school is taking a new approach to the use of Scots in the classroom, The Falkirk Herald reports. Pupils at Nethermains Primary have been working with well-known Scots writer...

Liz's list of Materials and resources for using Scots in schools

Hodder & Stoughton publish books for schools including Turnstones, a textbook for English Departments.Scottish Education ed by Bryce & Hume contains a good chapter on Scots language in...

Iseabail's list of resources for learning and teaching Scots

Elphinstone Kist An electronic resource of poetry and prose in North-East Scots, aimed at schools, but with much of interest to a wider public. Edited by Les Wheeler and Sheena Blackhall. A...

Duncan's list of books for Schools

SCOTS SCHOOL DICTIONARY The Scots School Dictionary (Scots-English/English-Scots) is designed to encourage the use of Scots in schools and to provide support in the classroom. It is also a useful...

Iseabail's list of resources about Scots language in literature

Association for Scottish Literary Studies. Deals with literature and language in English, Scots and Gaelic.  http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ScotLit/ASLSBuchan, David (1981) Scottish Tradition: a...

Iseabail's list of Scots language reference resources

General    Scottish Language Dictionaries (SLD)  have excellent information on Scots, present and past, in their dictionaries – see  http://www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk and see especially the...

Duncan's list of Scots language reference books

CONCISE SCOTS DICTIONARY (Scots- English) The Concise Scots Dictionary is the ideal Scots reference work for the reader, learner, speaker or student of the Scots language, and contains a wealth of...

Iseabail's list of resources about Scots in place and personal names

Place-names Dorward, D. (1995) Scotland’s Place-names, Edinburgh: Mercat Press. Drummond, Peter (2007) Scottish Hill Names (new edn of Scottish Hill and Mountain Names 1991), Scottish...

Iseabail's list of Scots language dictionaries

SCOTS LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES, EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESSThe most authoritative dictionaries are those from Scottish Language Dictionaries published by Edinburgh University Press, unless otherwise...

Summer School Language lectures

The University of the Highlands and Islands is offering a series of lectures and workshops on Orkney and Shetland language and culture at a summer school to be held at a number of locations in the...

Edinburgh Library list of rescources for the study of Scots language

Bryght Lanternis, Essays on the language and literature of mediaeval and Renaissance Scotland, Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press, 1989Whilst dealing with the language historically this work...

Edinburgh Library list of Scots language Glossaries and Dictionaries

Gray Adam, A Scots agricultural glossary, Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society, 1997Graham William, The Scots word book, Edinburgh, Ramsay Head Press, 1980Primarily an...

Birds and children

Many Scots songs and poems are about birds. Here are a selection of children's songs and poetry about birds.

Shetland Dialect Coordinator

Bruce Eunson has been appointed to the post of Shetland Dialect Co-ordinator.  Bruce started work in April 2010 on a three year contract to deliver the Dialect Development Programme for Young...

Scots in schuils

We tak thae concerns, that we micht succeed in daein herm, tae hert.  But ae thing abuin aa ithers maks us haud forrit, an that is the fact an future o Scots in schuils.  For we hae reason eneuch...

Express out of date says Centre

Scots Language Centre Director, Michael Hance, has responded to criticisms of  plans to encourage children and young people to learn more about the Scots language. In an article in Saturday’s...