Why slavery 'needs to be taught as early as nursery years' amid calls for Nat 5 history overhaul

“Patchy” and “problematic” - that’s how one academic has described the teaching of Scotland’s involvement in slavery in schools.

There are now calls to overhaul how the National 5 history exam covers this period in history, as it can be taught entirely from a British perspective. This also comes as other experts say teaching slavery needs to start as young as nursery.

The Scottish Parliament last week played host to the 2024 Festival of Politics, holding various public talks and exhibitions.

One talk questioned whether Scotland had done enough to make amends for the slave trade - and one of the solutions suggested was to look at changes in the education system.

Dr Stephen Mullen, from Glasgow University, said there were a number of issues with the course, stressing his team were trying to change how the subject was taught in the city’s schools.

He said: “How do school children start to understand Scotland’s role in transatlantic slavery? I would say it seems to be patchy. There is a module on it at National 5 level, and that is one of the first issues - it needs to be embedded earlier.

“But even then the National 5 module finishes in 1807 and there’s a problem with that.

Read the Steamie newsletter for the best analysis of Scottish politics

“It can also be taught entirely from an English perspective, as it comes under the British unit. So theoretically, teachers can just teach this from the perspectives of Liverpool, London and Bristol.

“That’s the major problem, it’s perpetuating ‘that wasn’t us’.”

Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, but it did not outlaw slavery in the British Empire until 1833. The National 5 history course covers three different units - Scottish history, British history, and Europe and the world.

The module “The trade in enslaved African people, 1770-1807” comes under the British history module.

The course is described as “a study of the nature of the British trade in enslaved Africans in the later 18th century, changing attitudes towards it in Britain and the pressures that led to its abolition, illustrating the themes of ‘race’, empire, exploitation and rights”.

READ MORE: Why a 'disrespectful' man was ejected from Festival of Politics event on slavery at the Scottish Parliament

At the event, it was also suggested slavery is taught to younger children as well.

Zandra Yeaman, a curator at Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum, said: “I would start literally from nursery. We need to be thinking about racism, how it functions and how it becomes structural - so right from early years.”

Irene Mosota, chair of the Edinburgh slavery and colonialism implementation review group, added: “I have a daughter who is 13 and I don’t think she knows anything about Africa.

“We teach subjects like geography and maths, but why do we bring the question of teaching Empire history to the public to decide? Why can we not ensure through policy, like for all other subjects, that this is embedded in the education system?”

A spokesman for the SQA said: “We fully recognise the importance of learners understanding Scotland’s role in the Atlantic slave trade and teachers have always been free to include this content in their lessons.

“We are an active member of the Scottish Government’s anti-racism in education programme and are working closely with others to continue improving the content of our qualifications.

“We acknowledge that there is further work to be done.”