About Us

SATH is over a quarter of a century old. From its beginning it has been a forum for Scottish History Teachers to comment on developments in education in Scotland, share new ideas and resources and provide training for history teachers through its conferences.

In the 21st century SATH continues to undertake these tasks. It regularly provides views on developments such as education for citizenship or the current curriculum review. It is consulted for comment by a variety of bodies such as the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Qualifications Authority, BBC, National Archives and the National Trust for Scotland. SATH organises two conferences a year, which have provided important and well-regarded staff development for history teachers in recent years. Through its two publications, History Teaching Review, which normally includes at least six academic articles on topics of relevance to the Scottish history curriculum, and the Resources Review giving reviews of recently published resources for use in schools, the Association strives to keep teachers in Scotland up to date.

Above all, SATH seeks to raise awareness of the importance of History within the Scottish curriculum. The Council of Europe has emphasised the role of History in developing national culture and identity. Active citizenship, we believe, depends an appreciation of how Scottish society has developed, not in a narrow parochial sense, but in the context of Britain, Europe and the wider world. A full knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland's place in it cannot be developed without History. History Education is also important in developing skills: literacy, communication skills, numeracy, critical and creative thinking, the ability to make reasoned evaluations and problem solving. History provides the foundation for Education for Citizenship. It provides essential knowledge and understanding of how rights and responsibilities have evolved in Scotland and Britain.

History, and the teaching of it, is of vital importance to the education of young people in Scotland.