METISS is a Scottish Government-funded project led by academics at the University of Stirling that brings together academic specialists and teachers from across Scotland to develop research-led resources to support the teaching of the SQA’s ‘Migration and Empire’ module. It aims to support understandings of the impact of Scots settlers on the Indigenous peoples, cultures, and lands of Canada, Australia and New Zealand between 1830 and 1939.

Below you will find links to a range of teaching materials relating to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These include a teacher introduction to the history of European settlement in each country, full lessons, each based on a historical source, with teacher worksheets and handouts, and short videos by academic specialists on topics pertaining to each region.

All of the lessons are based on historical sources which have been gathered into the PDF document below. They are designed to be stand-alone lessons; however, we recommend that you deliver the Introductory lesson first before teaching any of the individual lessons.

The Introductory lesson (found at each of the links below) explains the categories of ‘emigrant’, ‘settler’, ‘Indigenous’, and ‘immigrant’, and explores how they shaped the social dynamics among communities in the colonized Dominions.

The METISS team is Professor Fiona Barclay, Dr Joe Smith, Katie Hunter, and Irina Nakonechna. We would like to thank Professor Michelle McKeown, Dr Paula Dumas, Dr Rosi Carr, Dr Darren Reid, Dr Josh Doble, Dr Tom Cunningham, Dr Paul Malgrati, Professor Kirstie Blair, and Monica Medina for contributing their time and academic expertise, and to the Scottish Government for its financial support.