IN RESPONSE to the news item on the SNP conference (“Grasping the roots of history”, October 2), I am forced to take issue with the SNP’s assertion that Scotland should be at the core of history teaching. Put simply, the world has moved on while the SNP clearly have not.
The history of the 20th century in particular has been one of global conflict, genocide, the struggle for human and political rights in many countries of the world, and immense change in every aspect of human existence.
Like our forebears, we are citizens of a restless nation, but, as the century ends, it must be seen in the context of a restless world and an uneasy planet.
We should not allow narrow national pride to blind us, or those whom we teach, to the reality of the world beyond the border. Rather, our responsibility as teachers is to communicate and encourage an understanding of the history of all peoples.
Philip Bell
Assistant teacher of history
Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow
