Annual Lecture: Gaelic language and culture in Scottish Education by Professor Boyd Robertson

Professor Boyd Robertson delivers the Moray House School of Education and Sport Annual Lecture, Gaelic language and culture in Scottish Education.

The lecture considers the place of Gaelic language and heritage in Scottish life with a particular focus on the educational context. It charts the development of Gaelic as a teaching medium and examines the factors that led to its growth in schools across Scotland and the challenges encountered. Mechanisms to support the language and culture are outlined, current issues are identified and factors which might impact future prospects are discussed.

Professor Boyd Robertson was Principal of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture and one of the constituent colleges of the University of the Highlands and Islands, from 2009 until 2018.  A graduate of Aberdeen University, he trained as a teacher of Gaelic and went on to become Principal Teacher at Oban High School, Senior Lecturer at Jordanhill College of Education and Reader in Gaelic at the University of Strathclyde.

He has extensive experience of teacher education, curriculum development and production of resources for learners including the Teach Yourself Gaelic course and the Speaking Our Language TV series for which he was Language Consultant. He has written widely on Gaelic education in publications such as Scottish Education, The Other Languages of Europe and Revitalising Gaelic in Scotland.  He has been deeply involved in the work of Gaelic agencies and of community bodies: as Chair of the Gaelic Books Council and of the Glasgow arts body, An Lòchran, as Vice-Chair of Comunn na Gàidhlig and as a member of the initial Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the Government appointed Gaelic development agency.

Co-author of the Essential Gaelic Dictionary published by Hodder, he chaired the inter-University Faclair na Gàidhlig (Historical Dictionary of Scottish Gaelic) Steering Committee and was a member of the Commission on Parliamentary Reform which reported to the Scottish Parliament in June 2017. He served on the BBC Educational Broadcasting Council for Scotland and was Convener of its Gaelic Advisory Panel. He was also Convener of the Scottish Qualifications Authority Gaelic Assessment Panel.

He was a Subject Specialist Reviewer in Celtic Studies for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and a Member of the Higher Education Funding Council Celtic Studies Panel for the Research Assessment Exercise. He was an External Examiner at St Mary’s College, Queens University Belfast and a member of external Review Teams at the Universities of Cork and Galway. In 2022, he led a Review of the Arni Magnusson Institute at the University of Iceland. He undertook roles with a number of international bodies in the field of minority languages including the Foundation for Inter-Ethnic Relations, the Mercator Education Project and the Council of Europe.

An early Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, his services to education were recognised by the award of an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Edinburgh in 2014 and his services to the language by the Gaelic Ambassador accolade bestowed by the Scottish Government at the Royal National Mod in 2015 and by the Sàr Dhuais na Gàidhlig award from Bòrd na Gàidhlig in 2018. He was made a Fellow of the Association of Scottish Literary Studies in 2012 and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021.

He was Chair of the Board of NHS Highland from 2019 to 2023.