From the establishment of the Neolithic village of Skara Brae on Orkney to the bombing of Clydebank in the Second World War, the history of Scotland should be embedded in the study of the subject, teachers said yesterday.

From the establishment of the Neolithic village of Skara Brae on Orkney to the bombing of Clydebank in the Second World War, the history of Scotland should be embedded in the study of the subject, teachers said yesterday.

Under the proposals for a "Scottish backdrop" to the teaching of history in primary and secondary schools, lessons should also include such key developments as the Wars of Independence, the Reformation, Mary Queen of Scots, the Act of Union and the Scottish Enlightenment.

The plans, set out by the Scottish Association of Teachers of History, have been produced as a result of a working group set up by the Scottish Government to look at the future direction of the subject. Government officials will now decide how much of the blueprint is adopted.

Teachers of history have long been concerned about the increasing marginalisation of the subject and the lack of time afforded to it in the curriculum. These concerns have been made even more acute by the development of the new curriculum for Scotland being introduced over the next few years.

Under the so-called Curriculum for Excellence, schools are being given more flexibility over what is taught and are being encouraged to develop lessons which cross traditional borders between subjects.

The idea is to make school more interesting for pupils and to ensure that teachers are not simply "teaching to the test".

The Scottish Government, which set up the working group with the Scottish Association of Teachers of History, has insisted that the importance of history will not be lost.

However, members of the association are becoming increasingly concerned that the reality of the Curriculum for Excellence may mean less history for pupils, rather than more.

As The Herald reports today, Duncan Toms, president of Scottish Association of Teachers of History, is fearful the flexibility ushered in by the Curriculum for Excellence will tempt some schools to amalgamate or drop subjects for staffing and timetabling purposes.

Mr Toms believes that if Scottish history and culture are to be taught effectively, they must be adequately resourced in terms of support materials, teaching ideas, text-books and in-service training at national, local authority and school level. In addition, history should be taught by properly trained and qualified subject enthusiasts rather than by "cross-curricular conscripts".

Interestingly, despite the recent debate on encouraging more Scottish history, the association also believes the curriculum should not place too much emphasis on it.

Mr Toms said there were nine references to Scotland and only one specific reference to a combined British, European or global history in documents relating to the teaching of history in the new curriculum.

"Although there is scope to do more British, European and global history, this imbalance in terms of specific requirements could lead to a distorted curriculum, particularly given limitations on teaching time, and is also sending out the wrong messages in today's world," he added.

The new curriculum was launched in November 2004 by the previous Scottish Executive, and concerns over whether traditional subjects such as history, science, geography and modern languages would continue to be taught separately in the first two years of secondary surfaced in 2005 following comments by Peter Peacock, the Education Minister.

He used the example of history to warn that subjects may in future be timetabled in a different way in primary and the early years of secondary as a result of the curriculum review.

Singling out history, Mr Peacock insisted there was no intention of getting rid of it, but added: "Perhaps we will not be teaching it in the same way, in a timetabled slot marked history, but as a contributor to broader forms of learning."