English-Speaking Union Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The English-Speaking Union Scotland (ESU Scotland) is an educational Scottish charity whose purpose, shared with the English-Speaking Union internationally, is to promote international understanding and human achievements through the widening use of the English language throughout the world.
ESU Scotland is based in Edinburgh and retains close links with the ESU's international headquarters at Dartmouth House. ESU Scotland promotes a variety of activities including debating, public speaking, creative writing, English as a Foreign Language classes and various talks, lectures and book launches throughout the year.
In 2008, ESU Scotland will host the ESU World Members Conference.
The mission statement for ESU Scotland is to:
"Promote global understanding through English"
There are 3 full-time staff - the Director, the Assistant Director and the Speech & Debates Officer.
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[edit] Debating and Public Speaking
In many circles the ESU is best known for its major educational activity, the promotion of debate as an educational tool. ESU Scotland runs the ESU Scotland Juniors tournament, which in the 2006/7 school year received 113 entries. The winners of the 2006 tournament, held in the Scottish Parliament, were Dollar Academy. The Juniors tournament is generously sponsored by ASDA
As well as the Juniors, which is a Scotland-only S1-S3 British Parliamentary format tournament, ESU Scotland administers the Scottish legs of the ESU Schools Mace, ESU John Smith Memorial Mace (the premier inter-varsity tournament in the UK and Ireland, which is sponsored by Baillie Gifford) and the ESU Public Speaking Competition.
As well as this ESU Scotland offers coaching support to branches and ESUs all over the world and is closely involved with the Scotland Schools Debating Team which competes in the World Schools Debating Championships each year.
Since early 2005, ESU Scotland has been running Debates Outreach Programmes with local authorities in Scotland. These programmes focus on all the schools in a local authority and promote communication and advocacy skills, the ability to think critically and engagement with current affairs.
ESU Scotland has run Debates Outreach Programmes in West Lothian, City of Aberdeen, Stirling and in North Lanarkshire twice. In October 2006, it was announced that ESU Scotland would be running a Debates Outreach Project in East Renfrewshire.
As well as promoting debating as an extra-curricular activity, ESU Scotland is keen to promote debating as a classroom tool. In 2006, they were commissioned by the Scottish Executive to write comprehensive debating materials for teachers. These will be online by the start of the 2007/8 school year.
[edit] Creative Writing Competition
ESU Scotland runs a creative writing competition in conjunction with the National Galleries of Scotlandand the Scottish Poetry Library. It is sponsored by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and supported by The Scotsman newspaper.
This competition requires entrants to write a poem or piece of prose inspired by one of the works in the collections of the National Galleries of Scotland. In 2007, the best entrants from the previous two years will be collated into a book.
[edit] EFL Classes
ESU Scotland offers part-time English language classes for students at all levels, from beginners to advanced. We also help students to prepare for the Cambridge First Certificate (FCE), Cambridge Advanced Certificate (CAE) and IELTS. We hold most classes at the ESU in the centre of Edinburgh, although we do run some classes elsewhere. Recently ESU Scotland ran a course for some of the staff of the Point Hotel in Edinburgh. All the teachers are CELTA qualified and experienced and the classes cover reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
ESU Scotland also offer full-time intensive courses, including Business English and Scottish Culture courses, for people wishing to learn more about Scotland whilst improving their English.
[edit] World Members Conference 2008
Every four years, the ESU holds a World Members Conference, and the 2008 Conference is to be held in Edinburgh. ESU Scotland has already attracted some world-class speakers and plans for the Conference are gaining pace.
[edit] American Studies Library
ESU Scotland's Atholl Crescent building is home to the American Studies Library. This is one of Scotland's foremost collections of American literature, politics, history and culture. The catalogue is available online at the ESU Scotland website.
[edit] Scholarships
The Thyne Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship that ESU Scotland can award, and enables young Scots to travel to a country or countries of their choice to study and research their own particular vocation. In delivering a fresh insight into how professions in other countries tackle their problems, the hope has always been that this knowledge benefits not only the individual scholar, but also Scotland.
The 2006 Scholarship had the theme of “Folk and Traditional Music”. The two successful candidates were Dr Katherine Campbell and Nuala Kennedy.
Katherine is a lecturer in Ethnomusicology at Edinburgh University’s Celtic Studies Department. She will use the scholarship to travel to the Falkland Islands to study the folk music traditions there.
Nuala is a flautist, who plans to go to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, to study Scottish traditional music there, and to adapt Cape Breton tunes for the wooden flute.
In addition to the main scholarships, the panel decided to make a smaller award to the third short-leeted candidate, Ailie Robertson, to support her travel costs while studying the clarsach for a year in Ireland.
ESU Scotland has sent a Page Scholar to the USA every year since 1979. The Scholarship is intended to promote the exchange of educational ideas between Britain and the USA. Scholars travel to the USA to study a specific aspect of American education. While in the USA, the teacher meets with fellow professionals, and learns from their different approaches to educational issues.
The scholar stays with members of the ESU Branches in the USA. The Page Scholar is chosen each year by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and ESU Scotland. The Scholarship is advertised by the EIS in the Scottish Educational Journal. The advert normally appears in the September issue of the journal
The Lady Duke Scholarship is organised by the Edinburgh Branch of the ESU Scotland. The scholarship pays for the travelling costs of a young professional who wishes to study their vocation in the USA. Accommodation is then arranged through ESU branches in the USA.
[edit] Honorary Presidents & Vice Presidents
The Honorary President of ESU Scotland is Brian Monteith MSP. The Honorary Vice Presidents are Jamie McGrigor MSP, Robin Harper MSP, Gordon Jackson MSP, Mike Pringle MSP and Michael Matheson MSP.
[edit] Branches
ESU Scotland has one active branch, the Edinburgh branch. The branch holds various events throughout the year including regular lunches and an annual speech forum. A Glasgow branch is being launched in autumn 2006 and there are plans for an Aberdeen branch in the near future.
[edit] Other Areas of work
ESU Scotland also runs The Call Service, an annual service at the Call Statue in Princes Street Gardens which was erected by Americans of Scottish descent to commemorate Scots who gave their lives during the Great War.
ESU Scotland also runs public speaking and speech writing courses for adults and voluntary organisations.
