'Citizenship and Identity: The role and identities of teachers of citizenship in a time of change'
Cardiff, Wales, 2015

Educators from the five nations gathered in Cardiff on 7-8 November 2015 for the 16th annual conference. This year, the conference was themed around the topic of 'Citizenship and Identity: The role and identities of teachers of citizenship in a time of change' and was the third of three conferences focusing on the theme of 'Identity and Citizenship'. Click here to download the programme

The aims of the conference were to:
  • Explore and discuss the role and identities of teachers of citizenship in a time of educational change
  • Consider the role of teachers in relation to migration, radicalisation, national identity debates and changing relations between jurisdictions 
  • Bring together from across the five nations policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders with an interest in citizenship and values education
  • Encourage new thinking and learning about citizenship and promote dialogue across country partnerships
  • Explore the use of different pedagogies including digital technologies as effective teaching tools for teaching citizenship.

​We heard from a number of guest speakers. Ann Keane, former Chief Inspector of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales provided the opening keynote on citizenship education and inspection. Barrie Phillips and Omer Williams then shared their insights from working on the Prevent strategy with the Welsh Government. Jamie Kelsey-Fry, a teacher, textbook author and activist, provided the second keynote, where he explored and reflected on the challenges of being a citizenship teacher and activist and shared some of the techniques he uses in generating pupil led active citizenship. Keynote speaker films
A series of seminars and workshops explored the many different challenges for teachers of citizenship as they develop learning experiences that help pupils make sense of the wider world, tackle controversial and sensitive issues including those related to identity issues, migration, prevention of terrorism and radicalisation, and encourage them to actively participate in political and democratic life. Seminar resources
I came to the conference with such a narrow view of citizenship. The conference has increased my knowledge and indeed confidence of teaching citizenship. I learned a lot about myself and how to approach teaching citizenship... I look forward to implementing some of the excellent ideas and practice that were discussed...
Calum Downey, Student Teacher (Modern Studies), University of Glasgow, Scotland
Six short, focused Five Nations Development Projects (FNDPs) were funded in advance of the conference to allow teachers in schools to take forward a range of citizenship and values education projects. The six teachers attended the conference and shared their findings through poster presentations. Five Nations Development Projects
Throughout the conference, participants used Twitter.  By using the hashtag #5NN, a collaborative running commentary on events emerged, allowing conference attendees to share their thoughts and discuss the topics of the moment with others. ​@FiveNationsNet 
@5NNWal | @5NNScot | ​@5NNEng | @5NNIre | @5NN_NI
Embedding citizenship across the curriculum can be difficult when it is not a testable subject but this conference has offered a range of ideas to embed its messages. 
Stacey Vickers, Student Teacher (Modern Studies), University of Glasgow, Scotland