'Citizenship and identities: political identity'
Edinburgh, Scotland, 2013

Educators from the five nations gathered in Edinburgh on 6-7 December 2013 for the 14th annual conference. This year, the conference was themed around the topic of 'Citizenship and identities: political identity’.

The aims of the conference were to discuss and debate citizenship and identities and critically explore questions about political identity; encourage new thinking and learning about citizenship and identities and promote dialogue across country partnerships; explore the use of different pedagogies including digital technologies as effective tools for teaching citizenship and identities; reflect on the Five Nations Network and its future development.

We heard from a number of guests during the programme. Dr Rowena Arshad OBE, Head of Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the Centre for Education for Racial Equality Scotland, addressed the conference at the end of the first day. On the second day, a panel of guest contributors from across the five nations addressed the issue of developing young people’s political identity. Speakers and Presentations

A series of five workshops explored different aspects of political identity and offered practical ways of addressing the topic within classroom and community contexts.  Scottish Parliament co-hosted part of the conference and provided a further workshop for all participants. Workshop Resources

An important aspect of the Five Nations Network is inter-country collaboration through Small-Scale Research Initiatives (SSRIs).  The SSRI marketplace on the first day of the conference gave participants the chance to learn about some of the current initiatives through poster presentations, and the opportunity to share research ideas and search for cross-border partners. Small-Scale Research Initiative Marketplace

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