This is a very quick round-up of articles and teaching ideas that might be useful if you want to teach about the Scottish Independence referendum.
The vote itself takes place next Thursday 18 September 2014.
You could start by considering questions of identity.
What makes our identities what they are? And when are we different, and what does that mean?
Do your pupils feel English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, British, or something else? Or a mixture? Does this feeling change depending on where they are or what they're doing?
Guardian Witness - What's the mood around Scotland? features photos and comments submitted by users.
Guardian Teacher Network - How to teach... the referendum on Scottish independence.
National Geographic Education Blog - Scots Free?
TES Scotland - Schools grow wary of debate as vote looms - includes references to teaching resources.
The Day (current affairs for schools) - Scotland's referendum now 'too close to call'
The Day also has two 16-year-olds giving their opinion: How we will vote in the Scottish referendum
Your pupils could explore parallels with other countries that have separated - or considered it - either peacefully or in anger. For example Quebec's referendum in 1995 resulted in it staying part of Canada but arguably gaining greater autonomy. South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011, but a bitter power struggle continues. The break up of Yugoslavia led to a terrible series of conflicts, but the Czech/Slovak split is known as the 'velvet divorce'. There are also many regions of other countries which will be watching the Scottish referendum with interest, such as the Northern League in Italy and Catalonia in Spain.
BBC News - Scottish Independence: lessons from the Czech/Slovak split
BBC News - Why pro-independence Catalans envy Scotland
Politics Upside Down - What can the 1995 Quebec Referendum tell us about the Scottish referendum?
Africa is a Country - Scotland’s referendum is significant for people that want to secede. Like Zanzibaris
Is the nature of a country still important? Do we still need nation-states, or are regional groupings now what matters?
And what about size? Your pupils could try finding other countries that would be a similar size to Scotland (and the UK without Scotland) - both in population and area. How much does size matter? How many other countries are a similar size, and how 'powerful' are they?
If you see any more useful articles, or have further suggestions, please login to use the comments box or email info@globaldimension.org.uk
The photo at the top of the page is by Fr Lawrence Lew on Flickr.com and used under a Creative Commons licence.
