This proposal is based on empirical work undertaken in England and Catalonia at a time when issues of national, European and other identities were prominently discussed in the media and elsewhere and when a new curriculum was introduced to both locations.

Identity can be defined as the symbolic relationship between the individual and the social environment (Chryssochoou, 2003). This social environment could be understood as the concept of community, about which there are competing discourses (Davies, Hampden-Thompson, Calhoun, Bramley, Tsouroufli, Sundaram, Lord & Jeffes, 2013).  Anderson (1983) argues that, ‘all communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined’ (p.6). Indeed, it could be suggested that identity is a symbolic relationship with other individuals who share a similar imaginary position regarding a community.

The links between identity and citizenship education are strong and complex. Citizenship is here defined trough a dialectical process which involves an objective and usually legal identity which is assigned by an external entity as well as an identity which is subjectively assumed (Berger & Lukman, 1986; Kymlicka & Norman, 1994). The creation and reinforcement of national identities has traditionally been identified as a principal purpose of schooling (Lave & Wegner, 1998) in which Citizenship Education plays an outstanding role (Osler & Starkey, 2003; Olssen, 2004; Misiejuk, Rubik & Tutiaux-Guillon, 2004; Torres & Esteban, 2005; Ross, 2007). Beyond national-state identity, in a considerable number of countries, national curricula have also been seen as generating European identity (Delanty, 2007), regional identity (Oller, 2013) or school identity (Osler & Starkey, 2003).

It has been argued that rather than talking about a singular identity, it is more appropriate in this complex field to think about the concept of identities (Kymlicka, 1995; Osler & Starkey, 2003) or multiple identities (Ross, 2007). There is little agreement as to whether identities are partially in flux, are unchanging or whether there is a dominant pattern of identity formation and expression. It has been argued that the process of temporary identities is particularly relevant in childhood and adolescence where young people, in school contexts, constantly create categories for groups of their peers who become the other (Ross, 2007).

The relationship between ‘citizenship’ and ‘identity’ is strongly contested in both England and Catalonia (Delanty, 2014). The complex histories (which have involved violent struggles within what are currently constituted as national states), relationships with others (including the transnational citizenship of the European Union), demographic diversity and other factors have through such events and processes as the September 2014 Referendum on Scottish Independence highlighted tensions about identity. We wished to undertake empirical research with young people in contexts in which questions have been posed about the very existence of the United Kingdom and England’s place within it; where issues about separatism from the national state have been the source and expression of struggle in Catalonia; and where European citizenship has had a contested nature both, in terms of legal status and identity. We feel that the similarities but also the differences between England and Catalonia might be helpful to illuminate and to gain a deeper understanding about each of them. In particular we gathered and analysed data in order to address three key research questions:

• What are the similarities and differences in the ways English/Catalan students identify themselves with communities/groups?
• What are the similarities and differences in the ways English/Catalan students identify themselves as citizens?
• To what extent and how do English/Catalan schools contribute to reinforcing students’ self-identification?

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