Can ‘middle child syndrome’ be applied to four nations history?

This week, Edinburgh PhD student Sophie Cooper ponders the complex interrelationships between nations and regions, and asks, just whose history are we teaching secondary school children? 

‘Middle child syndrome can lead to a sense of low self-esteem, feelings of insecurity and jealousy of others.’

 Many will not appreciate my use of this comparison, but I believe that it can be applied to the study of four nations history in schools. I studied “British” history for years within the English school system and in all that time, Scotland managed to get in for a lesson or few (James VI/I and all that), Ireland crowned a few pretenders to the throne, and Wales…well Wales hid Henry Tudor for a bit but that was about it. The biggest power struggle within the Four Nations for me, as a native of Yorkshire, was firstly with…