Racial Equity Programme 2020-21
Learn Sheffield has identified racial equity as one of our education priorities for the city. The programme below is designed to offer Sheffield schools and academies support as they engage with the challenge of ensuring that their provision and curriculum promotes and develops racial equity.
Learn Sheffield will work with a number of partners in order to provide the opportunities below and all of this work has been fully funded for Sheffield Schools in 2020-21. Click on the buttons below to access the content that you would like to access.
Racial Equity Conference & Project Supervision
We will be working with Dr Muna Abdi (MA Education Consultancy) and Dr Ben Blaisdell (East Carolina University) to deliver a virtual conference about ‘Implicit Bias and Racial Awareness’ in January 2021. As outlined in the programme below, this training will be followed by a series of six group supervision sessions for school leaders so that projects that schools determine following the conference can be supported through the remainder of the school year.
Session |
Details |
Date & Time |
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Implicit Bias and Racial Awareness training – Part one |
Part 1
- Learning the language/develop literacy (defining terms)
- Stereotypes/ discrimination/prejudice/ race &racism
- Links between race, racism and Whiteness
- Develop tools/lens for analysis (CRT and Intersectionality?)
- Understanding personal, relational and systemic racism
|
26 January 2021 1.00-4.00pm |
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Implicit Bias and Racial Awareness training – Part two |
Part 2
- Co-create a model for equity coaching
- Context specific working - finding out what would be most useful to colleagues and developing a model that has key areas of focus that include (evidence, reflection, challenge, change and evaluation- as a loop).
|
28 January 2021 1.00-4.00pm |
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Session |
Date & Time |
|
Supervision Session 1 |
2 February 2021 4.00-5.30pm |
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Supervision Session 2 |
2 March 2021 4.00-5.30pm |
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Supervision Session 3 |
30 March 2021 4.00-5.30pm |
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Supervision Session 4 |
4 May 2021 4.00-5.30pm |
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Supervision Session 5 |
1 June 2021 4.00-5.30pm |
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Supervision Session 6 |
6 July December 2021 4.00-5.30pm |
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Racial Equity – Equity Coaching Research Project
We will also be working with Muna and Ben to explore the impact of equity coaching sessions for school leaders as part of a research project with three schools across the school year. The Sheffield Inclusion Centre (a pupil referral unit), Chaucer (a secondary academy) and Woodthorpe (a community primary school) will receive equity coaching, support to frame leadership to have a clear social justice focus and take part in an action research project.
This research project will contribute to the development of future city strategy.
‘Black History Month and Beyond’ Secondary/FE Resources
Learn Sheffield have been working with our colleagues at Opus to make some of the content that they have developed during Black History Month available to Sheffield schools and academies. The content below is available across the Opus platforms (online and via Now Then magazine) but also here to make it easily available to schools and colleges.
Now Then Video Content
Black History Month for White Teachers and Dummies Trailer:
Melissa Simmonds is the founder of MisTÂûght and a parent who believes that Black (British) History benefits all children and should be woven through the curriculum from Key Stages 1-4.
Black History Month for White Teachers and Dummies Full Workshop
Melissa Simmonds is the founder of MisTÂûght and a parent who believes that Black (British) History benefits all children and should be woven through the curriculum from Key Stages 1-4.
Black History Month and Hip Hop Culture with Otis Mensah
As we celebrate Black History Month, Otis Mensah reads Ode to Black Thought from his debut poetry collection Safe Metamorphosis & reflects on what hip hop culture means to him.
Black History Month: Sabrina Richmond on Steve Bilko
Storyteller Sabrina Richmond talks about the erasure of the presence of Black people throughout history & what Black history means to her.
Now Then Article Content
Contributing to Black History Month as a White Man
White people engaging with Black History Month is always going to be uncomfortable. But sitting with this discomfort, and using our privilege for good, is how we start to dismantle racism at a systemic level, all year round.
On structural racism, the TV industry and White Allyship
In a year that has highlighted vast structural inequalities, Annalisa Toccara speaks to David Olusoga about his MacTaggart Lecture, what white allyship means, and how society can address racial disparities, ahead of David’s appearance at Off The Shelf Festival of Words.
On Black
Local artist speaks about creativity, mental health, the Black Lives Matter movement, and her upcoming exhibition at Abbeydale Picture House.
I Am Not Your Baby Mother
This must-read unpacks life as a black mother in modern-day Britain.
Writing From The Richest Of Places
Desiree Reynolds has curated the Black Women Write Now strand of this year’s Off The Shelf Festival of Words, which captures the essence of Toni Morrison’s proclamation that being a black woman writer is not a shallow place, but a rich place to write from.
"Never let anyone tell you to stay in your lane"
The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have significantly impacted the Northern arts and cultural industry, with some organisations closing their doors. Annalisa Toccara spoke to Lauren Yvonne about the challenges of being a theatre producer during this time and the advice she would give to emerging black theatre practitioners.
Coloniality in the NHS – A Call for Change
This year has highlighted both the importance of the NHS and our society’s deep structural racism. The NHS is itself not immune to racism, which stems from Britain’s colonial past.
R.I.P. ‘Tradition’
Looking back over Magid Magid’s time as Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Isabelle France asks: What happens when an entire city steps outside of its comfort zone? Pretty much what you would expect: conflict, outrage - and a little bit of hope.
Tackling Racism Across the Leadership Pipeline
Online event brings people together to discuss the impacts of systemic racism in Sheffield and find solutions for collectively disrupting the system.
The Library of Life
Sheffield-based online library lending service celebrates the rich and diverse cultures of Africa and the Caribbean.
Learn Sheffield Primary Curriculum Development
Learn Sheffield is recruiting a primary curriculum team for the first time this year. This will be a group of Sheffield school leaders who work with the wider Learn Sheffield team in order to support Sheffield schools and academies in the primary sector to develop their curriculum offer.
Racial equity will be one of the initial priorities of this curriculum team. They will work with specialists, including some of the colleagues involved in other aspects of the racial equity programme, to identify and develop curriculum resources for use in Sheffield primary schools and academies. The Black History Month resources below will also be available to the curriculum team to utilise.
Other Opportunities
Spring Leader Roundtable
The focus of our spring term leader roundtable will also be racial equity – with a session entitled ‘What is an anti-racist school?’.
We will be joined by Pran Patel author of the Decolonise the Curriculum website who will provide a keynote and contribute to the discussion.
Pran will also be working with the curriculum team (below) to support their development of curriculum resources.
Sheffield Associate Research School
The Sheffield Associate Research School (based at Notre Dame with Hallam TSA) will also be following up its highly successful lockdown twilight ‘How to be anti-racist educators’ led by Katie Bayley. Look out for events in the Opportunities Bulletin and via social media.