The Evolving Accomplice - anti racism in higher education

My partnership with a charity and a university in Burundi is going from strength to strength as it helps enhance our social work programme through learning about the best practices of social workers in East Africa. This was demonstrated on a recent trip to visit Hope Africa University and the charity Social Action for Development in Burundi.   In early 2023 an International Association of Schools of social work event hosted at the University of Rwanda saw experts in social work meet to revamp the existing curriculum Experts-in-social-work-meet-to-revamp-existing-curriculum-to-fit-for-the-future . Burundian colleagues were part of this consultation in partnership with Oxford Brookes. The current global knowledge base for social work is dominated by White, Western, Eurocentric, and Global North perspectives on how Social work can be practiced effectively. Using locally based indigenous ideas to decolonise curriculums is an emerging subject area that goes beyond initiatives to deco...

Ubumuntu is the the international sign of humanity. It is used in Rwanda as a symbol of healing as the country moves through it's years post genocide. Ubumuntu is a form of Ubuntu. Central to the development of indigenous knowledge is the concept of Ubuntu, a Nguni Bantu philosophy. Tutu (1999) explains that Ubuntu suggests that one’s humanity is inextricably bound up with another, where a person is a person through other persons, which allows us to reflect on a notion of humble togetherness (Swanson 2014). Ubuntu promotes teamwork and collaboration, meaning this principle promotes group cohesiveness and support (Mupedziswa, Rankopo, and Mwansa 2019).  You can read more about my partnership here with colleagues in East Africa at the University of Rwanda.  Ubuntu is reinforced in our approach as our work on decoloniality develops.  Ubuntu partnership Building on global strategic priorities for social work and being informed by principles inherent in the Millenni...

Mistakes, successes and safe spaces- anti racism I'm ambivalent about Race Equality week which was last week. My ambivalence stems from the need to focus attention on one a week in a year to raise the profile to important anti racism work, as this doesn't communicate the ownership and awareness that we need to have to address equalities issues. Overall the intent of anti racism work is about positive change to make things fairer. You can find more information about Race Equality week here https://www.raceequalitymatters.com/race-equality-week/ Equalities issues need to be a continuing theme, and inherent throughout every day work. A key skill in my development of being a white accomplice is to acknowledge when I have got things wrong, and learnt from my mistakes, changed myself, and my thinking, and carried on. As I continue to grow as a white accomplice through the support of my colleagues -The Global Majority Collective students who reverse mentor me, and Dr Prospera Tedam ...

  Although I feel very honoured to be a w inner and lead the Collaborative Award for Team Excellence ( a prestigious national award that recognises and rewards collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning - Advance HE) for the anti-racism work. https://www.brookes.ac.uk/Research/Units/HLS/Projects/anti-racist-university-experience/Awards My feel are firmly planted on the ground as I continue my reverse mentoring. I am so privileged and grateful for this experience, it helps to k eep the anti-racism work real, keeps me humble and vitally makes me stay accountable in my leadership. Thank you to the amazing Brookes student Global Majority Collective student group for listening, supporting and shaping the work as we move forward into our next phases. After receiving the Advance HE CATE award in Liverpool, we visited the international slavery museum. https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/international-slavery-museum The legacy of slavery helps us so muc...

Really excited to have facilitated the conversation about 'Glocal' (global and local) and indigenous solutions at the 2nd workshop of international Social Work funded by @EASSW and supported by @JUCSWEC and @mcinnes_walker thank you to our colleagues @AMLTaylor66 @DrSharley We centred our conversation around this main theme 'Glocal' Global and local that need to be seen as interchangeable education and drawing on indigenous solutions to create worldwide common values. To explore this we focussed on the following three questions   How can 'Glocal' Global and local be implemented so they become interchangeable in education? How can indigenous solutions be drawn on to create worldwide common values? Bearing these principles in mind, how can we develop ideas to begin to transform current accepted wisdom ?   The key issues identified will be published soon through our work - the challenge will be in taking forward to implement in practice and education as we tak...

  I had the privilege of co leading a European Association Schools of Social Work workshop last week with speakers from around the globe. The themes that came out of this workshop resonate and will inform our work as we move forward 'Glocal' Global and local need to be seen as interchangeable in SW education and throughout social worker's careers Drawing on indigenous solutions and developing worldwide common values Examining the global movement of people because of world conflicts and war Focus on global student placements Implementing the opportunities to work together on a global stage from learning from the pandemic Underpinning our work is a model that we created to support achievement for Global Majority students. We call this ‘Creating a place to inhabit’, based on the work of South African theorist Mbembe (2016). Its goal is to decolonise our curriculum, making it more inclusive and diverse and less Anglo-centric. Through doing this, we have cultivated an environmen...

Really excited and blessed to begin the process of reverse mentoring tonight with our amazing Global Majority Collective student group. After me approaching the group, they decided that they would prefer to offer a group mentoring session, this was because they wanted to offer a richness of perspectives to help to support my journey as an accomplice. I joined with my colleague and we had about six other group members join us. Ideas around authenticity and credibility are really central to our work and I am mindful of the pitfalls of as I continue on my journey as an evolving accomplice of avoiding the dangers of a surface approach to anti racist work. I  am truly inspired and excited to begin this journey.  In our first session of reverse mentoring we were careful to co-create the parameters of the safe space, trust and accountability being central to the relationship. I would really like to create a safe space where I can honestly address making mistakes, using...

Here's a recently published c ase study that explains our work  3.6 Working towards a decolonised curriculum in social work at Oxford Brookes University, UK, with the help of Hope Africa University, Burundi p11 in Healey, R. & Healey, M. (2021)  Socially-just pedagogic practices in HE: Including equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, decolonising, indigenisation, well-being, and disability.   www.healeyheconsultants.co.uk/resources .

 Listen here! BBC radio Oxford interview with me on our work to Decolonise the Curriculum - shaking things up and making a difference Radio Oxford Kat Orman - 11/10/2021 - BBC Sounds Kat Orman 11/10/2021

 So this is who I am.. Jill Childs Principal Lecturer in Social Work..  I have woven a innovative and complicated path to reach where I now stand as I survey the landscape, I realise, i t’s only one generation back that my great grandparents were in service as a scullery maid and footman in Grosvenor square contributing to hosting events for titled individuals. I have grown knowing what it means to value opportunities that are given to me, to appreciate my privilege and to respect opportunity. My path into Social Work began from my own failure in the education system at 18 and the consequent opportunity that arose by chance of volunteering Crisis at Christmas in an open access night shelter in central London over Christmas in Waterloo in 1992 to realising my dream to working with homeless people in a Dickensian night shelter environment in central London. Working with London's most excluded and difficult to reach. My work in 1993 in Cork, Ireland Simon Community working with ...