Decolonising

Nina Wardleworth (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies)

Project overview

This fellowship commenced in 2019 with the aim of developing the University of Leeds’ framework for decolonising.

To develop practices across all aspects of the University which;

question the origins of the knowledge taught and the colonial legacies that are replicated within,
challenge the presence of a hidden curriculum of assumed knowledge that unfairly disadvantages many,
ask whose knowledges and voices are undervalued and silenced,
work proactively to rebalance such unequal power dynamics,
aim to combat racial prejudices and discrimination and to challenge racialised privilege.

Decolonising feeds in to the University’s Access and Student Success Strategy. The project will support on-going work in reducing the degree awarding gap linked to students’ race, gender, age and socio-economic background and aligns with the cross campus activity on fostering sense of belonging.

The fellowship will promote opportunities to share knowledge and best practice internally and to work with colleagues at other institutions.

Project progress

A Decolonising Working Group was established in November 2020 to draw up a set of key principles and provide feedback on the development of supporting resources.

The project has already developed a set of key principles to review our current practice both within student education and across the wider institution. The next stage is to disseminate the principles through a series of ‘How To’ guides and podcasts working with Dr Femi Owolade.

Below are resources and articles about the ongoing work this fellowship is contributing to:

Decolonising resources and updates are available from the Organisational Development and Professional Learning website.
Read the Inside Track: One year on – tackling racial inequality from May 2021, discussing the ongoing work to race equality for our staff and students here at Leeds.
Read Inside Track: Tackling degree awarding gaps from January 2021 where Louise Banahene, Director of Educational Engagement, unpacks some of the key themes from the Access and Student Success

If you would like to find out more about the project / outputs please contact Nina (n.a.wardleworth@leeds.ac.uk)