{"id":2120,"date":"2024-03-19T08:22:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T08:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/?p=2120"},"modified":"2024-03-19T08:22:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T08:22:29","slug":"no-end-and-no-beginning-race-equity-in-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/2024\/03\/19\/no-end-and-no-beginning-race-equity-in-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"No end and no beginning; race equity in higher education"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Some years ago, through a pedagogy of the oppressed approach and by teaching with love, I embarked on using co-creation to explore racialised experiences raised by our students within our Race Equality Charter (REC) survey. I was compelled to act and so much so that my doctorate study explores using co-created decolonised pedagogy and curriculum rooted in anti-racist practice to support student success. My professional career and journey to academia began as a qualified social worker with children and families, so my lifelong work to date has and continues to be championing and empowering the marginalised and global majority communities of which I am also a member. One of the creative ways I adopt for liberating self-expression is poetry, so I invite you to hear my story\u2026<br \/><br \/>No end and no beginning; race equity in higher education<br \/><br \/>No end and no beginning; race equity in higher education<br \/>Inside the ivory tower and the fortress of white walls<br \/>The institutions\u2019 oppression, discrimination and all<br \/>Microaggressions, unfair treatment, poor retention and more<br \/>No promotion or progression, poor degree outcomes, for sure<br \/>Hearing people\u2019s stories and sharing their pain<br \/>Often, I feel helpless, they\u2019ve told me all in vain<br \/>Such a heavy burden, the turmoil, and the tears<br \/>The same stories continue for oh so many years<br \/>What do I say and how shall I respond?<br \/>An overflowing vessel, how long can this go on<br \/>I want to help them all, I genuinely do<br \/>Be there to support, a hug and listen too<br \/>We have to share your stories, we have to change the system<br \/>We have to listen hard and learn from people\u2019s wisdom<br \/>We can\u2019t remain as faces at the bottom of the well<br \/>We have to help each other as said by Derrick Bell<br \/>Community of hope we have to teach with love<br \/>As bell hooks already told us she looks down from up above<br \/>So don\u2019t be silent, sit back or think it\u2019s not your job<br \/>That dismissal and denial upholds the right-wing mob<br \/>Let\u2019s come together our community, building and belonging<br \/>Listen and take action, stop that trauma from prolonging<br \/>To become a better person, means we have to help each other<br \/>Looking out for one another as a sister or a brother<br \/>I can\u2019t give up the fight nor the struggle of my family<br \/>I must be brave; I must be bold and battle on valiantly<br \/>Seeing siblings happy, builds up my strength and passion<br \/>Worthwhile is all my pain, my time I\u2019ll never ration<br \/>My heart is full of love, compassion, and true care<br \/>My students are my children with them my heart I share<br \/>With colleagues and my peers, I stand in solidarity<br \/>Long lasting bonds we build, and comfort in familiarity<br \/>Old stories and new tales, no end, and no beginning<br \/>I will soldier on despite the ever stinging<br \/>Race equity and EDI work, I do it all wholehearted<br \/>And even though I often feel my voice is not regarded<br \/>Despite all this, I work so hard, and I will never stop<br \/>I see how people take the credit and my name is dropped <br \/>My ideas and creativity are growing and keep flowing<br \/>I want to share it all and good outcomes keep me going<br \/>To nurture hearts with generosity, compassion and give my time<br \/>It\u2019s not an easy journey but you must maintain the climb<br \/>Where is humanity, accomplices stand up please<br \/>Racism is an illness and spreads like a disease<br \/>I\u2019m not referring to the overt forms of harm<br \/>But it\u2019s all those subtleties that might not raise alarm<br \/>In a university, by default, you think you are fair<br \/>Just because you\u2019re \u2018liberal\u2019 so now you\u2019re not aware?<br \/>Surrounded by the legacy of our colonial past<br \/>The tortured impact on us, but have you ever asked?<br \/>And how about our people who do not have a voice<br \/>Whilst you sit back in privilege, they have no other choice<br \/>It\u2019s not another saviour that\u2019s needed to put it right<br \/>But together in solidarity, we can put up a fight<br \/>Fragility, defensiveness, or denial there\u2019s no place<br \/>Accountability and action, you now must show your face<br \/>Kindness and positivity, a smile for us each day<br \/>I\u2019m forever optimistic and it\u2019s the only way.<br \/><br \/><br \/>Syra Shakir is Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching, and Strategic lead for Race Equality at Leeds Trinity University. She is currently working on her doctorate in Education at Sheffield Hallam University. Syra has worked on embedding race equity in the curriculum, decolonisation, anti-racist pedagogy and co-creation with students to build belonging. She has collaborated with film maker Ricardo Barker to develop an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leedstrinity.ac.uk\/courses\/cpd-and-short-courses\/retension\/\">anti-racist toolkit<\/a> for tackling racism in higher education using film and the aftermath debate.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some years ago, through a pedagogy of the oppressed approach and by teaching with love, I embarked on using co-creation to explore racialised experiences raised by our students within our Race Equality Charter (REC) survey. I was compelled to act and so much so that my doctorate study explores using co-created decolonised pedagogy and curriculum [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10265,"featured_media":2127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,424],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sioe","category-teaching-and-learning-in-higher-education"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/files\/2024\/01\/paper-1100254_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7axDP-yc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2120"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2182,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions\/2182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}