SHARE is a group of Sheffielders working together to advance anti-racist education in our city. They connect local staff working in education, governors, parents, unions, students, educationalists and anti-racists. In partnership, they share resources and good practice, and support others in areas such as curriculum development, training provision and whole-school development.
From January – June 2023 SHARE teamed up with two postgraduate researchers, Annalisa Toccara- Jones and Mahrukh Shameem, to help improve internal operations and broaden impact of their work. Annalisa produced a communications strategy to allow SHARE to raise awareness of the organisation, disseminate materials more effectively to various groups, enhance outreach to racially marginalised communities, and develop working relationships with policy makers, educators and students. Mahrukh organised and delivered a series of events that focused on topics relating anti-racism and education. This included the “How Do We Decolonise The Teaching of History in Sheffield”, held at Weston Park Museum as part of Festival of Debate.
Mahrukh has since gone onto organise events on “Decolonising STEAM” and “Decolonising Medicine with Dr Annabel Sowemimo”. As a researcher in The School of Medicine and someone who is passionate about EDI, Mahrukh has used the collaboration with SHARE as an opportunity to draw attention to colonial practices in fields that are typically overlooked in conversations around decolonisation and anti-racism.
Both contributions by Mahrukh and Annalisa have contributed to SHARE’s involvement in the formation of the Decolonisation Education Consortium in Sheffield. This emerging group seeks to coordinate city-wide efforts to decolonise various disciplines and subjects in secondary schools.