An award-winning teacher, Rachel’s classroom practice is focused primarily on teaching narratives of race and identity. In particular, she has been at the forefront of using reflective and experiential pedagogies for the teaching of whiteness and white privilege in university contexts. Students describe Rachel’s classroom as a uniquely empowering space where she creates transformative places for learning which promote belonging and confidence to ask critical questions of ourselves and the world. Some highlights of her teaching practice include designing the UK’s first MA module in literary whiteness, collaborative work with Sheffield based writers of colour and the ongoing development of a Faculty-wide approach to decolonising the curriculum.
In recognition of her expertise in teaching about race and whiteness, Rachel developed The University of Sheffield’s pilot Race Equality student training programme, which was subsequently scaled up in September 2019 to an institution-wide programme. She is also the driving force behind the inspirational #readingfordiversity library campaign and Director of the FirstGenSheffield; a programme of opportunity and support for First Generation students in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
In 2015, Rachel led the UK’s first SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project on Inclusive Curriculum based on the work of the longstanding National SEED Project USA. The Sheffield SEED Project is a sector-leading staff EDI professional development programme which aims to drive personal and organisational change towards social justice through peer conversation and reflective enquiry. Through SEED, Rachel has been instrumental in bringing experiential, creative and reflective pedagogies into staff development contexts and has challenged and influenced the institutional approach to EDI staff training.
Rachel has published on the pedagogy and transformational impact of SEED on staff learners and she has been recognised internationally for her excellent practice. She has advised organisations and universities in the UK on EDI staff development practices and was appointed recently as the Faculty Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Arts and Humanities) to lead structural and organisational change around EDI practice. Rachel has worked part-time (0.6 FTE) throughout her professional career and has developed a distinctive practice straddling classroom teaching, staff development contexts and university leadership.