I am an academic and educationalist who is driven by the pursuit of social justice. I currently fulfil the roles of Programme Leader Learning Development and Inclusion at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, and am a visiting academic at the University of Winchester, University of Arts London and the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality, Leeds Beckett University, where I am also an Associate.  I am currently working on a number of projects including a drive towards the decolonisation of the creative arts curriculum and the establishment of this network which was birthed out of the Performing Race curation – alongside fulfilling the role of Principal Investigator on the #MyNameIs project. In addition to these projects, I am also working on a number of small research studies that are focused on pedagogic approaches to teaching the screen and educational access and outcomes for students of colour in community and formal educational settings.

Outside of academia, I offer anti racist training consultancy services via MA Consultancy and am also a qualitative research advisory expert to the Young Vic on their INNOVATE project. In addition I am an engaged artist who uses a variety of formats such as photography and spoken word to generate work, which explores diaspora and identity. 

Prior to making a shift into education, I worked in the media industry in various capacities, including in print and video. My research draws on person centred methodologies that incorporate visual anthropology and narrative approaches to interrogate and re-conceptualise societal positioning(s) of the individual and their self-identity formation. For my interdisciplinary PhD in Sociology, Policy, and Media Education from the Institute of Education, UCL, I adopted qualitative longitudinal approaches to elicit individual voice and experience to explore the long-term and realtime impacts of policy percolation on low level vocational learners on media courses in Further Education (FE).

My work with this network is two fold and takes shape:

Facilitation of platforms and spaces for discourse and practice otherwise omitted from dominant narratives. 

Being hosted by the network in sharing work that aligns with its mission.

Affiliations 

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London

UCL , Institute of Education, Centre for Post-14 Education and Work

Decolonising the Arts Curriculum, University of the Arts London

TATE affiliated Digital Maker Collective

Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality, Leeds Beckett University

Young Vic on their INNOVATE project

Anti racist training consultant, via MA Consultancy

Principal Investigator: My Name Is (#MyNameIs)

Publications

2018. ‘Decolonising the Creative Arts Curriculum in White Spaces’, in Progress in Education Volume 56, ed. Roberta V. Nata, (New York:  Nova Publishers), pp 185 – 220.

2017. ‘Informal Learning in a Digital Landscape: A Higher Education Drama Conservatoire Case Study’, in Informal Learning: Perspectives, Challenges, and Opportunities, ed. Stephen Rutherford, (New York:  Nova Publishers), pp 135 – 185.

Academician Blog

2021. ‘An Ecological Exploration of Whiteness: Using Imperial Hegemony and Racial Socialisation to Examine Lived Experiences and Social Performativity of Melanated Communities’, in Routledge Handbook of Critical Studies in Whiteness, ed. Shona Hunter and Christi van der Westhuizen, (London: Routledge), pp 280 – 293.