Making spaces for collaborative action and learning: Reflections on teacher-led decolonising initiatives from a professional learning network in England

Abstract

This article draws on the experiences of teachers and teacher educators within the “Bristol Decolonising Network”, an informal professional learning network based in South West England, to share examples of teacher-led decolonising/antiracist initiatives. The seven vignettes presented cover a range of subject areas across the English Secondary school curriculum, with varying rationales, foci, forms and intended outcomes. For this Special Issue, we look across these cases to consider links between teacher-led decolonising and antiracist initiatives and professional learning. We suggest that professional learning is both a condition for, and outcome of, teachers' engagement in such work; and that extending collaboration beyond hierarchical and institutional boundaries is a key enabler for progress on this agenda.