Positive partnerships: developing effective collaboration between schools and universities

This article will discuss a recent collaborative initiative between the University of Lincoln School of History and Heritage and the Lincolnshire Teaching School Alliance. This project, entitled ‘Decolonising history: sharing research and approaches with schools’ was funded by a PEARL grant (Public engagement for all with research at Lincoln) from the University and ran from March 2020 to December 2021. As a result of this work, substantial changes in the KS3 curriculum has been undertaken across the four participating schools as well as a notable increase in teacher confidence and excitement in engaging with these more challenging and unfamiliar topics. Lincolnshire schools have a significant proportion of white, working class pupils which is an important context in which to think about this decolonising work. This article will discuss the nature of this collaboration and what we see as the reasons for its success