
Silhouette Bushay
Senior Lecturer in Education Studies
Senior Lecturer
Department of Education , School of Childhood and Social Care
Silhouette Bushay is a Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at UEL's School of Childhood and Social Care who has worked as an academic at UEL since 2013. She works across the Early Childhood and Education Cluster and within Teacher Education and Training.
Qualifications
- BA (Hons) Education and Community Development
- PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
- PhD in Social Science (successful thesis defence and currently addressing minor corrections)
Areas Of Interest
Silhouette’s broad research interest can be understood as:
- Black girlhood
- Lived experiences of Black communities and inequalities
- Intersectional racial justice, culturally responsive/relevant, decolonial, creative-oriented pedagogies, research and practices in various informal, nonformal and formal contexts
- Black music, cultures, and histories.
OVERVIEW
Silhouette works part-time as a Senior Lecturer at the University of East London. She is the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Education Top Up and BA (Hons) Education Top Up (Online) degrees and leads the Culture and Diversity module on the MA Education course – all courses are taught at the School of Childhood and Social Care. Silhouette is an interdisciplinary researcher whose research interests span various fields.
In general, her research focuses on Black communities, with particular emphasis on Black women and girls at the intersection of race, racism, gender and other social categories as they relate to various education and social contexts. Her Ph.D thesis ‘Uncovering a Grimey Hip-Hop and Grime (Critical Race) Feminist Pedagogy’ explored the Hip Hop and Grime pedagogies of and for Black British girls.
Before working at the University of East London, Silhouette had worked in various contexts, including secondary schools, alternative provision, further education, community centres, and youth provisions.
Through her work with small charities/social enterprises, she has also initiated and delivered critical, creative, cultural, and social justice-focused projects that promote critical dialogue, well-being, call to action, raise visibility, and educate in informal and formal learning spaces.
Silhouette's work extends to working with professionals in various sectors, such as compulsory education, internal/external post-compulsory education, alternative education, and youth provisions. This work includes Education/EDI/social justice consultation and staff training.
She has experience with EDI-oriented interventions, including during the validation process of various programmes within the School of Childhood and Social Care. Silhouette has also experience in new module validation and revalidations for:
- Youth and Communities Studies
- Psychosocial, Early Childhood Studies
- Education Studies and Special Education Needs undergraduate degree programme.
Her research focuses on a range of race, gender, music, culture and education-related subjects from varied vantage points.
Awards and Fellowships
Silhouette is a multiple award winner, awarded by the University of East London:
- Fellowship of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) 2015 - present
- School of Education and Communities ‘In EDI Practice’ Award 2021
- School of Education and Communities ‘In EDI Practice’ Award 2020
- Vice Chancellor and President ,‘In EDI Practice’ Award 2020
- Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching ‘Most Inclusive Teaching Practices’ Awards Prize Winner 2019
- Cornel DaCosta Prize Winner for ‘Community Development’ Award 2011
External roles
- External Examiner at the Open University (OU)
Research Centre Membership
- Centre for Social Justice and Change (CSJC)
CURRENT RESEARCH
- PhD Candidate researching The Pedagogies of British Black Women who engage with Hip Hop Culture, and Hip Hop and Grime Music
- PhD thesis title: ‘Uncovering a Grimey Hip-Hop (Critical Race) Feminist Pedagogy
Conferences, seminars and public engagements
- Bushay, S. (2023) "Let Flow: Hip Hop, from Levitation to Libation. Archiving Hip Hop: 50 Years in the Making. Keynote". Milton Keynes. 29 September 2023
- Bushay, S. (2022) "Intersectionality and Education in England". The Department for Education. (online) London. 7 July 2022
- Bushay, S. (2020) "Race and Education". Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Training Events. (online) London. 18 June 2020
- Bushay, S. (2019) "Woman 2 Woman: Hip Hop Feminist Classroom Reflections". Working Paper at the London Centre for Communication, University Arts London, London. April 2019
- Bushay, S. (2018) "Gendering Hip Hop Relations". Presentation at Breakin’ Convention and UK Hip-Hop Conference, Sadler’s Wells, London. September 2018
- Bushay, S. (2018). The Remix: Hip-Hop as Critical Pedagogies in Academic Spaces. Presentation delivered at King's College London Seminar Series (London). 3 July 2018
- Bushay, S. (2016). Hip-Hop as Critical Pedagogy in Academic Spaces. Paper presented at the Power of Hip-Hop: Exchange Conference (London), 8 July 2016
- Invited to chair the 'Cultural Power of Hip-Hop' panel at the Power of Hip-Hop: Exchange Conference (London). July 2016
- Invited to join 2016 London Feminist Film Festival jury panel for Feature Film Awards Category
- Bushay, S and Pariz 1 (2016) Hip Hop Fems Make Some Noise. Workshop delivered at ElevateHer Conference (London). 4 March 2016
- Founder/organiser of International Women's Day conference, ElevateHer which was founded in March 2015, hosted by the School of Education and Communities, supported by Athena SWAN
TEACHING
MODULES
- Module Leader: ET7707 – Culture and Diversity
Publications
Browse past publications by year.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications
- Book Review Symposium: 1. Mike Cole (2019) Trump, the Alt-Right and Public Pedagogies of Hate and for Fascism: What is to be Done? London and New York: Routledge Focus; 2. Mike Cole (2020) Theresa May, the Hostile Environment and Public Pedagogies of Hate and Threat: The Case for a Future Without Borders. London and New York: Routledge Focus Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies. 18 (2), pp. 409-431
- Can Hip Hop Empower Women? Sociology Review Magazine. 26 (4), pp. 26-29
- Da Process: Hip-Hop, Pedagogy and Black Bodies The BERA Blog
- Why hip hop should be used to teach The Conversation