Funded Projects

Religion and education in Contemporary Uzbekistan: Religious and Spiritual Challenges in Public Education

The present project attempts to trace and investigate the policy of teaching religion in the system of public education of Uzbekistan through the prism of understanding of teaching discipline in a Muslim society in post-Soviet landscape as “teaching religion” or “teaching about religion”, as well as their connection in the formation of national and Muslim identity.

Political economy of Soviet education in Kazakhstan: a critical review

The paper intends to explore how the main historical events driven by the political economy of the USSR during 1920-1940 shaped the educational policies in Kazakhstan and subsequently affected to the notion of the ‘national identity’ of ethnic Kazakhs.

Coming together: A study of the role of non-state actors in refugee higher education in South Africa

The purpose of this study is to understand the role of non-state actors on refugee higher education (HE) in South Africa.

Forced Displacement and Educational Outcomes: An Assessment of Uganda’s Progressive Education Approach to Conflict-Affected Children (Refugees and IDP Returnees)

This study will be undertaken in Northern Uganda and focuses particularly on how forced displacement impacts the educational outcomes of conflict-affected children. The study intends to explore the difference in educational outcomes between refugees, defined as the displaced person who has crossed the international border to a neighboring country, and IDP returnees, defined as individuals who were forced to flee their home but never leave their country during the conflict and later returned home.

Exploring STEM teacher educators’ understanding of gender-responsive pedagogies in Kazakhstan

The project is focused on the exploration of Kazakhstani STEM teacher educators’ understandings and practices of gender-responsive pedagogies.

Unfurling the Peacebuilding Roles of Polytechnics Through the 4Rs Framework: A Political Economy Analysis of Polytechnic Colleges in Zimbabwe

This project seeks to unfurl the peacebuilding roles of polytechnic colleges in Zimbabwe through the 4Rs framework and posits a fifth R – reconfiguration.

Political Economy Analysis of Importing Higher Education: Russian International Branch Campuses in Uzbekistan

This research aims to understand the factors influencing the expansion of Russian university branch campuses in Uzbekistan through a critical discourse analysis of relevant policy documents and interviews with administrators and faculty of branch campuses.

Religious Discourses and Women’s Participation in Higher Education in Uzbekistan

Do private and public religious discourses influence women’s participation in higher education? The current research project, conducted in Uzbekistan, will answer this question by reviewing books and social media sources produced by four religious public figures from two different political periods. Additionally, the project will analyse school textbooks on ethics.

Medium of instruction, national identity and attitudes towards gender roles

This research project aims to explore the relationship between national identity, attitudes towards gender roles and medium of instruction in the Kazakhstani context.

Holistic evaluation of education interventions: cases of evaluating qualification frameworks

A holistic evaluation of education interventions to explore and understand the gaps in evaluative scholarship. A meta-analysis of evaluations focused on national qualifications frameworks will be conducted. The study asks to what extent are stakeholders represented in decision-making and past experiences of institutions and subjects considered.

Gender, language and social inequalities in the textbooks on the History of Kazakhstan

The research explores how gender and social inequities are produced by a language in school textbooks on the History of Kazakhstan. Particularly, textbooks in the Kazakh and Russian languages are compared. Using the multimodal approach to discourse analysis, we investigate how texts and images interplay to represent gender for school children.

Missing generation of the disabled children of independent Kazakhstan (1991-2021)

This research discusses the violation of the right to education of disabled children in Semipalatinsk in the context of the post-Cold War. The author argues that there was a missed generation of children with disabilities of the 90s, as they did not have or had limited access to education.

RE-IMAGINING HIGHER EDUCATION IN, AND FOR, THE CHAOSMOS: experimenting with regenerative, embodied approaches to learning at UCT’s Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies (CTDPS), drawing from the past, present and the future

We are exploring experimental approaches to education at UCT through module re-curriculation and dialogues. By building an experiential environment, we co-created module content with 50 students, culminating in an embodied futuring immersive experience. This approach offers current Higher Education learning landscapes new possibilities for the future.

The role NGOs play in education sector within post-conflict and crisis context

This study explores the work of local NGOs within the education sector and the contribution education makes towards peacebuilding and social cohesion in Kazakhstan.

Experiences of post high school youths in rural communities: a collaborative approach to enhancing resilience to attaining tertiary education

The study explores collaborative approaches that can be utilised by the Zimbabwean post-high school rural youths to attain the tertiary education they are failing to get. The study will identify types of networks that may assist in enhancing resilience for rural youths to attain quality tertiary education in the Zimbabwean context.

Understanding the importance of Oral Tradition as an educational tool in the marginalized rural town of Steynsburg, Eastern Cape SA, while exploring the existing indigenous knowledge through stories and songs

Explore and collect indigenous cultural knowledge that still exists in Steynsburg, Eastern Cape Province South Africa to highlight the importance of Oral Tradition as an educational tool for expression and knowledge sharing, investigate this mechanism, reinvigorate its use and investigate how Oral Traditions can contribute towards sustainable and equitable education in contemporary South Africa.

Perceptions among university students about the role of higher education in promoting peacebuilding and economic transformation: Evidence from South Sudan

This study shall provide an empirical understanding of the role of higher education in promoting peacebuilding and economic transformation among university students. It shall adopt the 4Rs model and a mixed method in two private universities and two public universities in two regions of South Sudan. 

The politics of languages in education: issues of access to education and labour market participation of minority ethnic groups in Kazakhstan

This research aims to investigate the influence of different language policies and reforms on educational and the economic situation of minority groups, specifically of Uzbek groups in Kazakhstan since gaining independence.

Language as a form of violence and assimilation: stakeholders’ views of Silozi as a medium of instruction and learning in the Zambezi region of Namibia

This project explores the impact of the current language policy in schools in the Zambezi region of Namibia. Silozi, as a medium of instruction in the Zambezi region, disempowers and marginalises several learners, leading to conflict and other forms of violence to the learning needs of learners.