Degrees Held
- B Paed (Science)
- B Ed (Honours
- M Ed
- D Ed
Profile
I develop module materials, teach and assess the following undergraduate modules: Natural Science Method 2, Biological Science for Educators 310, Life Sciences Biological Systems 1, Introduction to Teaching and Learning Natural Science. I also develop module materials, teach and assess the following Honours modules: Curriculum Development in Science and Mathematics Education, and Teaching and Learning in Science and Mathematics Education. I developed materials for Climate Change Education for in-service teachers, which was funded by Belgium organization VVOB.
Based on my expertise in the field of science education, I was requested to conduct an independent review of the Natural Sciences CAPS document by the chief director of Curriculum Implementation and Monitoring located in the National Department of Education. I served as a consultant representing tertiary institutions on the review panel for Science school textbooks for the Department of Basic Education. My expertise in the field of science education, resulted in me being selected as an examiner for the International Junior Science Olympiad, and I serve as the examiner for the SAASTE National Life Sciences Olympiad. I was nominated as plenary speaker in the 3rd BRICS Young Scientists Forum to facilitate the Young Women in Science dialogue. I represented UKZN at the HRDC Mathematics and Science Standing Committee (which advises Higher Education Ministry) and specified themes for Life Sciences content in the initial teacher training curriculum. Appointed as Deputy Chairperson of the College of Humanities Human and Social Sciences Ethics Committee. Also
appointed to the editorial board of Agenda feminist journal. Represented (and continue to represent) UKZN as a partner in the national Fundisa for Change Programme. Appointed by Government (GTAC) to write the Education Chapter on Covid-19 and the Education Sector. Developing MoU with Mauritius Institute of Education to research Science teacher education.
Awarded NRF grant of R744 000. Received the LEAP scholarship award to the value of R57 000.Received Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award from UKZN. Exploring support seeking behaviours of male undergraduate students at UKZN. I am the lead researcher on the project and was awarded R100 000 by the UTLO in lieu of this project.
Research Interests
An emerging research nexus area where social justice, education in general and science education in particular, intersect, is captured by my publications, research projects and conference presentations. This is an interdisciplinary field, and I address the following issues using a social justice lens: gender, transformative environmental education, alternative knowledge systems, and decolonizing the curriculum, as these apply to science education in particular and education in general. My publications are used to advance discourses related to human emancipation by making visible oppressive constructs, with a view to changing these.
Teaching Interests
The outcomes in my modules resonate with calls for a humanistic approach to education, as well as with goals of the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 to improve ourselves through creativity, and to promote an active citizenry capable of addressing poverty and deprivation. Students cultivate school gardens for food security, health and nutrition in order to achieve these outcomes. I encourage pre-service teachers to adopt a humanist approach to science teaching and to enable learners and their communities to become self-reliant, and this articulates with the NDP Vision 2030 for communities to be self-sufficient. The theory of cultural production underpins this activity, because pre-service teachers are taught to empower impoverished communities through food gardening, for example, and simultaneously leverage knowledge from their communities.
Teaching Expertise
- Postgraduate honours module: Teaching and learning in Science and Mathematics Education 2;
- Postgraduate honours module: Curriculum Development in Science and Mathematics Education
- Undergraduate content module: Life Sciences for Educators 340
- Undergraduate pedagogy module: Introduction to Teaching and Learning in Natural Sciences 211
Community Involvement
- (2020 to present) Exploring ‘STEM Education for 21st Century Citizenship (SECC21st)’ in the Mauritian and South African Contexts. I am Principal investigator and the lead coordinator. I was nominated by the Cluster Leader in 2020 to lead this international collaborative project. I schedule meetings, chair meetings and conceptualised the main and sub-projects. I developed the modus operandi to guide the principles for working on this collaborative venture. I present work to deepen understanding of key concepts. All except two members (who are busy with PhD study) of the Science and Technology Cluster are actively engaged in this collaboration.
- (2019 to present) Exploring possibilities for decolonizing Science and Mathematics Education Curricula. I am the Principal Investigator on the project and was awarded R744 000 by the National Research Foundation in lieu of this project.
- (2021 to present) Education chapter of Country Report on Covid-19. Appointed by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) to write the Education Chapter of the Country Report on the measures implemented by the South African government to combat the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa (2020-2021).
- (2020-2022) Keep It Cool (KIC) Climate Change Education project funded by a Belgian NGO, to the value of R800 000, under the auspices of the national Fundisa For Change programme. I collaborated with colleagues from UKZN to develop lesson plans for practicing teachers in the KIC project. Constructing solar ovens, food preservation and turning these into business opportunities, are among the focus areas of the project. The teaching strategy focuses on the model where Locally Relevant Teaching (LORET) offers teacher teams a step-by-step procedure to plan locally relevant, sustainable development teaching that is adapted to local needs. Skills for sustainability, as these relate to Infrastructure, Transport, Energy, Finance, Clean air, Innovation, Water and Food Security and Leadership, are emphasised.
- (2015-2018) Exploring support seeking behaviours of male undergraduate students at UKZN. I was the lead researcher on the project and was awarded R100 000 by the UTLO in lieu of this project.
- (2012-2016) Exploring learning and teaching methodologies in ethno-botany and integrating these in Life Sciences and Natural Sciences Education Higher Education curricula. UTLO funded. Project leader: Professor R Mudaly. Other members: Drs N Govender, A James.
- (2016-2018) Students’ understanding of what it means to be self-regulating learners of science and technology: a study of pre-service and in-service teachers at a South African university (HSS/1052/012). This is a Cluster project and is unfunded.
- (2016-2018) Exploring the integration of Science, Technology and Indigenous Knowledges (STIK) embedded in farming practices into university education curricula with regard to environmental sustainability and climatic change. Project leader: Prof N Govender. Other members: Prof R Mudaly and Dr A James
- (2016-2019) Women Academics: A South African Story. This is a national project and is funded by the NRF. Project leader: Professor V Pillay (UP).
- (2020-present) Designing and Evaluating the new B Ed curriculum to empower pre-service science teachers to develop positive beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and skills about practical work: A longitudinal study. Cluster project
Selected Publication
- Mudaly, R. and Sanjigadu, A. (2022). Epistemic Journeying across Abyssal Lines of Thinking: Towards Reclaiming Southern Voices. Education as Change, 26 (11442). https://doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/11442
- Mudaly, R., Mudaly, V., Sibanda, D. and Mthiyane, C.N. (2021). Transcending paradigmatic fractures: Reflections on a critically conscious academic identity through a decolonial lens. Alternation, 28(2), pp. 150-184. DOI https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2021/v28n2a7
- Mudaly, R. and Mudaly, V. (2021), Exploring how the national COVID-19 pandemic policy and its application exposed the fault lines of educational inequality. Journal of Education, 84, pp. 106-124. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i84a06
- Trinos, K. and Mudaly, R. (2020). Exploring Possibilities for Including Indigenous Knowledge into the Biology Teacher Education Curriculum: Leveraging Insights from Karanga Knowledge Holders, in Alternation, 36, pp. 76-116. DOI: 10.29086/2519-5476/2020/sp36a5
- Mudaly, R. (2020). Grabbing the Sharp End of the Knife to Bring Liberation, Peace and Justice to South Africans: Lessons from Ellen Kuzwayo and Phyllis Naidoo, in Agenda, pp.1-14. ISSN 1013-0950 print/ISSN 2158-978X online. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2020.1770108
- Adebayo, A. O. and Mudaly, R. (2019). Creating a decolonized curriculum to address food insecurity among university students, in Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 77(1): 179-194.
- Mudaly, R. (2018). Towards decolonising a module in the pre-service science teacher education curriculum: The role of indigenous knowledge systems in creating spaces for transforming the curriculum, in Journal of Education, 74: 47-66.
- Mukoni, M., Mudaly, R. and Moletsane, R. (2018). Gender and Women’s Participation in Community Environmental Education, in Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 34: 14-29. DOI 10.4314/sajee.v34i1.2 .
- Mudaly, R. and Singh, R. (2017). Listening to learners’ voices about the value of practical work in Natural Sciences in PONTE International Scientific Researches Journal, 72 (12/2): 46-58.
- Singh, S., Mabaso, B., Mudaly, R. and Singh-Pillay, A. (2016). Policy for Prevention of Sexual Assault on Campus: Higher Education Students’ Perspectives, in Alternation, 23(1): 113-134.
- Mudaly, R. (2016) “Doing youthful masculinity masculinities in an era of HIV/AIDS” in PONTE International Scientific Researches Journal, 72 (6): 228-256.
- Govender, N., Mudaly, R. & James, A. (2016) Engaging Indigenous Knowledge Holders in Teaching Pre-service Teachers in IKS Food Production and Practices: Implications for Higher Education in Alternation 23(1): 180-207.
- Mudaly, R. and Ismail, R. (2016) “Professional development in environment and sustainability education: Voices, practices and reflections of science teachers” in Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 32., pp.66-86.
- Ismail, R. and Mudaly, R. (2016) Navigating beyond the boundaries of routine practice: Tracking science teachers’ movement into the Zone of Feasible Innovation through professional development in PONTE International Scientific Researches Journal, 72 (8): 115-129.
- Mudaly, R.; van Laren, L.; Mitchell, C.; Pithouse-Morgan, K. and Singh, S. (2015) Connecting with pre-service teachers’ perspectives on the use of digital technologies and social media to teach socially relevant science in Perspectives in Education, 33(4): 23-41.
- Mudaly, R. & Van Wyk, J. (2015) “Pink Collar Medicine”: Medical students navigating the gendered landscape of a South African medical school” in South African Journal of Higher Education, 29 (4): 229-243.
- Mudaly, R. (2015). Creating my academic self and space: Autoethnographic reflections on transcending barriers in higher education in Journal of Education, 62: 35-57.
- Singh, S., Mudaly, R. and Singh-Pillay, A. (2015). The what, who and where of female students’ fear of sexual assault on a South African University campus in Agenda, 29(3): 97-105. (DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2015.1045335.)
- Pithouse-Morgan, K., Van Laren, L., Mudaly, R., Mitchell, C. and Singh, S. (2015) Digital animation for ‘going public’ on curriculum integration of HIV & AIDS in higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(2): 237-259.
- Mudaly, R (2013) The power of love: Young South Africans re-conceptualizing love and sexual relationships. Agenda 27 (2): 38-46.
- Mudaly, R and Ismail, R. (2013) Teacher learning through tapping into indigenous knowledge systems in the science classroom. Alternation 20(1): 178-202.
- Govender, N., Mudaly, R. and James, A. (2013) Indigenous knowledge of custodians of Zulu Culture- Implications for Multilogical Dialogue in the Academy. Alternation 20(1): 154-177.
- Van Laren, L., Mudaly,, Pithouse-Morgan, K., & Singh, S (2013) Starting with ourselves in deepening our understanding of generativity in participatory educational research. South African Journal of Education 33 (4): 1-16.
- Mudaly, R (2012) Shattering and reassembling hypersexual moments: girls
- indulging in the pursuit of pleasure. Sexualities Vol. 15(2): 225-242.
- Van Laren, L., Mitchell, C., Mudaly, R., Pithouse-Morgan, K., and Singh, S. (2012) Exploring University Educators’ Lived Experiences of Curriculum Innovating through Integrating HIV & AIDS. Alternation 19(2): 138-161.
- Van Laren, L. and Mudaly, R. (2012) Navigating the postgraduate terrain through a community of practice: Reflections of novice academics. South African Journal of Higher Education 26(5): 1080-1094.
- Mudaly, R (2012) Gazing Inward: Teaching in the Postgraduate Milieu. Alternation 19(2): 38-56.
- Mudaly, R. (2011) Risking It: Entering Uneven Socio-scientific Spaces in a Life Sciences Classroom. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (special issue) Vol. 15(3): 27-40
- Mudaly, R. (2011) Dangerous alliance: Constructing marriage on the fault line of gender. Agenda 87/25.1): 81-89.
- Mudaly, R. (2009) Theorising researcher self-effacement and youth deep insiders in the context of HIV and AIDS. Journal of Education, number 46: 159-182
- Mudaly, R. & Sookrajh, R. (2008). Young HIV/AIDS researchers taking the gender shots: calling the shots through photovoice. Agenda. 1.1 (75): 105-118.
- Mudaly, R. (2020). Re-thinking the integration of socioscientific issues in Life Sciences classrooms within the context of decolonizing the curriculum, in Evagorou, Nielsen, J. A and Dillon, J. (eds.), Science Teacher Education for Responsible Citizenship, pp. 173-192. (Book Series: Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education, Vol.52.) ISSN 1878-0482 ISSN 1878-0784 (electronic) ISBN 978-3-030-40228-0 ISBN 978-3-030-40229-7 (eBook), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40229-7.
- Mudaly, R., Mabaso, B., Singh, S. & Singh-Pillay A. (forthcoming). ‘Why you touching me? This is scary’: Alcohol, Fear and Miniskirts as risk factors in female students‘ understanding of violence on campus in Bhana, D., Singh, S & Msibi, T (Eds.) Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan
- Mudaly, R. (2013). ‘HIV/AIDS and sexuality education in the Life Sciences classroom: Life Sciences teachers as conscious practitioners’. In D. A. Francis (ed.): Sexuality, Society and Pedagogy. Bloemfontein, South Africa: SUN MeDIA. ISBN: 978-1-920382-43-8, pp.87-96.
Student Supervision
- NP Mnguni (2019) Integrating Science and language development: Teaching English Second language learners Natural Sciences
- Riaan Khan (2019) Exploring How Novice Teachers Can Decolonize a unit of work in the Science Curriculum
- Wayne Parbayal (2021) Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to Explore the Inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in selected Natural Sciences Textbooks
- Smiso Mvelase (2021) Exploring representations of Indigenous Knowledge in selected Life Sciences Textbooks: A critical discourse analysis
- Femida Mohammed (2019) Learners’ views about theor participation in science practical work
- Nkanyiso Biyela (2019) Exploring how teachers can integrate indigenous knowledge in Life Sciences classroom, and how IKS can be used to meet nutritional and health needs amongst Nqutu community in UMzinyathi district.
- Thishen Naidoo (2017) Assessment practices which focus on pre-service teacher training for community resilience: A case study of a biology lecturer
- Sanele Mngadi (2017) Exploring assessment for learning as a way of enhancing deep conceptual learning: A case study of a Biology lecturer.
- Reesha Premdutt (2017) Exploring the effectiveness of practical work in Natural Sciences classrooms.
- Nalini Dookie (2017) Views about project based learning in Natural Sciences classrooms
- Riaan Khan (2022) Towards decolonising a unit of work in the curriculum: Exploring the inclusion of scientists of non-western descent in the science curriculum, by pre-service teachers
- Thishen Naidoo (2020) Exploring how science teachers engage with the curriculum to teach socially responsive science
- Sebastian Sanjigadu (2020) (cum laude) A critical exploration of Grade 11 Life Sciences teachers’ and learners’ views about units of work with colonized and decolonized elements based on Tuberculosis: Ideological insights from a school in Durban
- T Sihele (2019) Exploring the factors which influence the performance of Life Sciences learners in selected rural schools in the Mthatha district
- Penelope Princess Z Ndlovu (2019) Exploring gender representations in selected science textbooks
- N Naidoo (2018) (summa cum laude)Exploring spaces for innovative teaching of environmental education in Life Sciences classrooms: A self-study
- A. Adebayo (2015) Exploring the views of pre-service science teachers about how they learn to teach environmental education
- L Govender (2015) An exploration of Pre-service Science and Mathematics Teachers` use of Visualisation Techniques: A Case Study at a South African University
- U Collings (2014) Exploring learners’ participation in school environmental clubs
- Raeesa Ismail (2013) (summa cum laude) Preservice Teachers views about learning to teach culturally inclusive science
- N Xulu (2012) Exploring the use of a science resource centre by Physical Sciences teachers
- Ncedisa Nohe (Year 2) Exploring how Agricultural Science teachers incorporate African indigenous knowledge when teaching soil science
- Catherine Myongo (Year 4) Exploring how preservice teachers include indigenous knowledge about African foods and beverages in science lessons
- Nkanyiso Biyela (Year 3) Leveraging insights from indigenous knowledge holders to explore the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in Life Sciences
- Smiso Mvelase (Year 1) Exploring representations of indigenous knowledge in selected Life Sciences textbooks.
- Neeteeya Appadoo (2021) Adolescents in distress who self-harm and their meaning making of school
- A Adebayo (2020) Exploring University-Community Engagement by Pre-Service Science Teachers through the Study of a Biology Module
- Daniel Gamira (2019) Exploring pre-service Geography teachers’ understanding and learning of Environmental Education at a University in Zimbabwe
- Manuku Mukoni (2018) Barriers to and possibilities for integration of women and indigenous knowledge in community environmental education: A Zimbabwean case
- A.I. Abongunloko (2017) Exploring religious youths’ views about Voluntary Testing and Counselling (VCT) within the context of HIV & AIDS
- Raeesa Ismail (2017) Exploring how professional development at a higher education institution can be used to support science teachers to engage in curriculum innovating in environment and sustainability education
- Sebastian Sanjigadu (in examination 2023) Addressing Sustainable Development Goals by leveraging indigenous knowledge: Experiences of Science and Mathematics teachers
- Kutenda Trinos (in examination 2023) Indigenous knowledge and infectious disease: Re-thinking the teacher education biology curriculum
- Natricia Naidoo (Year 3) Women’s career trajectories in science education: A Narrative Inquiry
- ‘Marafolatsane Seeiso (Year 2) Lesotho pre-service teachers’ integration of African indigenous leafy vegetables in the Agricultural Science curriculum
- Yasoda Chedumbaram (Year 2) Storying science and academia using a gendered lens in the Mauritian context
- Lindiwe Cynthia Ndlamlenze (Year 3) Integrating African Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the Natural Sciences curriculum: Lessons from teachers in selected rural schools