School of Education

• B.A honours; Higher Diploma in Education; Diploma in Special Education; Masters in Education cum laude; PhD

Profile

Experience:

• Employed as a permanent lecturer in the School of Education, UKZN since January 2005.  Responsibilities have included: PhD and Masters research dissertations supervision; lecturing and co-ordinating Honours module Introduction to Social Justice Education; lecturing and co-ordinating Bachelor of Education foundational module Diversity and Learning; lecturing and co-ordinating PGCE EDPD 630 core module; lecturing and co-ordinating PGCE elective module Cross Curriculum Studies; served as Academic Qualification Co-ordinator for the PGCE 2008 – 2009; served as Head of SJE discipline 2013 – 2014.
• Worked as part of a Consortium of service providers, as part of the first stage of the implementation of WP6 on Building an Inclusive Education and Training System (2003 – 2004). This included: developing, co-ordinating, facilitating and supporting an in-depth training programme for IST and educators; developing materials towards this end (Educator guides, Facilitator guides, Support Resources); developing a monitoring and evaluation tool; conducting school and classroom monitoring and evaluation.
• Worked as the Co-ordinator of the Educator Development Component of a National pilot project run in three provinces, through the National Department of Education (2001 – 2003). The aim of the project was to facilitate the implementation of Inclusive Education and the White Paper 6 in pilot schools and 10% of non-pilot schools in the Estcourt district.
• Served as an External Evaluation Specialist for the All Learners Learning (ALL) activity of the CANADA-SOUTH AFRICA TEACHER DEVLOPMENT PROJECT in the East Vaal Region, Mpumalanga (2002 – 2003).
• Trained educators from Northern Cape Department of Education and Free State Department of Education farm schools in multi-grade teaching methods and assessment (2003 – 2004). Advised and consulted with Department of Education officials with regard to the pilot initiative of integrating farm schools into township schools with hostel facilities.
• Served as a critical reader for the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s New Revised Curriculum Statement document (2003).
• Counsellor / Vocational Guidance teacher at MOWAT PARK HIGH.
• Remedial English teacher at THE KENMONT SCHOOL and THE OPEN AIR SCHOOL.

Research Interests

• I am part of a working group of critical academic practitioners committed to researching ourselves within the context of autobiographical studies using visual methodologies. As a social justice lecturer, I believe it is essential for me to continually be self-reflective about all aspects of my identity, which relate in any way to diversity and differential power relations.

Teaching Interests

• Teaching for diversity, inclusion and social justice, Identity Politics

Community Involvement/Outreach

• I am involved with an ongoing rural community engagement initiative between UKZN and SIT (School of International Training), in the community of aMacambini (100km north of Durban), where SIT students from the United States and UKZN students work collaboratively to facilitate a development programme for secondary school learners in the area. The programme has a social justice focus, and facilitates youth dialogues on issues confronting rural youth. The main objectives are to deepen intercultural and interpersonal awareness, understanding and respect; and, develop a critical understanding of the complexities of themes such as community, democracy, and empowerment.

Publications (2011 – 2017)

Journal Articles:

• JOURNAL OF AFRICAN IDENTITIES, 2015 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14725843.2015.1023257 Remembering my whiteness / imagining my African-ness
• International Academic Forum publication of the official proceedings of the European Conference of Arts and Humanities 2013. Remembering my Whiteness – Imagining my Africaness. www.iafor.org
• PERSPECTIVES IN EDUCATION JOURNAL, Vol. 30 No. 1 March 2012 pp.53-60. Within and between the Old and the New
• BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, Vol. 50 No. 3 September 2002. Review on Doing Early Childhood Research – International Perspectives On Theory and Practice. Edited by G. Mac Naughton, S. Rolfe and I. Siraj-Blatchford. Buckingham: Open University Press.  2001. Reviewed by: Nalini Ramdenee, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa; Antoinette D’amant, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa; Dr Richard Bailey – Canterbury Christ Church University College

Chapters in Books:

• Muthukrishna, N., Morojele, P., Naidoo, J.T., & Damant, A. (2015). Access to education in South Africa. In E. G.Iriarte, R.  Gilligan and McConkey, R. (Eds.), Disability and human rights: Global perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
• Clowes, L., D’amant, A & Nkani, V. (2012). School principals and their responses to the rights and needs of pregnant and parenting learners. In Robert Morrell, Deevia Bhana ,Tamara Shefer. Books and babies: pregnancy and young parents in schools. HSRC Press: Cape Town, pp 35-48

Supervision: Masters Research

• Priscilla Manzi (208526038): Exclusionary and inclusionary dynmaics: Narratives of girls with disabilities in a mainstream primary school (2017)
• Sindisiwe Petronella Sibeko (212560182): The geographies of literact learning in the mother tongue (2016)
• Sibongile Monica Ndlela (9261804): The literacy practices in a Grade 4 English second language class in KZN (2016)
• Omalara Joy Oluwatuyi (212561530): Geographies of friendship formation” Narratives of immigrant children in high school (2016)
• Thabsisile Nelisiwe Mnqayi (213571334): Geographies of second language learners in and out of school: A narrative inquiry (2016)
• Nombuso Mthembu (Student number: 202518057): An exploration of the experiences of gays and lesbians living in the Ananda area of Durban (2015)
• Maurice Thembela Ndluli (Student No: 200207449): Experiencing substance abuse: Narratives of Grade 10 learners at a secondary school in KZN (2015)
• Alex Thamsanga Duma (Student number: 212560423): Bullying in and out of school: Personal narratives of primary school learners (2015)
• Thavanayagee Pillay (20415996): Merging Identities: A narrative inquiry into educator’s experiences of the merging process of FET colleges in SA (2013