Family Literacy Indigenous Learning and Sustainable Development
The Family Literacy sub-project of the Global Research Translation Award is working with partners in four countries (Ethiopia, Nepal, Malawi and the Philippines) to develop a more sustainable, relevant and ‘bottom-up’ approach to family literacy.
750 million adults, two-thirds women, are reported to be illiterate in the world today. Adult literacy and learning has been referred to as the ‘invisible glue’ between the Sustainable Development Goals, yet in policy and practice is often seen as a low priority.
We view literacy as embedded in people’s everyday activities and explore indigenous learning practices that can influence family well-being and livelihoods. In collaboration with UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, the UEA UNESCO Chair partner universities in Ethiopia, Nepal, Malawi & the Philippines are carrying out comparative ethnographic studies on indigenous approaches to intergenerational learning and knowledge creation.
The project includes research-policy interaction and dissemination activities to engage international, national and local stakeholders. Its major objective is to bring policy makers’ and educators’ attention to the disjunction between current mainstream approaches to adult/family literacy instruction and the ways in which adults and children learn in everyday life in order to enhance the contribution of education to sustainable development.
750 million adults, two-thirds women, are reported to be illiterate in the world today. Adult literacy and learning has been referred to as the ‘invisible glue’ between the Sustainable Development Goals, yet in policy and practice is often seen as a low priority.
We view literacy as embedded in people’s everyday activities and explore indigenous learning practices that can influence family well-being and livelihoods. In collaboration with UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, the UEA UNESCO Chair partner universities in Ethiopia, Nepal, Malawi & the Philippines are carrying out comparative ethnographic studies on indigenous approaches to intergenerational learning and knowledge creation.
The project includes research-policy interaction and dissemination activities to engage international, national and local stakeholders. Its major objective is to bring policy makers’ and educators’ attention to the disjunction between current mainstream approaches to adult/family literacy instruction and the ways in which adults and children learn in everyday life in order to enhance the contribution of education to sustainable development.
The Family Literacy, Indigenous Learning and Sustainable Development Project is funded by the University of East Anglia’s Global Research Translation Award (GRTA), a £1.36 million project to help tackle health, nutrition, education and environment issues in developing countries. The funding comes from the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), which seeks to fast-track promising research findings into real-world solutions. The project partners are University of Malawi, Malawi; Tribhuvan University Research Center for Educational Innovation & Development (CERID), Nepal; Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia; University of Santo Tomas, Philippines; and School of Education and Lifelong Learning and School of International Development, UEA, UK.
TEAM
Ahmmardouh Mjaya (Lead)
Ahmmardouh Mjaya, PhD , is a lecturer in linguistics in the Department of African Languages and Linguistics (ALL) and a Ciyawo language specialist at the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) at Chancellor College in the University of Malawi. As a lecturer, he teaches linguistics courses including language and literacy. At CLS he teaches Ciyawo language, translates documents, develops and compiles orthographies, dictionaries and grammars for Ciyawo. His research interest is in language and adult literacy.
Symon Chiziwa
Symon Chiziwa is a Senior Lecturer in School of Education, University of Malawi. He holds a PhD in Teacher Education. He is an expert in Curriculum Design, Development and Implementation, Early Childhood Education, Intergenerational learning and literacy, Pedagogical and Assessment practices, Teacher Education, Outcomes. He is UNESCO Chair coordinator at Chancellor College. Dr Symon has among others served as Head of Education Foundations Department and Dean of the School of Education at Chancellor College.
Jean Chavula
Ms Jean J. Chavula, PhD , is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Language Studies since 2003 and Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Malawi with expertise in both general and Applied Linguistics. She is also the Acting Deputy Director at the Centre. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from Leiden University (Netherlands). She successfully led the compilation of the first ever Citumbuka monolingual dictionary. She is a member of the Malawi UNESCO chair team.
Sushan Acharya (lead)
Sushan Acharya, PhD , is a Professor in Education at Tribhuvan University (TU) Nepal with interests in adult literacy, social inclusion, gender, language and indigenous knowledge in the context of teaching and learning. She has been conducting research studies and providing consultancy services in the education sector in Nepal for more than 20 years.
Kamal Raj Devkota
Mr. Kamal Raj Devkota, PhD , is an Assistant Professor of English Education at Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development, Tribhuvan University (CERID/TU), Nepal. He has over ten years’ experience of teaching and supervising graduate students. For CERID/TU, he has coordinated a number of studies including the research verification of Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), School Sector Development Plan (SSDP), Ministry for Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), Nepal. He has publications in (language) education policies and practices.
Abiy Menkir Gizaw(lead)
Mr Abiy Menkir Gizaw is a faculty member, an Assistant Professor in Adult Education and Community Development (AECD) Department, a PhD candidate, and member of UNESCO chair team in Ethiopia. He is also coordinating the Bahir Dar Learning City Project. His research interests include: lifelong learning, crafts learning, adult literacy, family literacy and learning, indigenous education and livelihood diversification, migration, etc.
Turuwark Zelalem
Ms Turuwark Zalalam Warkineh is an Assistant Professor in the department of Adult Education and Community Development, Bahir Dar University (BDU). She is currently studying her PhD and coordinating UNESCO Chair activities at BDU. She has been involved in various national adult education research studies as well as conducting research for an international IFAD-UNESCO project as a member of the country research team. Her research interest areas include adult literacy, informal learning, gender and education.
Yeraswork Megerssa Bedada
Yeraswork Megersa is a lecturer and a course chair in Adult Education and Community Development (AECD) Department; and UNESCO Chair member (assistant) at Bahir Dar University, including researching on the GRTA-funded family literacy project. She has studied both her BA and MA at the department of AECD, Bahir Dar University. The topic of her MA thesis was “The Practice and Challenges of Distance Education at Bahir Dar University” which was conducted using a mixed research (both qualitative and quantitative approaches). Her main research interests include: adult literacy and learning, lifelong learning, distance learning, indigenous and intergenerational learning, and gender, among others.
Tizita Lemma
Tizita Lemma Melka is assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, and UNESCO Chair core team member at Bahir Dar University. She earned her MA degree in Social Psychology and MPhil in Higher Education. She was the former head of the Department of Psychology. She had also been involved in different studies and community service projects that are related to both of her expertise.
Gina Lontoc (Lead)
Ms Gina Lontoc, PhD , is a faculty member from the College of Education and the Graduate School at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. She is the Lead of Community-Engaged Studies Research Interest Group at the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education (RCSSED) and the Coordinator for International Relations of the UST Graduate School.
Camilla Vizconde
Ms Camilla J. Vizconde, PhD , is Professor 3 of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Currently, she is the Assistant Dean of the UST Graduate School and is a research associate of the Research Center for Social Sciences and Education (RCSSED). She has authored and co-authored several research studies in national and international journals in the fields of Education, Literacy, Language Education and Reading Education.
Belinda V. de Castro
Belinda V. de Castro is currently the Director of the Research Center for Social Sciences and Education of the University of Santo Tomas and was also the Research Director of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Manila on secondment from July 2015 to March 2017. In her capacity as a researcher, she had been given several awards: 2014 National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Achievement Awardee, Dangal ng UST Best Published Work Awardee in 2011 and 2015 (Social Science and Education Category), Silver Series Research awardee in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010; Gold Series Research awardee in 2012 and International Publication awardee in 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012. To date, she had a total of twenty-one (21) international and five (5) local publications in the fields of shadow education, mathematics education, educational management, tourism and hospitality, and human resource management.
Anna Robinson-Pant
(Principal Investigator)
Anna Robinson-Pant is Professor of Education at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, UK. She holds the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation and is currently directing research on family literacy and indigenous learning with UNESCO Chair partners in Nepal, Ethiopia, Malawi and the Philippines. Her ethnographic research in Nepal - Why eat green cucumber at the time of dying? Exploring the link between women’s literacy and development - received the UNESCO International Award for Literacy Research in 2001 and marked the start of her ongoing collaboration with UNESCO on adult literacy.
Chris Millora
(Research Associate)
Chris Millora , PhD , is Research Associate for the UKRI/GCRF-funded project on Family Literacy, Indigenous Learning and Sustainable Development. He has recently completed his PhD in education and development at the University of East Anglia looking at the learning and literacy dimension of local volunteering in the Philippines. His teaching and research interests sits at the intersection of community-based social action and adult learning. He is Chair of BALID (British Association for Literacy in Development).
