RESEARCH

BACKGROUND

The overarching purpose of my research is to inform and inspire work that endeavors
to dismantle systems of oppression, rather than promote mere survival within them.
To do this, my interdisciplinary scholarship connects insights from the fields of
comparative and international education; critical refugee studies; and the anthropologies of education, childhood, development, and forced migration. Using mixed methods and the tools of critical and post-critical analysis, I examine how discourses, programs, & policies intersect with the lived experiences of marginalized communities and those affected by humanitarian crises and displacement.

In particular, I explore the historical and contemporary rise—and transnational dissemination—of largely Western pedagogies (e.g. social emotional learning, trauma-informed programming, play-based learning, etc.) and how recipient countries and communities make sense of, co-opt, embrace, and/or reject them. I pay particular attention to knowledge-production processes and how neocolonial practices, neoliberal assumptions, deficit discourses, trauma narratives, and resiliency rhetoric influence and shape individual and collective concepts of the self, identity, culture, and future. My research interests are rooted in my commitment to working towards more genuinely inclusive, just, equitable, and pluralistic education systems and opportunities for the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable learners.

TOOLS & METHODS

SOFTWARE & APPILCATIONS: NVivo, Kobo Toolbox, CommCare, Tangerine

DATA COLLECTION TOOLS: EGRA & EGMA (USAID); SERAIS (IRC); ACES (CDC); Choices (Harvard); Kiddy-KINDL (Ravens-Sieberer &

Bullinger); TIPPS (NYU); MELE (Multilateral); IDELA (Save the Children)

METHODS SPECIALIZATION: Qualitative, ethnographic, critical, and visual methods

RESEARCH PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE

  • Supporting the Tucheze Pamoja project, which aims to co-create feasible and sustainable play-based learning approaches in Tanzania. This project is in partnership with Michigan State University and the University of Dar es Salaam. Supporting on data analysis, framing, and development of project publications.

  • (Re)shaping Knowledge and Practices of Child Development Through Social Emotional Learning: An Ethnography with Burundian Refugees in Tanzania Conducting my dissertation research on social emotional learning (SEL) with Burundian refugees in Tanzania. I explored if/how this community conceptualizes SEL and if/how NGO education initiatives incorporating SEL have influenced conceptualizations, attitudes, practices, and behaviors related to SEL and child development.

  • Worked with Plan International and the PlayMatters Consortium on the design and implementation of multiple quantitative and qualitative research projects through the PlayMatters refugee education initiative in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda.

  • Perceptions of Play: A Photovoice Study with Refugee and Host Community Children in Northern Uganda

    Conducted a photovoice study as part of the PlayMatters Consortium research agenda. Led on the design and execution of the study with refugee and host-community children in the Adjumani District of Northern Uganda. Findings indicate that refugee and host-community children in the study locations conceptualize play as highly social, largely physical, joyful, a method of learning, and a potential contributor towards social cohesion. However, this study also demonstrated the problematic nature of “child-led” or “participatory-led” research activities in refugee contexts.

  • Conducted a qualitative study with Dr. Kassa Michael Weldeyesus from the Addis Ababa University - College of Education and Behavioral Sciences to understand how Education in Emergency practitioners working with refugee and displaced communities in East Africa conceptualize, understand, and implement social emotional learning (SEL) initiatives. Findings indicate that Western conceptualizations of, approaches to, and materials for SEL dominate the East Africa refugee education landscape with little contextualization or understanding of if/how refugee and displaced communities conceptualize, understand, value, and practice SEL.

  • Contracted by Management Systems International & USAID to support research on distance learning modalities for SEL during the time of COVID-19. Methods included secondary data review, document analysis, and interview.

  • Interviewed scholars, donors, and Education in Emergency (EiE) practitioners working at the forefront of social emotional learning (SEL) in emergencies. Findings indicate that EiE actors generally believe SEL is inherently rooted in culture and context and that SEL interventions in emergencies should be highly contextual to avoid ineffectiveness and potential risks of harm. However, systemic pressures imposed by the humanitarian architecture have: 1) limited explorations of local understandings of SEL and the development of “local” SEL approaches without the influence of existing source materials, and 2) conducting deep contextualization of globally generic SEL frameworks, materials, and approaches. Findings also indicate that limited conceptualizations of context and gaps in knowledge on how emergencies and critical factors (e.g. gender, race, privilege, power, history, and conflict) impact—and are impacted by—SEL interventions appear to render current contextualization processes as lacking nuance and largely ineffective.

  • Conducted a mixed methods study to understand how mindfulness influenced early learning in the Burundian refugee community in Tanzania. Methods included focus group discussions and open-ended survey response. Findings indicate that mindfulness had a positive influence on children’s learning outcomes and behavioral development.

  • Conducted a literature review and secondary data analysis on global education financing policy as it relates to equity targeting: girls, refugees, IDPs, youth, and the severely impoverished.