RESEARCH

BACKGROUND

The overarching purpose of my research is to inform and inspire work that dismantles systems of oppression, rather than promote mere survival within them. My interdisciplinary scholarship connects insights from qualitative inquiry, comparative and international education, critical refugee studies, and the anthropologies of education, childhood, development, and forced migration. Using primarily ethnographic, participatory, and critical methodologies, I examine how educational discourses, programs, and policies intersect with the lived experiences of marginalized communities, particularly those affected by humanitarian crises and displacement.

Much of my work traces the historical and contemporary rise—and transnational dissemination—of Minority World pedagogies such as social and emotional learning, trauma-informed teaching, and play-based learning. I explore how these “universal” interventions are embraced, contested, or reshaped by recipient communities, and how they carry epistemological assumptions rooted in racial and colonial histories.

Increasingly, my scholarship advances qualitative methodologies by disrupting extractive traditions and centering collaborative, participatory approaches that treat knowledge co-production as both method and outcome. This work underscores that knowledge-making is never neutral, but bound up with power, culture, and history. At its core, my research seeks to unsettle narrow definitions of “legitimate” knowledge and to cultivate more inclusive, pluralistic, and just research approaches and education systems for the world’s most marginalized 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, critical, collaborative, ethnographic, and visual methods

RESEARCH PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE

  • I am currently conducting a qualitative study to explore what folks who are either currently, or were previously, working on issues related to social emotional learning (SEL) in development and crisis contexts think about the current aid landscape and what it might mean for the SEL agenda going forward.

  • I am currently working with my research partner to conduct a qualitative study with undergraduate students at the United States International University-Africa to better understand their perceptions of lifelong learning as related to past educational experiences and envisioned futures.

  • I am currently supporting the Tucheze Pamoja project, which aims to co-create feasible and sustainable play-based learning approaches in Tanzania. This qualitative project is in partnership with Michigan State University and the University of Dar es Salaam.

  • (Re)shaping Knowledge and Practices of Child Development Through Social Emotional Learning: An Ethnography with Burundian Refugees in Tanzania

    I ethnographically explored if/how the Nduta refugee community conceptualizes SEL and if/how NGO education initiatives incorporating SEL have influenced conceptualizations, attitudes, practices, and behaviors related to SEL and child development.

  • I 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

    I conducted a photovoice study as part of the PlayMatters Consortium research agenda. I 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.

  • I 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.

  • I was contracted by Management Systems International & USAID to work with Dr. Kristen Bub to research distance learning modalities for SEL during the time of COVID-19. Methods included secondary data review, document analysis, and interview.

  • I 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) limited 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.

  • I 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.

  • I 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.