Dr Nisha Thapliyal

Biography

I come to the field of Comparative and International Education from a background in Social Work (MA) and Psychology (BA). My interest in critical pedagogies and education for social justice grew out of my work with institutionalised children in India - street children, orphans, so-called juvenile delinquents etc. Both my MA and BA research thesis focused on the discrimination and challenges negotiated by institutionalised children. More specifically children with physical and cognitive disabilities as well as children labelled as juvenile delinquents. The overwhelmingly negative encounters that these children had had with the educational system stood out in stark contradiction to my own. I set out to explore these differences in educational opportunity and quality through the work of critical educators like Paulo Freire and bell hooks. I have been journeying with critical and feminist educators ever since.

The scope of my exploration today has expanded from pedagogy and curriculum to education policy analysis and advocacy. I am particularly interested in how community-based activists and social movements can contribute to the democratisation of education policy making. I am also interested in how the Right to Education, Education for All and other global policy discourse interact with national and sub-national decision-making about education.

Qualifications

• PhD (Education Policy), University of Maryland - USA, 2006
• Master of Arts (Social Work), Tata Institute of Social Sciences - Mumbai - India, 1998
• Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), University of Madras, 1997

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Research

Research keywords

• Education policy analysis, Social movements and education, The Right to Education

Research expertise

My scholarship is centered around education policy analysis, advocacy and activism for policy change, and the impact of globalisation on educational change. My theoretical framework is informed by critical, feminist, and queer theories of education.

My PhD dissertation analysed the educational philosophy and practices of the Landless Workers Movement Brazil. Since then I have studied the impact of grassroots and community-based activism on education policy in the following countries: South Africa, India and the United States of America.

Languages

• English
• Hindi
• Portuguese

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
130302	Comparative And Cross-Cultural Education	40
160506	Education Policy	40
130308	Gender, Sexuality And Education	20

Centres and Groups

Group

• ERIN-Comparative and International Education Group University of Newcastle (CIEGUN)

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Comparative Education, Education Policy Analysis, Peace Education, Social Movements and Education, Gender and Development

Teaching expertise

I currently teach:-

EDUC 6261 Comparative Education: Debates and Dilemma

EDUC 2103: Schooling, Identity and Society

EDUC 1008: Foundations of Education

My previous teaching experience has included courses on:-

Comparative and International Education

Education and International Development

Education for All and Global Education Policy Initiatives

Education Theory and Research Methods

Economic, social and cultural foundations of education

Education for Peace and Nonviolence

Gender, Education and Development

Social Movements in Education

The American School