​Head of Departme​nt

Prof Nhlanhla Mpofu​

PhD (University of Pretoria); MEd; BA English (with Education) (Solusi University)

021 808 2284
nmpofu@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS:
Language Education

BIO NOTE:
Nhlanhla Mpofu is the Chair of the Department of Curriculum Studies and an Associate Professor in Language Education. She holds a PhD in Humanities Education (English Education) from the University of Pretoria that was funded by a Margaret McNamara Education grant. Nhlanhla also obtained a Master's degree (cum laude) in English Language Teaching and Literature and Bachelor of Arts (with Education) in English and Communication from Solusi University. Nhlanhla is a rated researcher as well as a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Since 2019, she has served as a member of the South African Council on Higher Education's Accreditation Committee.  

She has been a Visiting Professor at Antwerp School of Education at the University of Antwerp, Belgium since 2022. From 2019–2022, Nhlanhla was a visiting professor at the Watson College of Education at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington in the USA. Nhlanhla is an alumna of the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) at  University of Antwerp, Belgium  and Coventry University, UK. Nhlanhla is also a Fulbright alumna as she was awarded a teaching fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA from 2017-2018.  She has also been involved in a range of teacher education and material development initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa in countries like Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe. More recently, she has served as an assessor for the Botswana National Research Awards. As part of the BAQONDE project (a collaborative project with four South African universities, (North-West University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of the Western Cape and Rhodes University), and three European universities (Trinity College Dublin, University of Groningen in the Netherlands and University of Salamanca in Spain), Nhlanhla is one of the language experts promoting the use of indigenous African languages as a medium of instruction in tertiary education. 

Her scholarship focuses on the difficulties associated with English as a second language and the language of instruction (ELI) across various disciplines and within multicultural environments. She seeks innovative methodologies extracted from current pedagogy and combines a strategic, epistemological, and pragmatic understanding of nuanced discourse within multilingual education systems. Her departure point is the framework of an epistemological repertoire, bound by contextual linguistic resources, which are all controlled by the practitioner. Her conclusions, which incorporate successful collaborations from both the global South and global North, have played a vital role in re-orienting second language education research by re-establishing and empowering the language teacher as a knower in the multilingual, multicultural, and superdiverse secondary school classrooms.

 

​Dr CG America

TDC (Pen Tech), BA, BAHons, MComm (UWC), PhD (Stell)

Office number:  3015
021 808 3793​​​
camerica@sun.ac.za​

FOCUS AREA:
Business Education

BIO NOTE:
Carina America is a senior lecturer and subject co-ordinator of Business Education in the Faculty of Education at the Stellenbosch University.  She graduated from the University of the Western Cape with a Master's degree in Commerce and completed her PhD in Education at Stellenbosch University.  Her work and academic experience have been largely linked to business and business education.  After qualifying as a schoolteacher, she taught in the fields of Accounting, Economics and Business Studies.  Thereafter, she worked in the financial services sector, after which she joined the higher education sector as a commerce lecturer, first in a Business Faculty and then in an Education Faculty.  She has published in accredited journals and presented papers at various local and international conferences, focussing on issues related to in-service and pre-service teaching in Business Education.  She was also involved in various national research projects on curriculum and assessment and has written several technical reports. She postgraduate students and acts as an external examiner for numerous masters and doctoral theses. She also regularly reviews articles written for publication related to Business Education.

 

​Dr Zelda Barends

B Ed (US), B Ed Hons (US), M Ed (NWU), PhD (NWU)

Office number: 4015
021 808 3930
zbarends@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS:
Language Education and Language in Education – Early Childhood Education / Foundation Phase

BIO NOTE:
Zelda Barends is a senior lecturer and teacher educator in the Department of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Her research interests are within the broader field of early childhood education (5 – 9 years), with a particular focus on literacy, literacy teacher education, reading, reading instruction in the foundation phase, teacher education and work-integrated learning. She has published in all these areas and publications include journal articles, book chapters and popular articles in professional journals and publications. She lectures on under and post graduate programmes and serves as a research supervisor to master's and doctoral students. 

Zelda Barends is the Associate Editor of Reading & Writing, a peer reviewed, inter-disciplinary and inter-professional scholarly journal that explores how literacy is defined, enacted and promoted in a range of institutional, socio-cultural and disciplinary contexts', particularly within Africa and other developing countries. 

Zelda is a member of the International Literacy Association (ILA), the Literacy Association for South Africa (LITSA) and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and her published research papers has highlighted her work in how the professional training and experience are combined to equip beginning teachers with the knowledge and skills needed for effective literacy teaching.

 

Mrs Shannon Bishop-Swart

BA Ed (UP), ATCL Speech and Drama (London), MA TESOL (TC, NYC)

​Office number:  3019
021 808 2282
sbishop@sun.ac.za​​

FOCUS AREAS: Teacher well-being, online learning environments (OLEs), reflective practice in education, and English as a Second/Additional language (ESL/EAL).​

BIO NOTE:
Mrs Shannon Bishop-Swart is currently pursuing her PhD in Education Policy at Stellenbosch University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from the University of Pretoria, an Associate Diploma in Drama from Trinity College in London, and a Masters in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, through a Fulbright scholarship. She has 22 years local and international teaching experience, predominantly teaching high school English Language and Literature, and has taught across 4 continents, holding the positions of Head of English, Deputy Head of Academics and Lead Teacher Trainer. She is the co-founder of PACHEDO, an international education non-for-profit based in Uganda. Her research interests include teacher education with a focus on teacher well-being, online learning environments (OLEs), reflective practice in education, and English as a Second/Additional language (ESL/EAL). Before joining the Curriculum Studies department, she was the Intensive English Programme Coordinator and Lecturer at SU's Language Centre, working predominantly with international students' intent on improving their English Language skills, managing 6 English Second Language (ESL) teachers across 4 English programmes (IEP, EAP, TESOL, IELTS). She currently lectures the BEd English Language and Literature 1^st year Foundation and Intermediate Phase modules, the 3^rd BEd year English Language and Literature Intermediate Phase module, the BEd Honours: Digital Pedagogy in Language Education module, and the PGCE English module: Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT).​

 

Dr ML Botha

BSc. Ed, BSc (Hons) Botany, MSc and PhD Plant Physiology (RAU)​

Office number:  4017
021 808 2293
lbot@sun.ac.za

​FOCUS AREAS:
Mathematics, Science and Technology​​​

BIO NOTE:
Dr Marie Louise Botha is a senior lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies. She holds a BSc.Ed, BSc (Hons), Master's degree and Doctoral degree in Plant Physiology which she obtained from the former Rand Afrikaans University. She has published research articles in accredited journals and conference proceedings, presented conference papers at various nationally and internationally educational conferences. She has edited, authored and co-authored various chapters in books regarding science teaching and curriculum. Dr Botha is a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship focusing on the role of university-school relationships in enhancing science teacher education and training. Dr Botha participated in the first European Teacher Education Network, Blended Intensive programme. Dr Botha specalises and lectures in Natural Sciences in the BEd programme, Life Sciences and Curriculum Studies in the PGCE and BEd Hons programmes. Her areas of interest includes science teacher education, curriculum inquiry, teaching and learning, and mentorship. Dr Botha is module coordinator for Natural- and Life Sciences in the BEd, PGCE and BEd Hons programmes. She supervises and co-supervise MEd and PhD students, and successfully delivered postgraduate students. She has been an external examiner for numerous PhD and Masters' degree theses. She is a member of the South African Educational Research Association (SAERA) with special interest in teaching and learning. ​

    ​Dr N Edwards

BSc, HDE (PG Sec), BEd (Hons), MEd (UCT) , PhD (SU)​

Office number:  4051
021 808 2291
nedwards@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS:
Science Education

BIO NOTE:
Nazeem Edwards is a senior lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies and is a former coordinator of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). His research interests are within the broader field of Science Education, with a particular focus on the development of students' conceptual understanding through inquiry-based science teaching. Dr Edwards has a keen interest in the use of computer-based simulations to expose students to multimodal representations of concepts.  He also works collaboratively with colleagues in Chemistry on the SUNCOI project to provide high school students opportunities to learn practical skills in the laboratory.  He has been a member of the South African Educational Research Association (SAERA) since its inauguration in 2013.

 

​Dr Omar Esau

FOCUS AREAS:
Teacher education, curriculum development, emancipatory action-research, HIV/Aids education, sport education and religion education.

BIO NOTE:
Omar Esau is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies at Stellenbosch University. He started his teaching career at the age of 19 after completing a three-year Diploma in Education at the Hewat Teachers College. During his teaching career of 23 years in the WCED, he acted and served as an Educator, Head of Department, Deputy Principal and Principal. Presently, he serves on the BEd. committee, Equity committee and master’s & doctoral committee in the Faculty of Education. His master's and doctoral students work more broadly in school improvement and teacher development. As a specialist in emancipatory action research and sports and education, he published a book on Checkmating HIV/Aids as a Teacher Researcher in 2010 and recently a novice book - Let’s Play Chess in 2022. In his recent conference presentations and published works, he concentrates on preparing pre-service teachers for the diverse classroom and teaching in a digital age. ​

    ​Dr MF Gierdien

BSc, HED (Cape Town), PhD (Michigan State University)

Office number:  4025
021 808 2289
faaiz@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREA:
Mathematics, Science and Technology​​​​​

BIONOTE:
Faaiz Gierdien works in the Department of Curriculum Studies as a senior mathematics educator. His research interests are in mathematics education and teacher education, with a particular focus on aspects of continuing professional development and the use of information and communications technology in relation to school mathematics reform.  His master's and doctoral students work more broadly within the field of mathematics education and its intersections with teacher education. Dr Gierdien is an associate editor of Pythagoras, the premier mathematics education journal in South Africa. Faaiz is currently a co-investigator in the Local Evidence-Driven Improvement of Mathematics Teaching and Learning Initiative (LEDIMTALI) based at the University of the Western Cape. During December 2017 he will be spending a sabbatical period at Hamburg University where he will be sharing his evolving expertise in continuing professional development-related issues. 

 

​Ms Tarryn Halsall

B Ed (UKZN), B Ed Hons (UKZN), M Ed (UKZN)

Office number: 4048
021 808 2108
thalsall@sun.ac.za​

FOCUS AREA:
History Education​

BIO NOTE:
Tarryn Halsall is a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University. She has been a High School teacher since 2009 and has since joined the Faculty in 2020. During her teaching tenure, she has taught History in both South Africa an d Vietnam. Her research interest lies in History education with particular focus on history textbook research. 

Tarryn is currently working on her PHD which focuses on the representation of BRICS countries in South African history textbooks.

 

Dr PP Kese

MTech (Pentech), PhD (SU), Registered Assessor (ETDP SETA)

Office number:  2003
​021 808 3971
phumla@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS
Language & Literacy Education and Training plus Language for Learning  ​

BIO NOTE:
Phumla Kese holds PhD in Curriculum Studies. The coursework of her Master’s degree in Education Management entailed Educational Leadership and Curriculum Studies. She serves in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University. Her PhD work aimed at contributing to the active functioning of indigenous African languages for advancing discipline-specific academic literacy practices in a multilingual higher education setting. Phumla Kese's academic research interests are on the affordance of popular culture, literary art and African theatrical practices as alternative tools and strategies of advancing the act of knowing. Her pedagogical approach is premised on the working of the curriculum relevant for school environments in regard of a co-curriculum in teacher education and training. In her facilitation-of-learning ministry, her work is characterised by a Pedagogy of Presence in which human-centredness is vital. The recent concerns about literacy recovery for Foundation Phase learners in South Africa, prior-during and post the COVID-19 pandemic have drawn Phumla Kese’s attention for philosophical review and practice. She has been formally awarded for her practice and performance in various platforms.

 

Dr Oscar Koopman

BSc, HDE (FET), B.Ed (Hons), M.Ed (Science Ed.) (UWC), PhD (SU)

Office number: 3010
okoopman@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS
Curriculum studies, science education, phenomenology​

BIO NOTE:
Dr Oscar Koopman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies at Stellenbosch University where he is responsible for teaching Curriculum Studies on both under- and post graduate programmes and for the supervision of masters and doctoral studies. As a phenomenological scholar, his research is part of a larger enterprise in search of understanding the consciousness of science teachers, learners, academics and students as an evolving system of thought in education. At this stage of his career, he has published two sole-authored academic books titled Science Education and Curriculum in South Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and Science Education and Pedagogy in South Africa (Peter Lang, 2018), as well as two co-authored academic books, titled Phenomenology and Educational Research: Theory and Practice (Whale Coast Academic Press, 2020) and Decolonising the South African University: Towards a Curriculum of Self Authentication (Springer Nature, 2023). Additionally, Dr Koopman has published extensively in continental and international journals and chapters in books with both national and international publishers. 

In 2012 he was an invited Visiting Professor to New Orleans University, in the United States and in 2019 yet again as an Invited Visiting International Professor to Brock University in the Niagara Region, in Toronto, Canada where he was also a guest lecturer. In the same year, in 2019, he received the Global Scholar Award from Brock University where he currently serves as an Advisory Board Member of the ‘Teaching Nelson Mandela Project’, which is a collaboration between the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and Brock University. Dr Koopman is also a member of the sub-committee for mathematics and science for teacher education of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) in South Africa. ​

 

​Dr E Lampen

BScHons (RAU), MEd (Stell), PhD (Witw)

Office number: 4026
021 808 2292
ernalampen@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS​:
Mathematics, Science and Technology, Mathematical thinking, Statistical thinking

BIO NOTE:​
Erna Lampen is a senior lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Her research interests are within the broader field of pre-service teacher education, with particular focus on aspects of problem-centred mathematics; learning to notice and respond to learner reasoning; and developing conceptual teacher talk specifically in the content areas of geometry and statistics. Her Master's and Doctoral students work broadly within school mathematics education and mathematics clubs.

 

Ms Agatha Lebethe

HDE (UWC), DME (UCT), MA (UCT)​

Office number: 4024
021 808 2286
alebethe@sun.ac.za​

FOCUS AREAS:
Mathematics Education​​​​​​

​
BIO NOTE:
Agatha Lebethe is a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Her experience and interests in primary mathematics education includes: the encouragement of mathematical thinking, purpose of multiple representations, young children's mathematical recording, the design of maths assessment questions and tasks, the research, the narratives of beginner maths teachers and structure and trajectories within Primary Mathematics Curriculum. 

Agatha's research interests include Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education and the integration of Service Learning as a pedagogical strategy in Pre-service Teacher Education.​

 

Prof Lesley Le Grange

BSc (UWC), HDE (PG)sec, BA, BEd, MEd cum laude

Office number:  4013
021 808 2280
llg@sun.ac.za

BIO NOTE:

Lesley le Grange is ʼn uitgelese professor in die Fakulteit Opvoedkunde aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch (US). Hy beskik oor die volgende kwalifikasies: BSc (Universiteit van die Wes-Kaap), HOD (NG Sek), BA, BEd, MEd cum laude (Universiteit van Kaapstad) en PhD (US). Hy begin sy loopbaan as ʼn hoërskool- wetenskaponderwyser en in sy tyd as onderwyser, dien hy ook as departementshoof vir biologie en waarnemende adjunkskoolhoof. Daarna is hy ʼn deeltydse dosent by verskillende universiteite, ʼn kontraknavorser en ʼn vryskut- opvoedkundige konsultant, voordat hy in 1999 in die voltydse akademiese posisie aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch aangestel word.

Aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch dien hy as die voorsitter van verskeie komitees, is ʼn voormalige hoof van die Departement Kurrikulumstudie, dien twee termyne as Visedekaan (Navorsing) van die Fakulteit Opvoedkunde en dien ook ʼn wyle as waarnemende dekaan in dieselfde fakulteit. Hy doseer en doen navorsing op die gebied van omgewingsoopvoeding, wetenskapsonderwys, hoeronderwys, kurrikulumstudie en hoëronderwysstudie.

Lesley le Grange het reeds 249 publikasies op sy kerfstok, is die ontvanger van vele akademiese toekennings en dien in die redaksiekomitee van twaalf gerefereerde vaktydskrifte. Hy het al meer as 170 akademiese aanbiedings gelewer (meer as 70 daarvan as die genooide spreker) en talle beroepsontwikkelingskursusse/ ‑werksessies vir universiteitsakademici aangebied. In 2015 word hy tot genoot van die Koninklike Vereniging vir Biologie (Verenigde Koninkryk) en in 2019 tot ʼn lid van die Wetenskapsakademie van Suid-Afrika (ASSAf) verkies. In 2018 word hy deur die Minister van Hoër Onderwys, Wetenskap en Tegnologie as lid van die Hoëronderwysraad (HOR) aangewys en in 2023 word hy vir ʼn tweede termyn aangestel. Hy word ook in 2021 deur die Minister van Basiese Onderwys as raadslid van die Suid-Afrikaanse Raad vir Opvoeders (SARO) aangewys. Ná twee dienstermyne as die visepresident, word hy in 2020 tot president van die Internasionale Vereniging vir die Bevordering van Kurrikulumstudie (IVBKS) verkies. In 2022 word hy in die Raad van die Universiteit Stellenbosch aangestel. Lesley le Grange word as ʼn internasionaal bekroonde navorser deur die Nasionale Navorsingstigting (NNS) gegradeer en het as sameroeper van die spesialis- NNS-graderingskomitee vir Opvoedkundepaneel 1 gedien. Hy het ook as voorsitter van verskeie navorsingsbefondsingsskomitees van die NNS gedien. Sy huidige navorsingsbelangstellings sluit die volgende in: volhoubaarheidsonderwys; onderwys in ʼn posthumanistiese wêreld; die geskiedenis van skoolbiologie in Suid-Afrika; die verwantskap tussen wetenskap en inheemse kennis; ubuntu as ekofilosofie en die implikasies daarvan vir onderwys; kurrikulumverandering in Suid-Afrika met betrekking tot die lewenswetenskappe, geografie en omgewingsopvoeding; die dekolonisering van die universiteitskurrikulum; en navorsingsmetodologie.​

 

Dr Chrischar Rock

HDE (UWC), BA Hons (UWC), MA Educ (UCL, UK), PhD (SU) 

Office number:  4007c
021 808 2376
chrishar@sun.ac.za

BIO NOTE:
Dr Chrischar Rock is a citizenship, multiculturalism and human rights practitioner with twenty years professional teaching and facilitation experience in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Between 2001-2014 she held the post of Head of Citizenship at two inner-city comprehensive North London colleges, developing and advising on several educational initiatives to promote citizenship education, youth engagement and political literacy. For many years she served as a teacher training mentor at the Institute of Education (University College London) and as an associate curriculum content writer for the National Schools Partnership. Chrischar has acted as a Leadership Coach on the Mandela Washington Fellowship Programme for their Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). She is a Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Alumnis and holds a Masters' Degree in Education and International Development from UCL Institute of Education (UK), with a research focus on curriculum reform and teacher identity. In January 2017, Chrischar became a certified Master Instructor for the Institute for Leadership Development in Africa. Since her return to South Africa in 2015, Chrischar has channelled her professional experience to contribute to the evaluation and impact measurement of after school programmes in South Africa. This has included delivering short course programmes at Stellenbosch University to advance capacity building for practitioners who work in low and no-fee schools across the Western Cape. Currently, Chrischar is a Practical Learning lecturer in the Faculty of Education and co-ordinator of practical learning for all B.Ed cohorts. This position helps her to utilize her broad international teaching experience to contribute to the effective delivery of practical learning and preparing students for school-based practicum. Chrischar's research and interest areas include teachers' practices and perspectives in the delivery of democratic citizenship education in South African schools as well as exploring different tools to develop teachers' reflective practices and self-criticality.

 

​Mr J Ruiters

DipEd (Dover College), FDE-Language-in-Education (UPE), Teacher Trainer Certificate (TVU-London), MA-ELT (TVU-London)​

Office number:  3018
021 808 3968
johnr@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREAS:
Language Education and Language in Education

​BIO NOTE:
John Ruiters is a lecturer: English Education in the Department of Curriculum Studies. His research interests are in Applied Linguistics, broadly, but more specifically in Language Policy and Planning, Multilingual Education, Integrating Language and Content, Teacher Education and Assessment for Learning. He teaches modules on Multilingual Education at PGCE and Honours level. John has completed a MA in English Language Teaching, and a Teacher Trainer Certificate at Thames Valley University in London. His current Doctoral research focusses on the analysis of multilingual language policies in Higher Education. ​

 

Prof PN Rule

BA, BAHons, MA TESOL (London), HDipEdAd, PhD (Wits)​

Office number:
021 808 2297
prule2015@sun.ac.za

BIO NOTE:
Peter Rule is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies and the Centre for Higher and Adult Education in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University. His research interests include various aspects of adult and higher education: adult learning in Africa; dialogue and learning; disability and learning; community education; curriculum; students' conceptions of research; and case study research methodology. He has chaired the boards of several educational non-governmental organisations and was deputy chairperson of Umalusi's Assessment Standards Committee. He has published extensively in local and international journals and in popular media and authored several school textbooks for English First Additional Language. His academic books include Handbook of case study research in the social sciences – edited with Vaughn John (forthcoming 2023, Edward Elgar Publishing); The global scholar: Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision – edited with Eli Bitzer and Liezel Frick (African Sun Media, 2021); Dialogue and boundary learning (Sense Publishers, 2015); and, with Vaughn John, Your guide to case study research (Van Schaik, 2011).​

 

Dr Kudzayi Savious Tarisayi

Dip Ed (UZ), BEd (MSU), MSc (NUST), PhD (UKZN)​

Office number: 4050
021 808 2645
ktarisayi@sun.ac.za

B​IO NOTE:
Kudzayi Tarisayi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Stellenbosch. He specializes in Geography Education and holds a Ph.D. in Social Science Education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has also obtained qualifications from Midlands State University and the National University of Science and Technology. Kudzayi's research expertise is in teacher migration in South Africa, ICT integration in Geography teaching, and contemporary issues in education. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of KwaZulu-Natal with a focus on teacher migration in South Africa. Prior to his academic career, Tarisayi was a high school teacher who taught Geography and History. He has authored several journal articles on various topics, including land reform, teacher migration, and GIS pedagogy. 

    Dr Nompilo Tshuma

BBA (Andrews), MSc (NUST), PG Dip (HE) (Rhodes), PhD (Rhodes)

Office number: 3048
021 808 3908
ntshuma@sun.ac.za

B​IO NOTE:
Nompilo Tshuma is a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies and the Centre for Higher and Adult Education, Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch University. She has been working with educational technology since 2005 as both a lecturer and an academic staff developer. Nompilo holds a PhD from Rhodes University which focused on exploring how academics develop a culture of resistance to counter the effects of a range of oppressive structural forces in the university, and how this resistance plays out in their integration of educational technology. Her current research broadly focuses on exploring a range of ICTs in higher education by interrogating the unequal and often oppressive social context within which technology integrations take place.

Nompilo's current Masters and PhD students are researching a range of topics in Higher Education Studies, including educational technology, research administration, leadership and student performance. She coordinates and teaches on the regional Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education programme. She also teaches various modules in the MPhil in Higher Education and the MPhil in Life Long Learning in the Centre for Higher and Adult Education. ​

 

​Prof. M van der Merwe

BA, Hons, MA, D.Litt (US) , B.Tech.Ond.cum laude (TSA)

​Office number: 4011
021 808 2396
michelevdm@sun.ac.za

FOCUS AREA:
Language Education, Afrikaans linguistics, lexicography, corpus linguistics

BIONOTE:
Michele van der Merwe is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education and lectures in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She holds BA, BA Hons, MA and D.Litt. degrees from the University of Stellenbosch. Her professional qualifications include B.Tech.: Education: Tertiary cum laude from Technikon SA. Prof. Van der Merwe is a NRF-rated researcher. Her research foci include lexicography, pedagogical lexicography, language education, and corpus linguistics. Michele has presented various international conference papers on lexicography and has published in international journals on lexicography. Michele won the Nuffic scholarship for postdoctoral research at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, Erasmus+ Mobility for research visits at the University of Hildesheim, Germany and mobility grants at KU Leuven, Belgium. She has been a visiting scholar at the Arhus Business School in Denmark, University of Valladolid in Spain and Humboldt University in Germany. Michele was an invited lecturer in the Emlex Masters programme (European Masters in Lexicography) at Rome Tres University. Her social impact projects include the South African Trilingual Wine Industry Dictionary (finalist for “ATKV Woordveertjie” in lexicography) as well as the MobiLex glossary, funded by Winetech and UCDG respectively.

 

​Dr S Xeketwana

BA, BAH and PGCE (Rhodes), MA Cum Laude, PG Dip, PhD (Stell)

​Office number: 2002
021 808 3935
asx@sun.ac.za​

FOCUS AREA:
IsiXhosa Education, Language in Education and Multilingualism

BIONOTE:
Simthembile Xeketwana is a lecturer in Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). His research interest is within the language and education, in particular genre-based pedagogy in schools. He emphases on teaching different genres as per the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) specifications. His students are prepared to teach in South African schools, more especially with regards to teaching of isiXhosa. He also teaches BEd intermediate and foundation phase students 3^rd years where he focuses on teaching theories of multilingualism, preparing students for linguistically diverse classrooms. Simthembile also teaches honours isiXhosa curriculum studies. He is supervising students who are researching different topics at a master's level.   

In his PhD he focused on the intersections between research, policy and practice, in particular preparing the preservice teachers for linguistically diverse classrooms. He is particularly interested in investigating the ways in which previously disadvantaged African Languages are being taught in schools.  

He is also interested on how isiXhosa and some African languages are taught in private and affluent schools and who teaches these languages. Simthembile is also a coordinator of BEd Honours languages (isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English). ​​