Dr Nisha Thapliyal

Biography

 Dr Nisha Thapliyal is  Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle. 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 including street children, orphans, and 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 extreme inequalities 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 strengthening public (as in free) education systems and the democratisation of education policy making.  More broadly I am interested in human rights education, antiracist education, peace education and education for sustainable development.

Research Interest

 Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education,  Gender, Sexuality and Education