Contributors biographies

Abstract

Prof. Agnes Chigona
Agnes Chigona is a Professor of Education and a Tier 1 Chair in Teacher Education of the South African Research Chairs Initiative. She is also Director of the Global Institute for Teacher Education and Society. Her research interest focuses on teacher education, digital pedagogy, educational technology and equity in education. 

Mr Zakariyya Desai
Zakariyya Desai is a Research Specialist at the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority. He holds a BCom Honours in Economics and an MBA. His research and policy writing focus on South African labour markets and skills policy. 

Dr Ben de Souza
Ben de Souza is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Rhodes University. His research focuses on education for sustainable development, inclusive education and teacher education. In his work, he explores how education can foster meaningful learning, civic engagement and sustainable futures. 

Ms Mardine Engelbrecht
Mardine Engelbrecht is a Lecturer in the Tourism and Events Department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and has a master’s degree in Tourism Management. She worked in the retail tourism industry prior to teaching as part of the National Certificate (Vocational) tourism programme. Her core study areas are vocational education and work-integrated learning. 

Associate Prof. James Garraway
James Garraway is a Researcher in the Professional Education Research Institute at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. His main interest is in the development of cultural-historical activity theory as it applies to educational and institutional change within the field of higher education, with a particular focus on university–society relationships. 

Prof. Wayne Hugo
Wayne Hugo is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He works on pedagogic causal mechanisms, the political economy of teaching and learning, the history of pedagogy and the effective use of artificial intelligence in education, with particular attention to the South African post-school education and training sector. 

Mr Simon H. Kammeyer
Simon Kammeyer is a Researcher at the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Stuttgart. His research focuses on technical experiments in vocational and technical education. In his role as project leader for TRAINME, he regularly conducts training sessions for technical and vocational education and training lecturers in South Africa. 

Dr Godfrey Makandwa
Godfrey Makandwa holds a PhD in Economic and Management Sciences with Tourism Management from North-West University. His research focuses on female entrepreneurship, rural tourism, community-based tourism, cultural tourism and sustainable development. 

Mr Lloyd T. Makonya
Lloyd Makonya has worked in the heritage sector for over a decade, promoting and creating awareness of heritage products in Zimbabwe. He has been involved in projects that preserve cultural heritage and incorporate local communities in heritage management. His interests include informal learning, intellectual property rights and indigenous knowledge systems. 

Dr Rifumuni Nancy Mathebula
Rifumuni Mathebula holds a doctoral degree in Education. She is a Lecturer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Her research interests lie in child rights, inclusive education, and gender and equity issues in education.

Mr Bonke Mdiza
Bonke Mdiza is a Programme Manager at Northlink College and holds a master’s degree in Inclusive Education. As a partially sighted lecturer and researcher, his research interests include inclusive education, higher education and advocating for the rights and participation of people with disabilities across educational and social contexts. 

Mr Alexio Nangi
Alexio Nangi holds a master’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management and is a Lecturer in the Department of Tourism at Midlands State University. His research interests include gastronomy, informal learning and vocational education. He is also interested in online learning and inclusivity. 

Dr Peter Khwezi Nyewe
Peter Nyewe is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology at the University of the Western Cape and is also a registered educational psychologist. He holds a PhD in Child Psychology and has extensive experience in higher education, inclusive education, student support, research supervision, psychological assessment, counselling and professional practice. 

Prof. Mmankoko Ziphorah Ramorola
Mmankoko Ramorola is a Research Professor in the Faculty of Education at North-West University. Her research explores how educational technologies can be effectively integrated into teaching and learning to address digital gaps in knowledge, teacher professional development and work-integrated learning. 

Dr Sifiso Sibanda
Sifiso Sibanda is a Lecturer in English in the Faculty of Education at North-West University. His scholarly interests encompass postcolonial literature, African feminist thought and pedagogical practices within higher education contexts. His recent research foregrounds the agency of women and examines their role in processes of economic and political transformation across African contexts. 

Prof. Bernd Zinn
Bernd Zinn is a Professor of Vocational Education, with a focus on technology didactics, at the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Stuttgart. His research focuses on teacher training, educational technologies, teaching and learning processes, competence development, as well as inclusion and dealing with heterogeneity in technical education and training.

Ms Shingirai Zisengwe
Shingirai Zisengwe is a Lecturer at the Heritage Business School. Her research interests lie in technical and vocational education and training, skills development and evaluation skills. She is currently involved in advancing gastronomy skills through informal learning and the adoption of indigenous knowledge systems. 

Dr Zolile Zungu
Zolile Zungu is a Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). His research interests lie in technical and vocational education and training policy, curriculum development and digital pedagogies in post-school education. He holds a PhD in Education and Development from UKZN and has contributed to national research projects for the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa, the Mechanical, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority, the Human Sciences Research Council and the University of Nottingham. 

Dr Duduzile Penelope Zwane
Duduzile Zwane is an academic at the University of South Africa in the Department of Language Education, Arts & Culture and a former PhD student at North-West University. Her research interests are centred on the teaching and learning of languages across the curriculum. Her recent research explored the multimodal teaching and learning of visual literacy in TVET colleges.