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Susan Wanjiru Kiragu

Sue Wanjiru Kiragu - researcher for Centre for Commonwealth Education, University of Faculty of Education

Position/Status
  • Research Associate
E-mail Address

swk22@cam.ac.uk

Phone

+44 (0) 1223 67584

Qualifications
  • BEd (Hons), Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya
  • MEd, University of Nairobi, Kenya
  • MPhil, Educational Research, University of Cambridge
  • PhD, Education, University of Cambridge
Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations
  • Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)
  • The British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE)
  • Cambridge Commonwealth Society

Profile

Prior to joining the faculty of education as a PhD student in 2005, I worked as a research officer in Nairobi, in a project that aimed to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS among in-and-out of school youth in Kenya by use of participatory methods. For my PhD, I situated in an ecological (Urie Bronfenbrenner) and emancipatory (Paulo Freire) framework to explore the socio-ecological factors that impinged on sexuality in a poor community in Kenya. I am currently involved in the African sexual knowledges on AIDS (ASKAIDS) project and the Gender and girls entitlement to education project within The . These projects are in East Africa. I am keenly interested in HIV/AIDS prevention and behaviour change in Africa, Participatory action research, research and education for social justice, and the use of indigenous knowledges for teacher training and curriculum development.

Research Topics

  • HIV/AIDS in Africa
  • Sexuality education
  • Behaviour change especially among young people in poor communities
  • Indigenising education
  • Dialogue
  • Participatory Action Research

Current Research Project(s)

  • Part of the ASKAIDS team in The Centre for Commonwealth Education
  • Part of the Gender team in The Centre for Commonwealth Education

Publications

Refereed

Kiragu, S.W. (2007). Exploring sexuality education and the burdened teacher: A participatory approach in a rural primary school in Kenya. In Pastoral Care in Education 25 (3). Oxford, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp 5-15.

Book chapters

Kiragu, S.W., Muli, A., Mugambi, J. and Odongo R. (2006). Myths, misconceptions and sexual practices among school youth in Kenya: a barrier to HIV/AIDS prevention and reduction. In A. Pertet (Ed), Re-thinking research and intervention approaches that aim at preventing Kenya infection among the youth. Nairobi, The Regal Press Kenya Ltd, pp 23-32.

Njue C., and Kiragu S.W. (2006). Gender differences in communication regarding sexual matters: burdened girls and neglected boys. In A. Pertet (Ed), Re-thinking research and intervention approaches that aim at preventing Kenya infection among the youth. Nairobi, The Regal Press Kenya Ltd, pp 33-42.

In preparation (refereed)

Kiragu S.W. and McLaughlin C. (2008). Using transformative dialogue as a health promotion tool in fighting HIV/AIDS in a poor community in Kenya. We intend for this paper to be published in COMPARE, a journal of comparative education, Routledge.