Susan Wanjiru Kiragu
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.

