Personal profile

Biography

Niranjan is Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, having retired from Monash in Nov 2020. . Originally trained as a geographer, he worked as a teacher and educational leader in secondary schools and international education for over 30 years before moving into tertiary education, teaching and researching across postgraduate and graduate courses in curriculum, assessment, pedagogy and Humanities education. He has been recognized professionally for his work as an educator in Australia and internationally. His tertiary leadership experience included being  Acting Director Initial Teacher Education Programs  and Course Leader for Primary and Secondary Education (under- and postgraduate).

Amongst other interests outside educatrion, Niranjan now maintains a small, focused research & publication program alonsgide occasional consultancy work.

Research interests

Niranjan's current research remains focused on three principal strands: the impact of transnationalism and globalisation in education, particularly in relation to the influence of culture on curriculum, pedagogy and thinking; the teaching of Geography and other Humanities subjects in schools, with a particular interest in inquiry-based teaching and transdisciplinary thinking; and the role of education in British colonial policy and practice, with an especial focus on its relevance to contemporary society. 

He has published widely on culture, transnationalism and education, including three books - Culture, Transnational Education and Thinking: Case Studies in Global Schooling (Routledge, 2014);  Transnationalism, Education and Empowerment: latent legacies of Empire (Routledge 2017); and Transculturalism and Teacher Capacity: Professional Readiness in the Globalised Age (Routledge 2020). He also writes on on inquiry teaching & learning within and across the disciplines, including (with Gillian Kidman) Inquiry based teaching and learning across disciplines: Comparative theory and practice in schools (Palgrave, 2017).

Niranjan's current research projects and publications are concerned with: 
(a) the building and evaluation of the transcultural capability and capacity of teachers, with particular reference to their employability in a globalised educational environment;
(b) the nature of cultural education in schools, with particular emphasis on the role of geographical education.;
(c) global citizenship education: and
(c) the impact of childhood education in Sri Lanka on the Australian migrant experience (with Dr Howard Prosser, Dr Fiona Longmuir and Peter van Cuylenburg). 

His past international research in these areas includes a 2017 IB-funded project (with Lucas Walsh) of the transcultural capacity of teachers in Canadian and Australian PYP schools, using his work in the reconceptualisation of cultural education.


Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action

Research area keywords

  • curriculum
  • pedagogy
  • multiculturalism
  • interculturalism
  • transculturalism
  • cultural capacity of teachers
  • problem solving
  • colonial education
  • transnationalism
  • international education
  • Teacher Identity
  • Teacher Professional Development and Learning
  • Geography education
  • Humanities Education
  • Cross-Cultural Studies
  • educational leadership
  • inquiry capacity of teachers
  • Inquiry Learning
  • Inquiry Based Learning
  • Inquiry Teaching
  • Transdisciplinary Learning
  • globalisation and curriculum innovation
  • Education and globalisation
  • Transforming teaching and learning
  • Educating for diversity and inclusion
  • Reimagining educational leadership

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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