Wanja Gitari
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E-mail:
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Room:MN 6112
Wanja Gitari is an associate professor of science education at the University of Toronto. She is affiliated with the Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy (at UTM) and the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (at OISE/UT). Professor Gitari's research investigates the relationship between certain elements of everyday knowledge of natural phenomena and the content of school science. The overall goal in her research and teaching is to inquire into and to engage with the broad problem of equity and access to academic science for students from traditionally under-represented and underachieving communities. Her courses reflect several themes that also form the basis of her research program: access and equity, global experiences of science; inclusive and effective pedagogy; and appropriation (and application) of school science in non-school contexts.
Publications
Gitari, W., Foster, D., & Mashhadi, B. N. (2020). A commentary on Kenya’s response to the global STEM movement from social justice perspectives: Would school-community innovation centres/makerspaces address gaps in the proposed curriculum? Comparative and International Education 49(1): https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/cie-eci/issue/view/1294
Gitari, W., & Gerrard, D. (2017). Prioritizing scientific discourse by adult learners: An analysis of student writing using Bloom’s Taxonomy. The International Journal of Adult, Community and Professional Learning, 24(1), 15-30.
Gitari, W. (2016). The application of school science by urban high school youth through problem solving in everyday life. Science Education International 27(3), 344-368.
Gitari, W. (2009). Exploring the understanding and common use of scientific and everyday knowledge and students’ agency in a Kenyan High School. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 9(4), 262-275.
Gitari, W. (2006). Everyday objects of learning about health and healing and implications for science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43(2), 172-193.
Gitari, W. (2003). Science literacy: Schooled science in the service of equity and social justice. In K.S. Brathwaite (Ed.), Access and Equity in the University (pp. 349- 374). Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
Gitari, W. (2003). An inquiry into the integration of indigenous knowledges and skills in the Kenyan secondary science curriculum: A case of human health knowledge. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 3 (2), 195-212.