Sheila Aikman is Senior Lecturer in Education and Development at the School of International Development. Her research interests include intercultural and basic education (formal and non-formal), indigenous knowledge and learning systems, gender equality and multigrade teaching. Her publications include her widely read and cited 'Intercultural Education and Literacy' (John Benjamins, Amsterdam and Philadelphia). She has carried out research and other work in Latin America, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Email: Sheila.Aikman@uea.ac.uk
Bryan Maddox is Senior Lecturer in Education and Development at the School of International Development. He is a social anthropologist working on literacy, language and education in South Asian contexts. He has strong interests in inter-disciplinary work in education linking anthropology and economics. His recent publications include 'What good is literacy? Insights and Implications of the Capabilities Approach, in Journal of Human Development, Vol. 9, July 2008. His current research interests are the links between literacy, human capabilities and wellbeing, and on education and literacy in fishing communities. Email: b.maddox@uea.ac.uk
Nitya Rao is Senior Lecturer in Gender Analysis and Development, at the School of International Development. Her research in the area of education and development focuses on equity issues in education policies and provisioning. She currently works on the topic of gender differences in migration opportunities and the implications for educational choices and outcomes. She has mainly worked in South Asia, but also has interests in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa. Email N.Rao@uea.ac.uk
Dr. Anna Robinson-Pant is Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Applied Research in Education, School of Education and Lifelong Learning. She has wide experience of educational research, planning and training in South Asia (particularly Nepal), having worked for various international and local development agencies. She won the UNESCO/UIE International Award for Literacy Research for her study of women’s literacy and development in Nepal ('Why eat green cucumber at the time of dying? Exploring the link between women's literacy and development, 2001, UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg'). She continued to challenge the dominant instrumental view of ‘literacy for women’ through raising the profile of participatory and ethnographic research approaches in the international development arena with her edited volume, Women, Literacy and Development (Routledge, 2004). Email A.Robinson-pant@uea.ac.uk
