Dr Pui Ki Patricia Kwok

Pui Ki Patricia Kwok is an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her research looks into the implementation of pedagogical reforms and their potentials in enhancing quality educational provision. In particular, she focuses on the implementation of ‘learner-centred’ pedagogy in Rwanda, among other low-income contexts. Patricia has strong expertise in using a wide range of qualitative methods to engage with local stakeholders, including but not limited to in-depth interviews and classroom observations. Working closely with teachers, teacher trainers, government officials among other groups, Patricia is interested in delving deeper into the myriad complexities of teaching and learning practices. She is committed to pushing the narrative beyond a deficit-discourse around teachers, to a nuanced appreciation of how varied stakeholders navigate different contextual realities to bring about meaningful changes. Most recently, she is part of the REAL Centre team in the ‘Leaders in Teaching’ initiative funded by Mastercard Foundation. In collaboration with Prof. Nidhi Singal and Dr. Emma Carter, Patricia is taking major roles in the qualitative analysis of student perspectives on teaching quality in Rwanda.

Having completed MSc in Comparative and International Education at Oxford, and BA in Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong, Patricia also has a strong interest in the role of languages in quality educational provision. She has involved in multiple projects that focus on the key role of medium of instructions in teaching and learning, as well as the dilemmas faced by post-colonial contexts. This includes working with Prof. Ricardo Sabates and Prof. Eugene Ndabaga on identifying primary school teachers’ pedagogical strategies in Rwanda (funded by Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund); and with Dr. Zoe James on exploring stakeholder views on medium of instruction policies in Ethiopia.