The Department of Postgraduate Studies academic was invited to participate in the next leg of the project, titled ‘Including local languages and knowledges in teacher professional development’, at Oldenburg University, Germany, from 24 February to 15 March.
“The project focuses on how local languages and knowledges can be integrated into teacher professional development programmes in Tanzania and South Africa,” says Prof Khau (right), a respected researcher who focuses on gender, sexuality, gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS and how gender and sexuality are addressed at both school and tertiary level, and globally.
“The project’s special focus is on gender and sexuality education, climate change education and education for sustainble development.”
Prof Khau was initially invited to Oldenburg University in September last year, where she joined a team of researchers working on the project.
“(Now) we will analyse the data generated from Tanzania and use the lessons from that experience to plan a workshop for teachers in Gqeberha, South Africa,” she says. The workshop is pencilled in for the third term, during school holidays.
The project is within the framework of a regional and academic partnership between the Eastern Cape in South Africa, Tanzania and Lower Saxony in Germany.
In November last year, Prof Khau attended a project workshop at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania, titled ‘Translating policy into teaching practice: Including climate change and gender issues in secondary school teaching’, with participants including Tanzanian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology representatives, the Tanzania Institute of Education, local high school teachers, and the Vice Chancellor of UDSM.
“A panel of experts for climate change education included Professors Pius Yanda of UDSM and Bernd Siebenhunner of University of Oldenburg,” says Prof Khau, who led training on gender and sexuality education.
“The purpose of this workshop was to involve teachers in rethinking their local knowledges in relation to gender and sexuality, as well as climate change education. This was useful in creating learning and teaching tools and strategies that could enable teachers to effectively address the demand of Tanzania’s education system to incorporate gender and sexuality education, and climate change education into the curriculum.
“The teachers who received this training are expected to become trainers of other teachers in Tanzania to enable the accelerated inclusion of these curricular priorities.”
Prof Khau has been invited to present seminars for the Center for Women and Gender Studies (ZFG) at Oldenburg University in June 2025.
She will also be facilitating the ZFG summer school from the end of June to early July. The summer school will involve the Nelson Mandela University Centre for Women and Gender Studies.