SarahJoy Leitch

Part time, self funded PhD candidate. As part of this, I have received training in research methodology and statistics and analysis. I have also spent extensive periods in the field in Zimbabwe, researching the clash between traditional authorities and the government in the rural areas. I designed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods for this, ran focus groups, interviewed small scale farmers, government elites and local traditional authorities, and collected both qualitative and quantitative data. I also analysed the language in government documents, parliamentary debates and media. When the political situation became too difficult to continue with data collection in person, I trained several research assistants and used them to complete it. I am now writing this up and am due to finish in February 2023.

I wrote an article on China in Africa and the impact on Somaliland, and designed and implemented training courses in Research Methodology and Conflict Resolution. I also wrote funding proposals for projects getting women involved in conflict management in the rural areas.

I coordinated the academic activities of the Institute, including developing policy and updating the modules of the masters degree in Conflict Resolution that the Institute provides. I designed research methods to investigate how local pastoralists mitigate the impacts of climate change. I also delivered two modules of the course: Research Methodology and Conflict Resolution.

This involved talking to both sides in neighbourhood conflicts in an impartial manner, bringing them together in a safe and impartial space to discuss and resolve long-running problems while in the process helping them to develop communication skills.

I took modules in Conflict Transformation, African Politics and African Conflict Studies. I spent several months in Zimbabwe, collecting qualitative data from government elites and civil society actors to explore how democracy was narrowed by ZANU-PF during the Government of National Unity 2008-2013 for my dissertation, for which I achieved a distinction

Designed and delivered courses to Iranian students working on the IELTS certificate in the English language with a 100% pass rate of a score of 6.5 or above in my classes.

I carried out a number of activities, including:

• Advising the bureau in the use and improvement of English in elementary schools leading to the development of student-centred training courses in the schools, a change in the approach toward the use of the English language in environments other than English lessons and an improvement in the general school environment;
• Advising the bureau and schools on curriculum development;
• Designing and implemented training courses in general teaching methodology and English language teaching in particular;
• Setting up a peer mentoring scheme;
• Creating ‘model classrooms’ using home-made resources;
• Carrying out research, means assessments and monitoring and evaluation in order to efficiently target the training;
• Training teachers in the local prison;
• Advising and assisting teachers in the running of HIV/AIDS clubs and designed training courses for this purpose;
• Managing budgets for the projects I was involved in;
• Advising on gender issues;
• Responding to various individual members of the bureau for assistance with a variety of projects, leading to the improvement of facilities for girls in schools and to the training of rural teachers who may have had little or no prior education themselves;
• Interviewing and recruiting staff and training an assistant to take over when I left.