Professor Kwame Akyeampong - Chair of the ICERDA Organising Committee

Kwame Akyeampong is a Professor of International Education and Development at the Centre for International Education, University of Sussex, UK. Kwame began his academic career in Ghana at the University of Cape Coast where he served as the Director of the Institute of Education at the University of Cape Coast until his appointment at the University of Sussex in 2004. He has published widely in international journals on education and development. His research interests covers teacher education in the global south, evaluation of large scale education programmes, policy and practice of education in developing country contexts and mathematics education. He has particular interests in the political economy of education systems in low-income countries. His research has aimed to offer alternative viewpoints on educational policy and practice based on critical perspectives and experiences of policy makers, school leaders, teachers and students in African education environments. Kwame has worked on numerous international research and evaluation projects with organisations such as UNESCO, JICA, DFID and the World Bank.  From 2011 to 2013, Kwame served as a senior policy analyst with the Education for All Global Monitoring Report team in UNESCO, Paris. 

Professor audrey Gadzekpo

Professor Audrey Gadzekpo has more than 20 years of experience in teaching, research and advocacy on media, gender and governance, and more than 25 years practical experience as a journalist, working variously as a reporter, editor, contributor, columnist, talk show host, socio-political commentator and magazine publisher/editor. She obtained a doctorate degree in African Studies at the University of Birmingham, U.K., a Master of Arts in Communications from Brigham Young University, Utah, USA and a Bachelor of Artsin English from the University of Ghana.

Her research interests and publications reflect the nexus between media and gender; media, politics and democratic governance; media and developmental imperatives and media and conflict.

Dr. Ato Essuman

Dr. Ato Essuman is the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education, Research and Training (CEERT) at the Methodist University College Ghana. With decades of experience in both the public and private sector, his experience ranges from serving as the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, a member of the Council of State of Ghana, to roles in Nestlé, Coopers and Lybrand and Technoserve Incorporated. Dr. Essuman has also authored the book: Decentralisation of Education Management in Ghana: Key Issues in School-Community Relations where he advocates for decentralisation of education management which incorporates deeper understanding of local contexts.

He has been a keynote speaker and panel discussant in many international fora, including the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa in 2011. He is a member of the Technical Advisory Board for the International Conference on Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI), Spain, a reviewer for four international journals and a member of the British Association of International and Comparative Education (BAICE). Dr. Essuman holds a doctoral degree in Education from the University of Sussex, UK, an MBA (Operations Management) from the University of Hawaii, and an undergraduate degree in Economics and Law from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Professor Brian Hudson

Professor Brian Hudson is Professor of Education and until recently has been Head of the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sussex (2012-16). He is the main Organiser of the World Education Research Association (WERA) International Research Network on Didactics - Learning and Teaching; a member of the WERA Outreach Committee; an Associate Editor of the Journal of Curriculum Studies and a Board member of the Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) Network. He is Honorary Member of the EERA Network on Didactics - Learning and Teaching; Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education Studies and Leadership at the University of Ghana. 

Dr. Ernest Ampadu

Dr. Ernest Ampadu is a lecturer at the department of Teacher Education, University of Ghana. Before joining the department, he worked at the Richmond International University in London as an assistant professor of Mathematics and at Leeds Metropolitan University. He also worked as a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University training students preparing to enter into the Postgraduate Certificate Education (PGCE) teacher training programme.

Dr. Ampadu has also worked as a Teaching and Learning Adviser (TLA) for a Cambridge Education Project on Transforming Teacher Education and Learning in Ghana which aims to improve the teaching and learning of Mathematics, Science, and English in schools. In addition to this, he also works as a Mathematics Education specialist for a World Bank project on Mathematics Education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ernest holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education from University of Cape Coast, Ghana, a Research Master’s Degree in International and Comparative Education from Stockholm University, Sweden, a Master of Arts degree in Adult Learning and Global Change from Linkoping University, Sweden and a PhD in Mathematics Education from Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom.

Professor Jonathan Fletcher

Professor Jonathan Fletcher is a specialist mathematics educator, teacher trainer and assessment consultant. He holds BSc (Hons) in Financial Mathematics (valuations) from the University of Reading, MSc from the London South Bank University and MA and PhD degrees in mathematics education from the University of London as well as Certificate in Mathematics Coaching from the Oxford Brooke’s University, all in the United Kingdom (UK). He has taught mathematics and education in British and Ghanaian universities and is a former head of Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Mathematics/Numeracy at the London University’s Institute of Education, a former head of the Department of Science and Mathematics Education, University of Cape Coast and a former Deputy Director of the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast.

Professor Fletcher is currently the Acting Dean of the School of Education and Leadership at the University of Ghana, Legon. He represents universities in Ghana on the International Examinations Committee of the West African Examinations Council and is also a member of the National Accreditation Board. He has over 30 publications to his credit including books on pure and applied mathematics, mathematics education and assessment as well as papers on the teaching and learning of mathematics, assessment in mathematics and studies on teacher performance appraisal.

Professor Joseph Ampiah

Prof. Ampiah is the new incoming Vice Chancellor for the University of Cape Coast, holds a PhD in Science Education, is a Professor of Science Education and former Provost in the College of Education Studies at the University of Cape Coast. Prior to this, he has had a number of roles including; Visiting Professor at the Centre for the Study of International Cooperation in Education, Hiroshima University in 2006 and Famous Overseas Scholar, Hunan City University, China in 2012. He has also been on the International Advisory Board of the Compare Journal in the UK (2010-2015), a member of The British Association for International and Comparative Education, the Ghana Chemical Society and the Ghana Science Association. His research interests are focused in education particularly at the primary and secondary school levels where Prof. Ampiah previously led the DFID funded CREATE research project into educational access, transition and equity in Ghana from 2006-2010. He has also worked on many international projects with researchers from Africa, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA.

Pearl Boateng

Pearl Boateng is an MA graduate from the International Education and Development programme at the University of Sussex. She is a qualified Maths teacher, and holds a PGCE in Mathematics form the UCL Institute of Education and a BSc(Hons) in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School, London. She has worked in education in both the UK and Ghana as a teacher, teacher trainer, curriculum developer and Education Manager for DFID Girls Education Challenge Programme - Making Ghanaian Girls Great! (MGCubed). She is also a Founding Ambassador of Teach For Ghana. Her research interests include teacher education, development, curriculum development and policy analysis.