Nirad Abrol
PhD studentResearch Overview
I am a researcher and educator with a focus on the problems of unequal development and organisational pedagogy. I draw on the history and praxis of traditions including Pan-Africanism and Socialism.
My interests emerge out experiences as a student and then a teacher in environments underscored by competition and isolation. I start from a recognition that all people need support to build relationships with each other, and they can do so from the political traditions and its associated memory and culture in their existing social sphere.
Thesis Title
Educational resilience to severe hydrological shocks in the Brazilian Amazon
Thesis Outline
This project explores educational resilience to climate extremes in Brazil, focusing on Amazonian school communities affected by severe droughts and floods. While education is crucial for climate adaptation, it is often disrupted by climate shocks. Existing research tends to portray school communities as passive victims, overlooking their agency in shaping resilience. Instead, this study adopts a Freire-inspired, activist approach, viewing resilience as a negotiated process shaped by social struggles, politics, and local realities. Using socialist pedagogy, the project positions schools as spaces for dialogue, action, and resistance. It aims to understand how Amazonian rural schools navigate climate challenges and to develop policy recommendations for strengthening their adaptive capacities. Using qualitative methods, the research examines local perspectives on resilience, emergent community responses, and the conditions that enable or hinder resilience-building.
Supervised By
Luke Parry, Emma Cardwell and Luciana Mendes Barbosa
Web Links
https://scottishleftreview.scot/pioneers-of-the-bukinabe-revolution/