ME Research Group

The Maths Education [ME] Research Group focuses on improving mathematics education in schools and higher education, with a strong emphasis on equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive practice. The group investigates how teacher development, learning environments, and the use of digital tools and technologies, such as AI, can strengthen teaching, support student engagement, and build mathematical and analytical skills. Drawing on sociocultural and transdisciplinary perspectives, the research examines how identities, relationships, and school contexts shape learning, particularly in under-resourced and historically marginalised communities. The aim is to develop practical, evidence-based approaches that support teachers’ professional development, enhance learning outcomes, and ensure that all students have access to high-quality mathematics education.

Current Research Topics

This research area focuses on how teacher professional development shapes mathematics teaching practice in under-resourced school contexts. It examines the relationship between the quality of professional learning and teachers’ pedagogical reasoning, classroom enactment, and learner participation. Situated within mathematics education and pedagogy, the work explores lesson planning, assessment practices, dialogic teaching, and inclusive instructional strategies that support conceptual understanding and equity. Using qualitative and mixed-methods approaches, the research analyses how teachers interpret, adapt, and sustain professional learning within their institutional and socio-cultural environments, with particular attention to teacher agency, contextual constraints, and everyday instructional decision-making. The aim is to develop empirically grounded, contextually responsive models of professional development that enhance teaching quality and improve learner outcomes in disadvantaged education systems.

This research area sits at the intersection of mathematics education, digital learning environments, and competency-based education, with a particular focus on under-resourced and developing contexts. It examines how organic and technology-enhanced learning environments support the development of mathematical, digital, and analytical competencies among teachers, students and learners. Using grounded theory and qualitative research methodologies, the work explores curriculum and learning environment design, teacher professional development, and student engagement in blended and online settings. Particular attention is given to digital literacy, ICT for education, and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and their potential to strengthen mathematics teaching and learning. The research bridges theory and practice through the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovative learning models that build mathematics education capacity and promote equitable access to high-quality learning across South Africa.

This transdisciplinary research area brings together mathematics education across school and higher education with critical perspectives on social justice, postcolonial feminism, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. It examines how power, status subordination, and misrecognition shape participation and achievement in mathematics, particularly in historically marginalised and under-resourced contexts. The work draws on theoretical frameworks, including Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), Ubuntu justice, Critical Race Theory, and sociocultural theories of learning, to analyse how identities, relationships, and institutional structures influence teaching and learning. Using interpretive and phenomenological research designs, the research explores the lived experiences of learners, teachers, and mentors. Increasingly, it also investigates how generative AI and digital tools can be integrated to promote recognition, agency, and equitable participation in mathematics education across educational phases.
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Recent Group Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters

  • Joubert, M., & Kenny, S. (2018). Exploring the perspectives of participants of two mathematics professional development courses in South Africa: Personal, professional and community outcomes. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(3), 319–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2018.1525093

  • Kenny, S. (2025). (Post-)apartheid’s legacy of racialised microaggressions in mathematics teacher education. Transformation in Higher Education, 10(0), a487. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v10i0.487

  • Kenny, S., & Davids, N. (2024). Experiencing education as misrecognised ‘Coloured’ women in South Africa. Journal of Education, 95, 112–125. https://doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i95a06

  • Kenny, S., & Davids, N. (2022). Filling a theoretical void: The lived experiences of “coloured” women as mathematics educators in higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 36(2), 173–188. https://doi.org/10.20853/36-2-4691

  • Kenny, S. (2020). Identity (re)construction in higher education spaces. In N. Davids & Y. Waghid (Eds.), University education, controversy and democratic citizenship (pp. 119–130). Springer International Publishing.

  • Lautenbach, P., Johnston, K., & Adeniran-Ogundipe, T. (2017). Factors influencing business intelligence and analytics usage extent in South African organizations. South African Journal of Business Management, 48(3), 23–33. https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/33

  • Mahwire, L. and Sayed, Y., 2021. Teachers’ Perceptions on the Benefits of the Edufundi Mentoring Programme in Primary Schools in the Western Cape. Journal of Educational Studies, 20(2),.92-108. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-jeds_v2021_n2_a7

  • Adeniran, T. V., & Johnston, K. A. (2016). The impacts of ICT utilization and dynamic capabilities on the competitive advantage of South African SMEs. International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 15(1), 59–89. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJITM.2016.073915

  • Johnston, K. J., Jali, N., Kundaeli, F., & Adeniran, T. (2015). ICTs for the broader development of South Africa: An analysis of the literature. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 70(5), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2015.tb00503.x

  • Adeniran, T. V., & Johnston, K. A. (2014). ICT utilization within experienced South African small and medium enterprises. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 64(5), 1–23. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00458.x

  • Adeniran, T. V., & Johnston, K. A. (2012). Investigating the dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage of South African small and medium enterprises. African Journal of Business Management, 6(11), 4088–4099. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273095969_Investigating_the_dynamic_capabilities_and_competitive_advantage_of_South_African_SMEs

Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers
Peer-Reviewed Abstracts

  • Gcelu, N. & Ogundipe, T. V. (2026). Cultivating the digital vineyard: The role of collaborative leadership in integrating emerging technologies into teaching and learning in higher education. Presented at the Education Association of South Africa (EASA) 2026 Conference, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa

  • Ogundipe, T. V. (2025).The role of organic learning environments in effective learning for the digital age. Abstract presented at the 13th Teacher Education and Interdisciplinary Research (TEIR) Conference, South Africa.

  • Ogundipe, T. V. (2024). Transformation: Digital literacy and learning in 21st century South African rural schools, pre- and post-COVID-19 eras. Abstract presented at the 11th South African Education Research Association (SAERA) Conference, South Africa.

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