Institute of Education London

Dr Marie Lall

• • BSc(econ), M Phil (Cantab), PhD, FRSA
  • Reader in Education Policy and South Asian Studies
• Faculty:
  • Faculty of Policy and Society
• Department:
  • Humanities and Social Science
• Summary:
  • I am a South Asia Specialist working on education and politics in India, Pakistan and Myanmar.
    
    Media appearances:
    • Commenting on Aung San Suu Kyi collecting her Nobel Peace Prize, BBC World, June 2012
    • Aljazeera's Inside Story on Corruption in India and Anna Hazare breaking his fast, August 2011 - watch here
    • BBC World Service, invited on 'The World Today' to comment on the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, November 2010
    • Interviewed by George Galloway on The Real Deal, Press TV on Pakistan on October 2010 - watch here - and January 2011 - watch here
    • Aljazeera's Inside Story on the Ayodhya verdict, October 2010 - watch here
    • BBC World Service, invited on 'The World Today' as a guest on the 2 hour morning show, July 2009
    • Aljazeera's Riz Khan Show after the Mumbai attacks, December 2008. watch here and here
    BBC viewpoints
    Lall, M (2012) Suu Kyi's changing role
    Lall, M. (2012) More milestones in Burma
    Lall, M. (2011) Has a year of civilian rule changed Burma?
    Lall, M. (2011) Change in Burma – one step at a time
    Lall, M. (2010) Burma's evolving opposition
    Lall, M (2010) Is democracy on the road to Mandalay?
• Teaching:
  • I am a part of the course team for Education and International Development: Concepts, Theories and Issues, the core module for the MA in Education and International Development; I teach on Understanding Education Policy, a Core module for the MAs in Policy Studies, Economics of Education and Education Management and Administration.
    I also teach the South Asia lectures on the optional module Education and Development in Asia
• Research:
  • I am currently exploring the relationship between conflict and education, in particular with regard to ethnic conflict, building on my national identity and citizenship work in South Asia.
    Current research includes work on the understanding of citizenship in Pakistan and across the Pakistani diaspora, focusing on the role that education plays in forming this conception.
    I am also conducting similar research in Myanmar, where I am looking in particular at the differences between Bamar and ethnic minority conceptions of citizenship in light of the recent structural changes at government and state level.
    Another research project involves looking at the role ceasefires have played in allowing the spread of ethnic language education in ethnic minority areas in Myanmar.
    Recently concluded projects include:
    1. Examining the process of citizenship making across Europe and Asia, focusing on the role of elites and education in citizenship making in India. (Part of the Excellence Initiative run by the South Asia Institute at the University of Heidelberg)
    2. Child Centred teaching and learning practices in non-state Myanmar schools
    3. The effects of globalisation and neoliberal policies on education in India and the UK
• Postgraduate Research:
  • Open to review applications for doctoral research on education issues (in particular education policy) in India, Pakistan and Myanmar or research on education policy in other low income countries.
• Professional Activities:
  • Editorial Board – Contemporary South Asia
    Honorary Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies(ISAS) at the National University of Singapore
• Conferences/presentations:
  • Ran a half day workshop for Ethnic Minority Parties and a full day workshop for the NDF on Citizenship, Yangon, Myanmar, Feb and July 2012.
    Invited to present a paper on 'Perceptions of the state in light of the 2010 Myanmar Elections' at the Burma Update conference, ANU, Canberra, Australia, May 2011.
    Keynote at the Burma/ Myanmar Elections conference, Heinrich Boell Stift., Berlin,Germany, Nov 2010.
• Personal Country Knowledge:
  • India, Pakistan and Myanmar
• Languages Spoken:
  • Fluent in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Basic Hindi and Urdu
• Languages Written:
  • French and German - fluent. Spanish and Portuguese - advanced.
• Research Students:
  • PhD students:
    • Aziz Kabani – The role of the Sindh Education Foundation in Pakistani education policy making
    • Hyder Abbas - Professional migrants and higher education policy in Canada
    • Bahir Laattoe - SEN, inclusion and education policy
    • Aisha Bhutta - The meaning of literacy for women in the Pakistani Diaspora
    • Zulfiqar Ali - The political economy and policy sociology of education in Pakistan
    Ed D:
    • Isabelle Perez Gore – An enquiry into non-traditional Indian students' issues in UK institutions and their coping mechanisms
    • Fawad Shams - Education and international aid development agencies in Pakistan.