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Dr Chris Millora

Staff details

Dr Chris Millora

Position

Lecturer in Education, Head of Programme, MA Social Justice in Education

Department

Educational Studies

Email

c.millora (@gold.ac.uk)

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Chris explores the links between youth learning/literacies and social justice, particularly in Global South contexts.

I am Lecturer in Educational Studies and Head of Programme of the MA Social Justice in Education. Broadly, I research links between youth learning/literacies and social justice, particularly in Global South contexts. My most recent research, 'Literacies of Dissent: learning, youth activism and social change' explores the literacy and learning dimensions of youth and student movements in the Philippines and Chile. It was funded by The Leverhulme Trust.

Previously, I was Senior Research Associate for the UKRI/GCRF-funded project on Family Literacy, Indigenous Learning and Sustainable Development and was Lead Researcher for the commissioned UNV State of the World's Volunteerism Report 2022. I was Chair of BALID (British Association for Literacy in Development) (2021-2024) and Academic Associate with the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation, University of East Anglia.

Academic qualifications

  • PhD in Education and Development 2021
  • MA in Lifelong Learning Policy and Management 2016

Teaching and supervision

I am Head of Programme of the MA Social Justice in Education. I am module leader of the following:

ED71087D Introduction to Social Justice in Education
ED71147B Global Education: Power, Practice and Policy
ED71043D Dissertation

I contribute sessions to the following modules
ED71088B - Researching Social Justice in Education
ED71024B  - Living Multilingualism in Education
Comparative and International Education (Undergradute)

I welcome enquiries from PhD students with potential links with my research areas/interests and would like to explore collaboration. Please get in touch!

Research interests

My research interests sit at the intersection of youth learning/literacies and social justice. I research participation of young people in/through volunteering and social activism and how these cultivate and/or confine learning processes and personal transformations. I employ ethnographic, participatory and participatory action research methods.

I am interested in the conceptualisation of youth activist spaces as (informal) learning spaces that shape and/or are shaped by wider social dynamics.

My research keywords include:

  • Youth literacies and informal learning
  • Literacy as social practice
  • Youth participation and social movement learning
  • Education and international development and the SDGs
  • Volunteerism, activism and student movements
  • Education and social justice
  • Comparative education

Methodologically, I am interested in approaches to research that 'model' participation - sharing some degree of power to research collaborators. These include:

  • Participatory Action Research
  • Youth-led research
  • Creative methods (such as Photovoice activity)

Publications and research outputs

Article

Millora, Chris. 2024. Learning to work in certain ways: Bureaucratic literacies and community-based volunteering in the Philippines. Community Development, 59(1), pp. 108-127. ISSN 1557-5330

Millora, Chris. 2023. ‘Social-contextual’ approaches to family literacy programmes: policy and practice lessons from Nigeria, Mexico and Nepal. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, ISSN 0305-7925

Jere, Catherine M.; Priyadharshini, Esther; Robinson-Pant, Anna; Millora, Chris and Evren, Burcu. 2023. Cooperation, collaboration and compromise: learning through difference and diversity. Educational Action Research, 31(3), pp. 540-555. ISSN 0965-0792

Book Section

Millora, Chris and Karunungan, Renee Julienne. 2024. Researching the criminalisation of young people’s dissent: insights from Southeast Asia. In: Judith Bessant; Philippa Collin and Patrick O'Keefe, eds. Research Handbook on the Sociology of Youth. Cheltham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 69-82. ISBN 9781803921792

Millora, Chris. 2022. Making a difference: Addressing imbalances and inequalities in research on volunteering. In: Michael Locke and Jurgen Grotz, eds. Volunteering, research and the test of experience: A critical celebration for the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Volunteering Research. Norwich: Institute for Volunteering Research & UEA Publishing Project, pp. 171-176. ISBN 9781913861940

Report

Millora, Chris. 2022. Setting Spaces for Youth and Student-Led Advocacy: Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on youth and student organising calls for urgent action towards inclusion of youth and students in advocacy spaces. Discussion Paper. Global Campaign for Education, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Robinson-Pant, Anna; Binesse, Helene; Maleki, Mohammad; Millora, Chris and Wang, Qingru. 2021. Adult literacy and learning for social change: innovation, influence and the role of non-state actors; case studies from Afghanistan, China, the Philippines and Senegal. Discussion Paper. UNESCO, Paris.

Millora, Chris and Karunungan, Renee Julienne. 2021. Students by day, rebels by night? Criminalising student dissent in shrinking democracies. Discussion Paper. SAIH (Studentenes og Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond/Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund), Oslo, Norway.

Other

Millora, Chris. 2022. Book Review: Literacies, power and identities in figured worlds in Malawi. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education.

Millora, Chris. 2018. Book Review: Perspectives on volunteering: Voices from the South by Butcher, J., & Einolf, C. J. (Eds.). Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

Research projects

2022: Literacies of Dissent: learning, youth activism and social change
A youth-led participatory research project exploring the learning & literacy dimensions of youth social movements in the Global South. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship

2024-2024: Policy and practice toolkit on meaningful youth engagement
A Goldsmiths Research Impact Fund Award alongwith collaborator, Global Compaign for Education (based in South Africa).

Research Engagement

I am committed to exploring how research could be utilised towards improving practice, particularly in development and youth-involving organisations. I have previously developed research and commissioned projects with organisations such as UN Volunteers, SAIH (Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund), the International Association for Volunteer Effort and the Global Campaign for Education (see reports on the publications section of this page).