Prof. Hope Pius Nudzor is the Director of Research Innovation and Outreach and a critical Education Policy Analyst and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), a UNESCO Category II Centre of Excellence at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana.
He holds Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational and Professional Studies, a Master of Science Degree in Management and Leadership in Education; both from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and a Bachelor of Arts degree (with First Class Honours in Linguistics and Swahili) from the University of Ghana.
Before becoming a Senior Research Fellow at IEPA, Hope had worked as: Research Fellow (with IEPA and the University of Strathclyde); UK’s Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (with the University of Strathclyde); Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow (with Liverpool Hope University); Teaching/Research Associate with the University of Strathclyde; and as a Primary School Teacher in Ghana.
Hope Nudzor also coordinates IEPA’s Research Seminar Series and teaches on IEPA’s graduate programme in the following courses, namely: Educational Research Methods, Educational Policy Analysis, and Higher Education Institutions and their Environments.
His research interests and expertise relate to critical education policy analysis; policy success and failure; evaluation of education for all (EFA) policy initiatives in low-income countries; qualitative research methods (particularly critical discourse analysis); management and leadership issues in education; educational decentralization; qualitative interviewing; higher education institutions and their governance systems; transnational higher education (TNHE) partnerships; change management in educational institutions; activity-based learning (ABL) practices in Ghanaian schools; and the group of young people referred to in policy terms as not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Hope’s contribution to scholarship includes chapters in edited books; peer-reviewed conference papers; and articles published in high-impact national and international peer-reviewed journals. Some of the journals in which his articles feature include the British Educational Research Journal, Journal of Educational Change, International Journal of Research and Methods in Education, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, Sage Open, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, Issues in Education Research, and Educational futures. Others comprise Journal of Educational Management; Management in Education; Educational Research; Journal for Educational Development and Practice; International Journal of Innovative Research and Development; Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies; The International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives; Ghana Journal of Higher Education; Journal of Education and Work; and Tertiary Education Series.
Hope was formerly a member of the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Peer Review College. He has served (and continues to serve) as a reviewer for a number of high impact international peer review journals, including: Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (JCEPS), Journal of Educational Change, International Review of Education, and the European Journal of Teacher Education.
Prof. Nudzor has won a number of prestigious research prizes, awards and grants including, but not limited to:
• UCC DRIC’s Best College Level Researcher Award (College of Education Studies) Award Prize: GHS3,000. Award Date: November 3, 2020.
• British Council Research Grant to Investigate Transnational Education (TNE) partnerships and the environment of distance learning in Ghana. Grant Prize: GHS 50,000. Date of Award: February 2018.
• UCC’s Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) Policy and Practice-Oriented Research Support Grant for a One-year Nation-wide IEPA Tracer Study on the topic “Placement and Utilisation of ‘IEPA’ Graduates in Sectors of the Ghanaian Economy”. Grant Prize of GHS35,100. Date of Award: 10th April, 2017.
• UCC DRIC’s Best Evolving Researcher Award (Maiden Research Awards Competition), Award Prize: GHS5,000. Date of Award: 26th of April, 2016.
• UNESCO/Israel (MASHAV) Fellowship Award to Participate in the International Training Seminar in Israel on the theme “Preventing youth-at-risk from dropping out of school: Strategies for Reintegration”: Fellowship Award Period: 6th March to 6th April 2016.
• Listee of Marquis Who is Who in the World: November 2010.
• Certificate of High Commendation by the Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) for being the overall runner-up in the Estelle Brisard Memorial Prize Competition: Date of Award: November 2009.
• UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship Grant for the dissemination of my doctoral research findings through publications, conference presentations and user-engagement activities: Award Prize: £67,839.76. Award Period: April, 2009 – March, 2010.
• Learning and Teaching Scotland Research Grant to investigate the experiences of the group of young people described as “NEET”. (with Finlay, I. et al.) Award Prize: £32,000. Award Date: June, 2007.
Hope was also a College Improvement Advisor (CIA) for Colleges of Education in the Volta and Oti Regions under the Government of Ghana (and UK Aid assisted) flagship programme Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL). He is currently a member of the Governing Council of Dambai College of Education (DACE).