Dr. John Muchira is a Visiting Assistant Professor and Coordinator of African Languages at the Center for African Studies. John earned his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a specialization in Sociocultural and International Development Education Studies from Florida State University (FSU) and a graduate certificate in Program Evaluation from the same institution. He also holds a Master of Arts in Modern Languages from the University of Mississippi, and a Bachelor of Education (Arts) with a specialization in Kiswahili and English Language from the University of Nairobi. John taught Kiswahili as a second language in Kenya before beginning his academic career teaching Kiswahili as a Foreign Language at New York University, where he also took non-degree graduate courses in Africana Studies in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis through a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship (FLTA) sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). Prior to joining the University of Florida, John taught Kiswahili language and culture to students at the novice through advanced levels in the African and African American Studies department and served as an Adjunct Professor of a graduate course in Multicultural Education at the University of Kansas. John has served as an instructor and curriculum designer in various programs in the U.S. for over a decade, namely the STARTALK Swahili Academy program funded by the National Security Agency at the University of Kansas, in which he co-authored a paper titled “Effective Intensive Language Programs: The Case Study of a Kiswahili STARTALK Program Model,” the African Flagship Languages Initiative sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP) at the University of Florida through the IIE, Directed Independent Language Study Program at the University of Miami, and taught a summer “crash” course on Ecotourism and Environmental Politics in Tanzania at the University of Maine-Farmington.
John’s research interests are in language pedagogy, curriculum reforms, study abroad programs, policy planning and development, holistic youth development, and the transition from education to the world of work. John has published various articles in peer-reviewed journals, technical reports, and evidence briefs, and is currently co-authoring a U.S. Department of Education-funded book titled “Hujambo! A Standards-Based Approach to Introductory Kiswahili” under grant P229A180008. He has demonstrated success in monitoring and evaluating projects, leading continuous improvement initiatives, scaling educational programs, and designing programming to address changing populations. Dr. Muchira leverages superior communication, knowledge mobilization, and strategic partnerships, as demonstrated in project management, research, stakeholder collaboration, and an adaptive learning approach, resulting in over USD 3 million projects, various peer-reviewed publications, project reports, policy briefs, and Op-Eds, and disseminating findings in international and national conferences. Recently, he has presented his papers at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), African Studies Association (ASA), CHAUKIDU (The Global Association for the Promotion of Swahili), the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL), and the Africa Academy of Management. Over the last decade, John has participated in professional development workshops focusing on language pedagogy, particularly African languages and Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs), educational technology, critical and design thinking, teachers’ capacity development, and program innovation, held in various partnering institutions in the U.S., and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
John is well-versed in research design, project management, donor relations, and policy engagement, having worked as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in the Education and Youth Empowerment Unit. John is very enthusiastic about growing the African languages and being a cultural ambassador. Thus, he co-initiated the Swahili language program at the University of Mississippi and the FSU Swahili language and culture club in collaboration with the Center for Global Engagement, where he served as the Director and Co-founder. John is a recipient of several scholarships and awards, including the Fulbright scholarship, Matasa Fellowship through the MasterCard Foundation and the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK, European Entrepreneurship Summer School scholarship in the Netherlands, Business Model competitions finalist at Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at FSU, and the Gagné Research Prize for Best Graduate Research Paper in the College of Education at Florida State University. His interdisciplinary training in the College of Education, languages, African studies, and College of Business has equipped him with essential knowledge on proof of concept in language programming and innovation.
John has served as a consultant for government-led projects and several programs spearheaded by international organizations in sub-Saharan Africa from design to project implementation stage. He was a technical assistant for the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms in Kenya, a reviewer for the Government of Kenya’s National Education Sector Strategic Plan (NESSP), and has been a lead consultant and Research Scientist for education, development, and policy-related projects managed by the APHRC, Association for the Development of Education in Africa, British Council, Education Development Trust, Education.org, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), World Bank, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Population Council, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU), Zizi Afrique Foundation, among other organizations. He has demonstrated the ability to utilize evidence-based decision-making, critical thinking processes, and institute strategies to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged and marginalized youth and children. John is currently working in collaboration with the British Council and Zizi Afrique on a research project that examines the role played by language in social cohesion and resilience building in Kenya and the impact of language on learning outcomes for refugees and host communities.
Courses:
| SWA2201 - Intermediate Swahili 1 |
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Language Pedagogy
Policy Planning and Development
COUNTRIES/REGIONS OF EXPERTISE
Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa