About
Research
Email: line.kuppens@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
Line Kuppens joined the Centre for Research into the Education of Marginalised Children and Young Adults (CREMCYA) as a postdoctoral researcher – education in October 2020. Prior to joining the Centre, Line gained extensive experience within the field of international education, working both as a scholar and a practitioner in varied settings in South-East Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia) and in Sub-Saharan Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia).
Line holds a PhD in Development Studies and Social Sciences from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium) and the University of Antwerp (Belgium), an MSc Comparative and International Politics, an MSc Quantitative Analyses in the Social Sciences and a BSc in Political Sciences from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium).
Before coming to St Mary’s, Line worked as a senior education adviser at VVOB- education for development, an international development organisation specialized in increasing the quality of education by strengthening local education actors. In her role, Line provided content support to primary and secondary school projects on two continents and contributed to expanding the portfolio by formulating new projects and programmes.
Research
Research profile
Line's research interests centre around the role of education as a peace-building tool in divided and post-conflict societies.
Specific themes of interest include: peace education, multicultural education, citizenship, conflict management, ethnicity, social cohesion, and equity.
Line’s doctoral research examined how the violent past and inter-group relations are addressed in secondary schools in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire and the divided society of Kenya and to what extent teachers are willing and able to act as agents of peace.
Peer reviewer
- Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
- Journal of Peacebuilding & Development
- PLOS ONE
Selected publications
Book chapters
- Kuppens, L., & Langer, A. (2019). Building Social Cohesion through Education in Africa? Lessons from Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya. In A. Langer, H. Hino, F. Stewart, and J. Lonsdale (eds), From Divided Pasts to Cohesive Futures. Reflections on Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Book Reviews
- Kuppens, L. (2022). [Review of the book Schooling for peaceful development in post-Conflict societies: Education for transformation, by C. Harber]. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. American Psychological Association.
Journal articles
- Kuppens, L., Ibrahim, S., & Langer, A. (2020). Unity over Diversity? Teachers' Perceptions and Practices of Multicultural Education in Kenya. Compare-A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 50 (5): 1 – 21.
- Kuppens, L., & Langer, A. (2020). Reconciling before educating? Narratives of conflict and peace among teachers in Côte d’Ivoire. International Journal Of Intercultural Relations, 76: 37 – 51.
- Langer, A., & Kuppens, L. (2019). Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict: Education as a Separate Dimension of Horizontal Inequalities. Education and Conflict Review,. 2: 38 – 43.
- Kuppens, L., Langer, A., & Ibrahim, S. (2018). A Teacher is no Politician’: Stereotypic Attitudes of Secondary School Teachers in Kenya. International Journal Of Educational Development, 62: 270 – 280.
- Kuppens L., & Langer A. (2018). Peut-on apprendre la paix à l'école? Une évaluation du cours de l'Education aux Droits de l'Homme et à la Citoyenneté en Côte d'Ivoire. International Review of Education, 64 (5): 633 – 650.
- Kuppens L., Langer A. (2016). To address or not to address the violent past in the classroom? That is the question in Côte d’Ivoire. Journal of Peace Education, 13 (2): 153-171.
- Kuppens L., Langer A. (2016). Divided We Teach? Teachers’ Perceptions of Conflict and Peace in Côte d’Ivoire. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 22 (4): 329-333.
Technical reports and policy papers
- Kuppens, L. (with Thida, K. & de Gruiter, M.) (2020). The Impact of Psychosocial Challenges at Home on Primary School Performance: the Case of Cambodia. Louvain Cooperation/VVOB – education for development.
- Kuppens, L. (with Vromant, N., Hazemba, M., & Kyulabantua, F.) (forthcoming). Scaling Teaching at the Right Level: Insights from the Catch Up Literacy and Numeracy Intervention in Zambia. VVOB – education for development/ Ministry of General Education of Zambia.