College opportunities, not to mention graduate studies, were rare in the small Southern African country of Zimbabwe where Tafadzwa Tivaringe grew up. With unyielding support from his parents, his community, and mentors, Tivaringe, or 鈥淭aphy鈥� as he is known, did his undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and now Tivaringe is earning his PhD in Learning Sciences and Human Development from the CU Boulder School of Education.
Through rigorous research, I am committed to understanding how education policies and learning environments can be inclusive and democratic. That way, we can get closer to Mandela鈥檚 vision of education鈥檚 role in transforming society."
Even though a doctoral degree is often called a 鈥渢erminal鈥� degree, Dr. Tivaringe is just getting started, as he works to transform the educational system from the inside out.听
Much of Tivaringe鈥檚 passion stems from his lived experiences. In his parents鈥� colonial Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, the education system of their youth was designed for them to complete high school and to be absorbed into the work force as 鈥渟emi-skilled workers,鈥� but his parents and many others in the community strived for new educational futures for their children.听
鈥淲hile my childhood friends and I took our parents鈥� wishes to heart, the reality for many of us was that the pathway from high school to college was marred by barriers and potholes that made it incredibly difficult to access college education,鈥� he said.听
Tivaringe credits good fortune, amazing mentors, pathway programs 鈥� such as an undergraduate fellowship that allowed him to conduct research early in his postsecondary studies鈥� and family and a community that unflinchingly believed in him to be able to access college and graduate education.
In 2014, Tivaringe was appointed a local researcher on the International Study of Youth Organizing, a project that led to a fateful collaboration with Ben Kirshner, CU Boulder learning sciences and human development professor and the study鈥檚 co-director. Kirshner was committed to understanding the story of youth in Africa and he took an interest in Tivaringe鈥檚 development as a person, both in ways that were refreshingly nuanced.听
鈥淥ur great working relationship culminated in him taking me under his wing to pursue a PhD in Education at CU Boulder,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eyond that relationship, I was drawn by the school鈥檚 strong reputation in two of my core areas of interest, human development and ed policy.鈥�
Finding like-minded mentors, who care for听their colleagues and students on a personal level made all the difference听for Tivaringe. Graduate studies can be seen as an isolating and self-driven experience, but he found mentors make up one鈥檚 team, and success is tied to how well that team works together.听
鈥淚 have learned that doing good scholarship and being a good person are two sides of the same coin,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 commonplace for people in the academy to focus on the academic project and lose the basic understanding that we are all just human beings who thrive if we center basic care for each other 鈥� what we call Ubuntu back in Southern Africa.听
鈥淚n my experiences with faculty and staff at CU Boulder, particularly in the School of Education, I鈥檝e observed that people care about academic rigor as much as they care about being great human beings.鈥�
For Tivarange鈥檚 mentors and peers, the feeling is mutual. He is well-liked and well-respected by professors and peers.
During his time at CU Boulder, he contributed to public scholarship in a multitude of ways, including skillful evaluation of听CU Engage听programs and his dedication to collaborative partnerships with the听Research Hub for Youth Organizing. In 2019, Tivaringe received a prestigious invitation from the United Nations to attend the WIDER Development international conference due to his work in Cape Town and doctoral research.听The faculty selected Tivaringe and his impressive three-article dissertation, 鈥淭he Possibilities and Limits of Using Education as a Lever for Structural Transformation,鈥� for the 2021听Outstanding Graduate Award for听Outstanding听Dissertation.听听
鈥淚 am most impressed by the rigorous and nuanced approach he takes to examining the social world and the role of education in it,鈥� wrote one faculty nominator. 鈥淚ndeed it is remarkable that in the arc of Taphy鈥檚 3-article dissertation, some of which is already published in top-tier journals, he manages to offer a sobering yet powerful analysis of both the possibilities and limits of public education in efforts to improve social mobility for historically marginalized groups.鈥�
He sees his own story as representative of the potential for change among communities that, like his, remain underserved and marginalized by various systems.
鈥淭hat potential demands that we create systems that ensure that graduands like me are not merely a function of a fortuitous alignment of key determinants of college success,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to continue devising strategies that broaden access to education across all levels.鈥�
However, Tivaringe does not believe stories like his should be left up to chance, but rather, his work and passion center around change.听听
As inspiration, he cites Nelson Mandela鈥檚 famous quote, 鈥渆ducation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,鈥� and he argues for the need to continue the legacy and work of transformative leaders like Mandela.听
鈥淯nfortunately, many people across the world still do not have access to education and/or their experience of education is truncated by unwelcoming environments and/or pedagogies that are marginalizing,鈥� he said.听
鈥淭hrough rigorous research, I am committed to understanding how education policies and learning environments can be inclusive and democratic. That way, we can get closer to Mandela鈥檚 vision of education鈥檚 role in transforming society.鈥�
Taphy鈥檚 special thanks
I would really like to thank my academic mentors, Ben Kirshner, Terrenda White, Susan Jurow, and Roudy Hildreth from the School of Education and Andrew Philips and Srinivas Parinandi from Political Science who invested so much in my development as a scholar.鈥�
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