Biography

Purity Wawire is a doctoral student in C&I and specializes in Language & Literacy. Purity was born and raised in the Western part of Kenya, where the family resides. She has a background in education from her undergraduate degree in Education Arts with a major in Kiswahili language and literature, and Religious Studies from Egerton University. Purity has lived and worked in Kenya as a high school teacher and a research assistant on various Literacy development projects till when she relocated to the US in 2018. While at Ohio University, she pursued her master’s degree in African Studies with the Center for International Studies (CIS) and graduated in 2020. With an international focus, her masters research focused on Language policy, Literacy, and equal participation in educational development in Kenya and Tanzania. While at Ohio University, she was also the Swahili instructor on record with the Linguistics department and taught in the elementary, intermediate, and advanced level classes. Besides, she also worked with other Swahili programs across the country such as the Swahili STARTALK academy program as an adjunct lecture at the University of Kansas, and the SILMW program at the University of Illinois. While Foreign language teaching and learning is something that she has passion with, she has a research interest in Language and Literacy. Being born and raised up in an entirely diverse linguistic and cultural background has contributed to her growing research interests. Purity’s research interests focus largely in exploring the language and literacy practices in linguistically and culturally diverse settings at home, community, and schools. Her current research investigates the language and literacy practices of African immigrant families, largely focused on the immigrant parent’s experiences raising and supporting their children’s bilingual and biliteracy journeys. 

Courses

CI 406: Theory Practice in Elementary School Teaching I (CI 406) Course examines teaching in the elementary grades. Students will focus on a number of related topics, including classroom management, instructional design, personal and professional attributes of effective teachers, and multicultural perspectives. Coursework is integrated with field assignments in public elementary schools.

CI 433: Foundations of Bilingual Education (CI 433) Analyzes historical, political, and educational influences on bilingual/ESL education in US. Theoretical foundation of bilingual and ESL programs are examined as well as the effectiveness of program models in promoting academic achievement. Meets standards and course requirements for the Illinois State Board of Education Teaching Approval and Endorsement for Bilingual and ESL teachers.

CI 446: Culture in the Classroom (CI 446) Explores cultural, political, and social factors that affect learning and teaching. Introduces students to the fields of educational anthropology and multicultural education and to the application of cultural information to curriculum development and classroom practice. The 3-hour undergraduate version and 4-hour graduate version meet the Cross-Cultural Studies for Teaching Limited-English-Proficient Students requirement for Bilingual and/or ESL Teaching Approval or Endorsement from the Illinois State Board of Education.