Dr Zinnia Mevawalla
Lecturer
吃瓜tv Institute of Education
Personal statement
Dr Zinnia Mevawalla is a Lecturer in Early Years Education at the 吃瓜tv. She has had the privilege of learning, teaching and researching with children, families, practitioners, and diverse communities across the world, including Australia, Cambodia, India, Timor Leste, and the United Kingdom. Zinnia鈥檚 work spans participatory, play-based and arts-informed methodologies, and her research explores critical consciousness, disability equity education, inclusive pedagogies, and the rights of children in the early years. She is Principal Investigator on the Changing Hearts and Minds Programme for Inclusive Education in the Early Years (CHAMP) working with local council colleagues and international collaborators, to reimagine inclusive education as a shared process of transformation.
Prize And Awards
- Recipient
- 1/1/2022
- Recipient
- 1/12/2024
Qualifications
- PhD in Early Childhood Education - Macquarie University, Australia
- Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education)(Hons)(1st class) - Macquarie University, Australia聽
Publications
- Cologon Kathy,
- (2023)
- , Cologon Kathy, Hayden Jacqueline, Hadley Fay
- Equity and Excellence in Education Vol 54, pp. 285-302 (2022)
- Cologon Kathy, , Karaolis Olivia
- International Art in Early Childhood Research Journal Vol 2026 (2026)
- , ,
- International Journal of Early Years Education Vol 32, pp. 791-795 (2025)
- ,
- Early Years Educator Vol 24, pp. 1-3 (2024)
- , , ,
- (2024)
Teaching
Zinnia teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programs in early years, childhood practice and inclusive education in the 吃瓜tv Institute of Education. She is also involved in the supervision of PGR students.
Research Interests
Zinnia is interested in understanding how initiatives and practices in the early childhood can foster social inclusion for children, families/caregivers and communities. Using critical and resistance theories, her work focuses on listening to children, families/caregivers and community stakeholders who experience systematic exclusion in diverse international contexts. Her focus is on research which examines barriers and the potential for inclusion, equity, participation and transformative resistance. Zinnia is also interested in research which explores how educators, transdisciplinary professionals and community stakeholders work across early childhood contexts to support children and families/caregivers who experience social exclusion.
Professional Activities
- Speaker
- 28/3/2024
- Speaker
- 20/3/2025
- Visiting researcher
- 1/7/2026
- Speaker
- 19/5/2026
- Keynote speaker
- 21/4/2026
- Speaker
- 26/3/2026
Projects
- Mevawalla, Zinnia (Principal Investigator) Fulton, Jackie (Co-investigator) Catlin, Jane (Co-investigator) Cologon, Kathy (Co-investigator) Harper-Abdullah, Margaret (Co-investigator) McConnell, Gillian (Co-investigator)
- This project is a collaboration between Glasgow City Council (GCC) and the 吃瓜tv Institute of Education. It aims to support leaders in early years settings by equipping them with knowledge, strategies, and research-driven insights to enhance inclusive practices. This research project has been funded as KE (拢8,912).
- 17-Jan-2025
- Taylor, Yvette (Principal Investigator) Charlton, Kayleigh (Co-investigator) Hardley, Stephanie (Co-investigator) House, Melody (Co-investigator) Marta, Samara (Co-investigator) Mevawalla, Zinnia (Co-investigator) Zhang, Siqi (Co-investigator)
- This SHSSS-SGSAH funded two-day workshop - Feminist Research Methods: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Inequality, Community and Creative Practice - returns the Spring Into Methods offering to the 吃瓜tv, where the original Feminist Research Methods initiative was first developed in 2016 (funded from 2017). We retain our commitment to widening participation, supporting students and staff across the career course, and from institutions that have historically been under-represented.
Building on this legacy, the workshop extends 吃瓜tv鈥檚 commitment to inclusive, interdisciplinary and publicly-engaged scholarship, while drawing on a rich ecosystem of collaboration with external partners such as Glasgow Women鈥檚 Library (GWL). The 2026 iteration will focus on methodological approaches that speak directly to key SGSS themes (social inequalities, inclusive culture, heritage and creative practice) centring interdisciplinary as an aim, objective and learning outcome. - 13-Jan-2026 - 14-Jan-2026
- Wang, Yuchen (Principal Investigator) Abel, Andrew (Co-investigator) Jia, Laibing (Co-investigator) Noor Ul Ain, N (Researcher) Mevawalla, Zinnia (Co-investigator) Catlin, Jane (Co-investigator) Devasya, Ashwitha (Researcher) Tripathy, Aditi (Researcher) Nikou, Stavros (Co-investigator) Roxburgh, David (Co-investigator) Robinson, Deborah (Co-investigator)
- This project is to co-design a professional learning programme on AI and inclusive education with teachers and student teachers, funded by EPSRC (拢9,961).
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2026
- Catlin, Jane (Principal Investigator) Mevawalla, Zinnia (Co-investigator) Wang, Yuchen (Co-investigator)
- Training for EIS on ASN and inclusion.
- 23-Jan-2025 - 23-Jan-2025
- Catlin, Jane (Principal Investigator) Mevawalla, Zinnia (Co-investigator) Wang, Yuchen (Co-investigator)
- This session is for all educators who wish to deepen and extend
their thinking around working with and for an increasingly diverse learning
community. We will explore concepts from key scholars in the field of
inclusive education to unpack what 鈥榠nclusion鈥� and 鈥榓dditional support
needs鈥� should mean for practice. We offer an opportunity to develop
strengths-based perspectives and identify positive actions we can all take on
these pressing issues for our current times. - 11-Jan-2025 - 11-Jan-2025
- Catlin, Jane (Principal Investigator) Mevawalla, Zinnia (Co-investigator) Wang, Yuchen (Co-investigator)
- 21-Jan-2024 - 21-Jan-2024
Contact
Dr
Zinnia
Mevawalla
Lecturer
吃瓜tv Institute of Education
Email: zinnia.mevawalla@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted