Meet the Young CAS Fellows for 2022-24: Nani Teig

How can we help all students reach their full potential? Nani Teig’s Young CAS Fellow project will examine the academic resilience of disadvantaged students who succeed in school despite the odds against them.

 

Nani Teig, an associate professor at the University of Oslo (UiO), will lead the Young CAS Fellow

 project Disadvantaged students who beat the odds: Toward a new generation of research in academic resilience.

‘We know that inequality in education has increased rapidly, especially during the COVI

Nani Teig, associate professor at the University of Oslo (UiO) and Young CAS Fellow. Photo: UiO

D-19 pandemic,’ Teig said. ‘Educational inequality is a global problem that affects many countries, from the poorest to the richest.’

The project will bring together a team of scholars with diverse and substantive methodological expertise in education, psychology, sociology and computer science to identify academically resilient students, the trend in proportions and factors related to their success.

‘Even though academic resilience plays a critical role in reducing the achievement gap in education, its research remains fragmented, especially in science education,’ Teig writes in her project proposal.

‘Researchers have not yet conceptualised academic resilience in science adequately and addressed its dynamic and multilevel nature. The need for a valid and reliable measurement of academic resilience is crucial to identify resilient students across different contexts.’

The project is one of two Young CAS Fellow projects due to start in August 2022.

We spoke with Teig about her project and her thoughts about having been selected for the Young CAS Fellow programme for 2022-24.

Congratulations! Could you briefly tell us about your project?

Thank you! I am over the moon and grateful to be selected as a Young CAS Fellow. It is truly an honour for me.

We know that inequality in education has increased rapidly, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational inequality is a global problem that affects many countries, from the poorest to the richest. Students from low-income families are at exceptional risk of underachieving and dropping out of school. Nevertheless, despite having challenging home backgrounds, some students perform well at school. My Young CAS Fellow project will examine disadvantaged students who succeed despite the odds against them. These academically resilient students show what is possible and provide insight into supporting other students in reaching their full potential. This project will identify academically resilient students, the trend in proportions and factors related to their success. I believe that, given the right support, any school can offer children a fair chance to succeed in life, regardless of their background. Poverty does not need to be destiny.

My Young CAS Fellow project will examine disadvantaged students who succeed despite the odds against them. These academically resilient students show what is possible and provide insight into supporting other students in reaching their full potential.

Please tell us a bit about yourself, your research interests and your career path.

I come from the third largest island in the world, Borneo in Indonesia. I have been working as a teacher since I was 15 years old, so I have quite a broad range of teaching experience, from working in kindergartens, schools and universities and from teaching science, mathematics and statistics. Science education is my primary field. I currently work as an associate professor at UiO and as an associate professor II at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. My research aims to better understand how teachers and policymakers can enhance student outcomes by harnessing the power of data analytics.

Why did you apply to the Young CAS Fellow programme?

The Young CAS Fellow programme focuses on building research networks and is targeted toward researchers in the early stages of their careers. This programme will bring a valuable opportunity to develop my work as an early-career researcher, primarily through knowledge sharing and collaboration with scholars across different fields. The research networks can serve as platforms for future grant applications to ensure a continued research agenda.

This programme will bring a valuable opportunity to develop my work as an early-career researcher, primarily through knowledge sharing and collaboration with scholars across different fields.

What in particular are you looking forward to as a future Young CAS Fellow? 

I am looking forward to developing my research ideas and meeting people in person at the three gatherings and the two-months research stay. It is an exciting opportunity to discuss the project with a team of scholars who have diverse and substantive methodological expertise. 

 

 

Published 17 March 2022, 12:00 | Last edited 24 March 2023, 10:24