Hari Prasad Sacré
Hari Prasad Sacré obtained a PhD in Educational Sciences with the dissertation Reading Illiteracy: A Pedagogical Study about Cultural (Il)literacy in Flanders, under the supervision of Prof. Kris Rutten (Ghent University) and Prof. Sruti Bala (University of Amsterdam). In this research he theorized the concept of new illiteracy: forms of illiteracy that emerge in the lives of highly literate citizens in the context of migration and transnational adoption. These new forms require specific concepts and pedagogical approaches that support educators and teachers in guiding these groups toward self-emancipation. On this theme, he has published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Philosophies, Genealogy and the European Journal of Cultural Studies.
His postdoctoral research builds on the need for emancipatory work in the context of new illiteracy and develops along two research strands:
- Cultural emancipation in transnational adoption
Within the research group, he continues to work on themes such as heritage language, identity and citizenship in the context of transnational adoption. His interest lies in how adult adoptees and their biological/first families exercise agency and claim their rights in a transnational context. Within this line of research he coordinates the PACTO project, funded by VLIR-UOS, in collaboration with the IICC of the Universidad Católica Boliviana. This project contributes to the reform of the child protection system in Bolivia by involving first parents, care leavers and Bolivian adoptees in making visible how the current child protection system supports and/or undermines their right to family. - Language emancipation in higher education
At Odisee University of Applied Sciences, he works at both policy and research level on the linguistic and cultural emancipation of multilingual as well as Dutch-speaking students. In response to the urgent need to address the declining language proficiency of incoming students, he is conducting research on the necessary preconditions for impactful language coaching in higher education.
