Prof. Lesley Le Grange

Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch University

Profile

Prof. Le Grange is Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University. He holds the following qualifications: BSc (UWC), HDE (PG)sec, BA, BEd, MEd cum laude (UCT) and a PhD (SU). He started his professional career as a high school science teacher and during this time also served as Head of Department of biology and acting Deputy Principal. Prior to his appointment to a full-time academic position at Stellenbosch University in 1999, he was a part-time lecturer at different universities, a contract researcher and freelance educational consultant. 

At Stellenbosch University he has chaired several committees, served two terms as Vice-Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education and a stint as Acting Dean in the same Faculty. He teaches and researches in the fields of environmental education, science education, educational research, curriculum studies and higher education studies. Lesley Le Grange has 234 publications to his credit and serves on editorial boards of nine peer- reviewed journals. He has delivered 170 academic presentations (68 as invited speaker). In 2015 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (UK) and in 2019 elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). In 2018 he was appointed member of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology and is also member of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). After serving two terms as Vice-President, he was elected President of the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (IAACS) in 2020. His current research interests include: Sustainability education, education in a post-human(ist) world, history of school biology in South Africa, relationship between science and indigenous knowledge; Ubuntu as ecosophy and its implications for education, curriculum change in South Africa, with reference to life sciences and environmental education; decolonising the university curriculum.