Pamela Wadende

Dr. Pamela Wadende is a senior lecturer at Kenya’s Kisii University where she trains future teachers in Developmental Psychology and supervises graduate students. Dr. Wadende’s cross-cultural work with children explores how they learn and flourish in rapidly changing societies in low- and middle-income countries, such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Zambia.

Throughout her career, her guiding question has been: What spurs human flourishing and how can it be optimised through interventions?  Dr. Wadende believes that developmental outcomes are heavily shaped by environmental factors on a local and global scale, such as political tensions or climate change.  A community’s cultural traditions not only foster a sense of belonging for its members but hold a wealth of tools for interventions aimed at supporting their well-being. 

In line with this approach, Dr. Wadende  recently investigated ways of bridging children’s transition from home to school in Kenya and Zambia, supported by Global Ties and UKRI, and currently explores character development among children in Kenya, Cameroon and Ethiopia in two projects funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.