The decision of the awards committee was based on the power and impact of her research and scholarship in teaching and teacher education.  An affirmation of the value of Prof Vandeyar,  is that her perspectives on diversity have been sought internationally through invitations to speak and lecture in Singapore, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the University of San Francisco.  Her voice has been heard in numerous papers presented at international and national conferences.

In her research she draws upon Sara Lawrence Lightfoot’s use of portraiture to create “vivid images of life in former white schools that have embarked on a programme of deliberate integration and diversification at the level of students, staffing, and curriculum.”  The culmination of this large research project resulted in a very powerful co-authored book titled Diversity High:  Class, color, culture, and character in a South African high school (2008).  This work is recognized as fine example of your scholarship and the fact that it has been used in staff development in South Africa with principals and teachers to improve the intercultural experiences of elementary and secondary students and school staff throughout the country is evidence of its powerful impact.
In addition to this large scale research study, she has published articles in numerous journals including Curriculum Inquiry, the Journal of Early Childhood Development and Care, Education Inquiry, and the International Journal of Educational Development; numerous book chapters; and has two books under consideration for publication that are focused on immigrant students and identity.

Her colleagues recognize her work as an excellent curriculum developer and teacher.  In particular they point to the curriculum she has developed to teach students in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) strategies for teaching in diversely populated school settings.  This curriculum is designed to assess where university students are located in thinking about “others”, to challenge these ideas, to move them forward to recognize their own complicity in children’s learning successes and failures, and to support them in developing new ways of teaching that recognize and respect differences.

“We value your work as seminal and trail blazing.  You have clearly achieved distinction in the field and you are most deserving of this mid-career award”, Etta R Hollins, Vice President of the AERA Division K remarked.

Prof Vandeyar was invited to attend the Division K Business Meeting at the AERA Annual Meeting in New Orleans to receive the plaque for the award to be held on Saturday, 9 April 2011.