Ms Lauren van Niekerk
Degrees: BSocSc in Social Work (UCT); BSocSc (Hons) in Social Policy and Management (UCT); MSocSc in Social Planning and Administration (UCT), PhD Candidate.
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Consultation Times: By Appointment. E-mail or call to request an appointment. Key Roles in the Department:Stream Coordinator for Social Policy & Management Post-Graduate Programme. Convenor of Programmes: SWK4015F Social Research; SWK4016S Research Practice Project; SWK5015F Organisation Theory; SWK5007S Strategic Leadership; SWK5009S Programme and Financial Management |
Brief Biography:
Lauren van Niekerk is a Lecturer in the Department of Social Development at the University of Cape Town. Her research interests are early childhood development and father involvement in the early years.
Lauren holds a Master’s degree in Social Planning and Administration (MSocSc), an Honours degree in Social Policy and Management, and a BSocSc in Social Work from the University of Cape Town. Previously, Lauren worked as a Programme Manager at an early childhood development (ECD) non-profit organisation where she managed large-scale ECD programmes across South Africa that aimed at increasing access and improving the quality of ECD. She also engaged in several research endeavours concentrating on inequality within early education.
Lauren is currently working on a number of research projects that are exploring father involvement, one of which includes a novel adaptation and evaluation of a book-sharing intervention for fathers in South Africa to test the impact of training fathers in a dialogic book-sharing programme on their level of sensitive parenting.
Lauren is also engaged in PhD studies at present with a focus on father involvement in children’s early learning and development. The study centres on perceptions of the role of a father, the extent of father involvement, as well as factors that promote and hinder involvement. The study’s unique focus of comparing groups from differing socio-economic contexts adds value to the consideration of father’s involvement with their children in South Africa, and aims to contribute towards the promotion of more equitable care of children, as well as towards structural transformation in relation to narratives around fatherhood and caregiving, culture, and gendered norms within the South African context.
Research Interest Areas:
Early Childhood Development
Father Involvement in Early Learning and Development
Organisation Theory (Management, Behaviour, Structure, Processes)
Social Policy
Teaching Areas:
SWK4015F Social Research
SWK5015F Organisation Theory
SWK5007S Strategic Leadership
SWK5009S Programme and Financial Management
Recent Publications:
van Niekerk, L-J. & Atmore, E. (2020). ‘Promoting Healthy Human Relationships for Children in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, in Noyoo, N. (ed.) Promoting Healthy Human Relationships in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Ashley-Cooper, M., van Niekerk, L., & Atmore, E. (2019). ‘Early Childhood Development In South Africa: Inequality And Opportunity’, in Spaull, N. & Jansen, J.D. (eds.) South African Schooling: The Enigma of Inequality. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, forthcoming.
van Niekerk, L., Ashley-Cooper, M., & Atmore, E. (2017). Effective early childhood development programme options meeting the needs of young South African children. Cape Town: Centre for Early Childhood Development.
Ashley-Cooper, M., & van Niekerk, L. (2013). Exploring Challenges in Early Education and Celebrating the Women that Overcome These. The Thinker: For Thought Leaders. September 2013 Edition, Volume 55.
Atmore E, van Niekerk, L., & Ashley-Cooper, M. (2012). Challenges facing the Early Childhood Development sector in South Africa. South African Journal of Childhood Education, Institute of Childhood Education, University of Johannesburg, volume 2 Number 1, June 2012, pp121 – 140.
Atmore E, van Niekerk, L., & Ashley-Cooper, M. (2012). Early Childhood Education: The difference between policy and reality. The Youth Dividend, unlocking the potential of Young South Africans. Transformation Audit 2012. Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town pp 81 – 87.