From Lecture Hall to Journal Pages: Dr. Selina Mudavanhu Reframes the Language of Equity in Education

Overview

For Dr. Selina Mudavanhu, academic publications are rarely just outputs; they are stories in motion.

“All my academic publications seem to come with a story attached,” she reflects in a recent LinkedIn post. “Small origin stories about how they came to exist in the world.” Those stories, she continues, tend to include “a mix of intellectual inspiration, unexpected detours, and, almost inevitably, at least one encounter with the infamous Reviewer 2 (who, thankfully, did not entirely crush my spirit lol).” Still, the process, she adds, serves as a reminder that “academic publishing is both deeply intentional and wonderfully messy, even if the final product appears as a neat APA 7 citation.”

Her recent article, “Unmasking Inequity: Reframing ‘Canadians,’ ‘Inclusive,’ and ‘Quality’ Education in Canada’s Ambitions and Commitments to SDG 4,” is no exception.

The piece did not begin as a manuscript, but as a talk delivered at McMaster University’s Global Health Speaker Series. There, Dr. Mudavanhu explored the intersection of critical media studies and global health, using the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which emphasizes inclusive, equitable, and quality education, as a guiding framework.

“Using SDG 4 as a starting point,” she explains, “the talk examined how language, policy, and equity intersect within Canadian education and relate to global commitments.”

But it was what happened after the talk that proved pivotal.

“The conversation didn’t end there,” Dr. Mudavanhu says. “Questions from students, along with the discussions that followed, played an important role in shaping the work.” These exchanges, she notes, pushed the analysis further by challenging “taken-for-granted assumptions embedded in terms such as ‘inclusive,’ ‘quality,’ and even ‘Canadian.’”

Through this process of dialogue and reflection, the presentation gradually evolved into a full-length paper. As the project developed, its central argument sharpened: commonly used policy terms, often presented as neutral or universally understood, can obscure ongoing inequities.

“Widely used terms like ‘inclusive,’ ‘quality,’ and ‘Canadian’ can mask persistent inequities in education,” she explains, particularly when viewed in relation to Canada’s commitments to SDG 4.

The transition from talk to publication involved sustained revision and refinement. “Ongoing revisions deepened and sharpened the analysis,” she says, ultimately leading to the article’s publication in the peer-reviewed journal Studies in Social Justice.

Looking back, Dr. Mudavanhu views the journey itself as integral to the final piece. “This evolution, from an initial talk to a published article, is reflected in both the original speaker series announcement and the final publication,” she notes.

For her, the process underscores a broader truth about scholarly work: ideas are rarely static. Instead, they are shaped through conversations with audiences and critics, and by the shifting contexts in which they are produced.

Mudavanhu, S. L. (2026). Unmasking inequity: Reframing “Canadians,” “inclusive” and “quality” education in Canada’s ambitions and commitments to SDG 4. Studies in Social Justice, 20(1), 20–40.