Biography

Dr. Thomas Mark Turay is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Adult Education cross-appointed to the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University. He joined the Coady International Institute in July 2000 and the Department of Adult Education in May 2005. He holds a Higher Teachers Certificate in Rural Science from Milton Margai Teachers College (Sierra Leone), a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education from the Njala University College (University of Sierra Leone), a Post-Graduate Diploma in Rural Policy and Planning from the Institute of Social Studies (The Hague) and a Master of Arts and Doctorate in Adult Education and Community Development from the Ontario Institute for the Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. In Sierra Leone Thomas also served as Director of Caritas Makeni and Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Centre for Development and Peace Education.

Education.

Ph.D . (Adult Education and Community Development), Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, June 2001. Concentrations : Adult Education, Community Development, Conflict and Peace Education. Dissertation : An Examination of Intra-secondary School Conflicts in Complex Emergencies: The Case of Sierra Leone. Advisor: Dr. Budd Hall.

M.A ., (Adult Education and Community Development), Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, November 1996. Concentrations : Adult Education; Comparative, International and Development Education, and Peace Education. Thesis : Peace Education and Social Change in Africa: The Role of Non-Governmental Organisations in Kenya. Advisor: Dr. Joseph Farrell. 

Post-Graduate Diploma in Rural Policy & Planning , Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, April 1989.  Research Paper: Popular Participation in Integrated Rural Development: The Case of Mapaki Descendants Farming Association, Sierra Leone. Advisor: Mr. Harry Wagenbuur.

B. Sc. Agric. Ed . , Njala University College, University of Sierra Leone, June 1983.  Research Paper: The Impact of the Teaching of Agricultural Science in Secondary Schools on Farm Families, Teachers and Pupils in and around Makeni and Magburaka Townships, Northern Province, Sierra Leone. Supervisor: Mr. Patrick Tamba.

Higher Teachers Certificate (Rural Science), Milton Margai Teachers College, University of Sierra Leone, June 19976. Research Paper: The Role of Rural Science in the School and Community. 

General Certificate of Education, "Ordinary Level," Kolenten Secondary School, Kambia, Sierra Leone, June 1970.

See Dr. Turay's bio on the St. Francis Xavier website.