Dr Avivit Cherrington is the monitoring, evaluation and strategic learning (MESL) specialist for the u’GOOD research programme within the Human Sciences Research Council’s Equitable Education and Economies research division. She holds a PhD in Education Psychology from Nelson Mandela University (2015).

Dr Cherrington is an academic consultant specialising in transformative learning and participatory research methods. She is also a registered psychologist with research interests in hope studies, relational and social wellbeing, and self-care practices for healthcare professionals and educators.

She has assisted in developing the u’GOOD theory of change and works closely with the MESL lead to generate learning at both programmatic implementation and research levels to document and guide the dynamic and innovative reflections and findings that emerge.

Previous and current experience and special projects
Dr Cherrington is an experienced social researcher with specialised knowledge in positive psychology (wellbeing, hope, and life purpose) and Indigenous community-based research methods. She has worked as a senior lecturer and postgraduate programme coordinator at both public and private higher education institutions, designing, managing and evaluating teacher education programmes and postgraduate research modules.

Her experience also lies in conceptualising, designing and evaluating transformative research projects in education and mental health aimed at fostering researcher-community engagement and collaboration for the purpose of mutual learning and social change. She has served two years as a postdoctoral researcher with the Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education at Nelson Mandela University and was a co-investigator on a three-year National Research Foundation-funded research project titled HoPES (Humanising Pedagogy and Engagement in Schools), which engaged with principals and educators through a PALAR methodology to transform marginalised schools into beacons of hope and change in the community.

Publications and highly relevant or major achievements/positions
Dr Cherrington has published eight scientific articles in local and international peer-reviewed academic journals and five book chapters (with international and South African publishers). She has served as a guest editor of a special issue titled "Decolonising Education Transformation" in the South African Journal of Education and has presented her research at various national and international conferences.

She is currently a co-founding member of the Hope Studies Community of Practice, an international gathering of hope scholars, and an executive member of the Psychology Society of South Africa. Dr Cherrington is a research associate with Nelson Mandela University and supervises several postgraduate students for the Faculty of Education.