Chihota, Clement Dr

Position: Senior Lecturer
Study area: Social Work/Community and Human Services
Location: Berwick Campus, Room 901-223
Phone: 5122 6059
Email: c.chihota@federation.edu.au

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy – University of Cape Town

Master of Applied Social Work – Massey University (New Zealand)

Masters in Applied Linguistics – University of Zimbabwe

Graduate Certificate in Education – University of Zimbabwe

Teaching

Courses

  • Master of Social Work (Qualifying)
  • Master of Social Work (Qualifying) (Children and Families)
  • Graduate Certificate in Social and Community Services

Units

  • MSWPG7115 Social Work Practice in Diverse Contexts
  • MSWPG7205 Integrative Social Work Practice
  • MSWCF7110 Navigating Child and Family Services
  • MSWCF7215 Social Work Practice with Children and Families
  • GCSCS6003 Ethics for Professional Practice
  • GCSCS6004 Conflict Management

Biography

A Senior Lecturer in Social Work/Community and Human Services, Clement currently coordinates the Master of Social Work (Qualifying), Master of Social Work (Qualifying) (Children and Families) and Graduate Certificate in Social and Community Services courses. Prior to joining Federation University Australia in 2018, Clement was a Social Work Educator at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute in New Zealand.

Originally from Zimbabwe, Clement has travelled a geographically and professionally diverse journey as Lecturer in Applied Linguistics in Zimbabwe; Academic Writing Consultant and Lecturer in Postgraduate Development at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Child Protection Social Worker in the Child Youth and Family Services (now Oranga Tamariki) in New Zealand.

Clement is passionate about effective and student-centred teaching and the application of multiple and interdisciplinary lenses in social and community work education.

Areas of expertise

  • Critical Language Awareness/ Critical Discourse Analysis
  • Critical social theory
  • Social policy and social change
  • Cultural diversity and dialogue across difference
  • Migrant and minority group experiences

Research interests

  • The scope for Critical Language Awareness (CLA) in social and community work practice
  • Language and power (i.e. how discourses shape and are in turn shaped by social structures, institutions and relations).
  • Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual (BPSS) frameworks for holistic engagements with clients
  • Barriers and affordances for academic literacies
  • Migrant and minority group experiences

Higher degrees by research supervision

Completed supervision

Carina O’Neil – Masters by Research (Associate Supervisor)

Current students

Matthew Crane – PhD Candidate (Associate Supervisor)

Publications

Refereed journal articles

Martin, J., McCartin, C., Chihota, C. & Kooyman, T. (2023). Field Education Organisational Roles and Responsibilities: A Snapshot of Australian Social Work Education Providers. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education and Research, 24(2). Pp. 20-36.

Chihota, C. (2022). A Rock and a Hard Place: The curious collusion between neo-liberal, racist and ‘anti-racist’ discourses in ostracising Black African communities in Victoria, Australia. New Community Journal, 20(4), 46-51.

Wilson, J., Chihota, C. & Marks, G. (2021). Teaching White Privilege. International Journal of Inclusive Education. DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2021.1909154

Chihota, C. M. (2017). Critical Language Awareness: A Beckoning Frontier in Social Work Education? ANZASW Journal, 29 (2). Retrieved: https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/view/287.

Paxton, M., Arend, M., van Pletzen, E., Archer, A. & Chihota, C. (2008). Writers' Stance in Disciplinary Discourses: a Developmental View. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 26(1).

Chihota, C. (2007). The Games People Play: Taking on Postgraduate Identities in the Context of Writer Circles. Journal of Applied Linguistics,4(1).

Book chapters

Chihota, C. (2023). A Moment of Fuzziness: Connections between Shifting Notions of ‘Home’ and Welfare Arrangements ‘Back Home’ for Black Zimbabwean Migrants Living under COVID-19 Travel Restrictions in Australia. In Ottmann, G. & Noble, C. (Eds.), Post-Pandemic Welfare and Social Work. London: Routledge. Pp. 197-209.

Arkwright, J. & Chihota, C. (2018). Using Appreciative Inquiry and Multimodal Texts as Transformative Tools within a Christ-following Missional Learning Community. In J. M. Luetz, T. Dowden & B. Norsworthy (Eds.). Reimagining Christian Education – Cultivating Transformative Approaches. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd: Singapore.

Chihota, C. M. & Thesen, L. (2014). Rehearsing 'the Postgraduate Condition' in Writers' Circles.' In L. Thesen & L. Cooper (Eds.), Risk in Academic Writing: Postgraduate Students, their Teachers and the Making of Knowledge.  Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Industry reports

Chihota, C., Ottmann, G., Sadowski, C., Leonard, Z. & Martin, J. (2023). Ballarat Industry Mentoring Pilot Phase 2 Evaluation Report – Participant Experiences. Federation University Australia. ISBN: 978-1-922874-07-8

Chihota, C., Ottmann, G., Sadowski, C., Leonard, Z. & Martin, J. (2023). Phase 1: Evaluation of the Ballarat Industry Mentoring Pilot. Federation University Australia. ISBN: 978-1-922874-06-1 

Vishwanath, T., Mummery, J., Cooper, S. & Chihota, C. (2021). Proposed Diversity and Social Inclusion Principles for Child and Family Services (CAFS). Ballarat: Federation University Australia.

Refereed conference publications

Gibson, A., & Chihota, C. (Eds.). (2018). Modelling Christ’s love and hope within professional practice. ICCE Proceedings: Conference peer reviewed papers. Tauranga, New Zealand: BTI Publishing.

Non-refereed and creative publications

Chihota, C. (2021). Before the Next Song and other Poems. Suffolk: Carnelian Heart Publishing.

Chihota, C. M. (2016). Proposing a Marxist Stylistics: Beyond Althusser, Past Critical Discourse Analysis. Saarbrucken: Ominisciptum.

Chihota, C. (2009). The Problem with being Broke. Warwick Review 3(4).

Chihota, C. (2002). Shipwreck. Tripwire Journal of Poetics. 6(Fall), 51-54.

Chihota, C. M. & Muponde, R. (2000). No More Plastic Balls. Harare: College Press.

Chihota, C. M. & Tichapondwa, S. M. (1999). Before the Next Song and other Poems. Gweru: Mambo Press.

Chihota, C. M. (1998). The Interfaces of Language, Literature and Communication. Harare: Zimbabwe Open University Press.

Academic and professional memberships

Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) – Berwick Campus

New Community Journal – Member of the Editorial Body

Federation University Social Work, Community and Human Services Program advisory Committee – Co-Convenor

Social Work Registration Board (New Zealand) – Associate Member