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Teklu Abate

Teklu Bekele

  • Position: Associate Professor
  • Department: The Department of Applied Linguistics and Educational Studies
  • Email: teklu.abate@aucegypt.edu
Brief Biography

Teklu Abate Bekele is an associate professor of international and comparative education in the Department of Applied Linguistics and Educational Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, The American University in Cairo. Prior to joining AUC, he held research associate, lecturer and senior lecturer positions at the Department of Education, University of Oslo, Norway.

His scholarship focuses on international and comparative higher education, particularly in Africa, examining the relationships between knowledge production, educational governance, institutional transformation and societal development. His research investigates how universities generate, govern, assess and mobilize knowledge; how they engage with societal challenges; and how international organizations, global policy frameworks and emerging technologies shape higher education. An increasingly prominent dimension of his work concerns digital transformation and artificial intelligence, particularly their purposes, institutional implications and governance in higher education.

Bekele teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in international and comparative education, higher education, educational policy and research methodology. His academic experience encompasses research leadership, program development, international research collaboration and scholarly publishing. He contributes to the international academic community through editorial appointments, professional associations and scholarly peer-review activities.

His scholarship and academic service have received international recognition. He received the 2019 Outstanding Author Contribution Emerald Literati Award on International Perspectives on Education and Society for his work on context in comparative and international education studies. In 2026, he received the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications journal) in recognition of his outstanding editorial judgment and stewardship of the peer-review process. His 2024 article, "The Sustainable Development Goals as Mechanisms of Educational Governance in Africa," published in the International Review of Education, 70, 673–697, was selected by the journal as its Editor's Monthly Choice for October 2024. The selection highlighted the article as exemplifying the journal's commitment to genuinely international scholarship on the theory and practice of lifelong learning and the advancement of sustainable learning societies.

Research Interest

Bekele's research program has developed cumulatively, moving from digital learning and technology-mediated knowledge practices toward broader questions concerning the governance, societal mission and transformation of universities. These interconnected strands converge in an integrative understanding of the university, in which knowledge generation, governance, assessment and mobilization constitute mutually reinforcing dimensions of sustainable societal transformation.

I. Knowledge, Learning and Digital Transformation

  • "What Is AI for in Higher Education?" from 2026 to 2030, principal investigator, The American University in Cairo

  • "Technology Integration in Higher Education: Philosophical, Theoretical and Policy-Practice Perspectives" from 2022 to 2023, principal investigator, The American University in Cairo

  • "Conceptual Features of Blended Learning" from 2020 to 2022, principal investigator, The American University in Cairo

  • "Learning and Teaching Using Digital Technologies" from 2006 to 2010, principal researcher, University of Oslo

II. Universities, Governance and Societal Transformation

  • The Integrative Paradigm of the University from 2026 to 2027, principal investigator, The American University in Cairo. Book project contracted with Routledge.

  • "Institutional Logics of Doctoral Education in Africa" from 2026 to 2028, principal investigator

  • "International Organizations and AI Governance" from 2026 to 2028, principal investigator

  • "Societal Relevance of Higher Education in Africa" from 2024 to 2026, principal investigator

  • "The Sustainable Development Goals as Mechanisms of Educational Governance" from 2022 to 2024, principal investigator

  • "Assessing Emerging University-Society Engagements" from 2021 to 2023, principal investigator

  • "Strategic Planning and University-Society Engagement" from 2019 to 2021, principal investigator

  • "Scientization of International Educational Development" from 2020 to 2021, principal investigator

  • "Regional Intergovernmental Organizations and Policy Making" from 2019 to 2020, principal investigator

  • Bekele, T. A. & Amponsah, S. (2026). Societal relevance reconsidered: African higher education and epistemic reconstruction, International Journal of Educational Research, 10.1016/j.ijer.2026.103099
  • Bekele, T. A. & Amponsah, S. (2026). African philosophies can guide higher education societal relevance. University World News.
  • Bekele, T. A. (2025). An integrative paradigm: Towards knowledge unity in African higher education. University World News.Karkouti, M. I., Wolsey, D. T. & Bekele, T. A. (2025). Faculty social support needs amid crisis: A case study from Lebanese higher education. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications,12:1556.
  • Bekele, T. A. & Amponsah, S. (2025). Societal relevance of higher education: An Afrocentric theoretical framework. International Journal of Educational Research, 133, 102742.  
  • Bekele, T. A. (2024). The Sustainable Development Goals as mechanisms of educational governance in Africa. International Review of Education, 70, 673–697. 
  • Bekele, T. A., & Ibrahim, B. (2024). Centuries-old private provision of higher education in Egypt. In W. Tamrat et al. (Eds.). Emerging Dynamics in the Provision of Private Higher Education in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Bekele, T. A. & Amponsah, S. (2024). Africanizing technology integration in higher education. University World News.
  • Bekele, T. A., Ofoyuru, D. T. & Woldegiorgis, E. T. (2023). Assessing university-society engagements: Towards a methodological framework. Innovative Higher Education.
  • Bekele, T. A., Amponsah, S., & Karkouti, I. (2023). African philosophy for successful technology integration in higher education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 1–19. 
  • Amponsah, S. & Bekele, T. A. (2023). Technology integration in higher education in Africa: Philosophical, theoretical, and policy-practice perspectives. British  Journal of Educational Technology.
  • Ibrahim, B. & Bekele, T. A. (2023). Socio-cultural, pedagogical and economic implications of transnational education to host countries. In J. Lamie & C. Hill (Eds.), The Evolving Nature of Universities: What Shapes and Influences Identity in International Higher Education. Routledge
  • Bekele, T. A., & Ibrahim, B. (2023). Centuries-old private provision of higher education in  Egypt. In W. Tamrat et al. (Eds.). The Private Provision of Higher Education in Africa. Macmillan Publishers
  • Bekele, T. A. (2022). Factors stifling critical thinking in African higher education.  University World News, 10 November 2022
  • Bekele, T. A. (2022). Boosting African doctoral capacity needs national partnerships. Times Higher Education
  • Bekele, T. A., Karkouti, I. & Amponash, S. (2022, in press). Core conceptual features of blended learning in higher education: Policy implications. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 30
  • Amponsah, S. & Bekele T. A. (2022). Strategies for including visually impaired students in online learning. Education and Information Technologies. 
  • Bekele, T. A. (2021). Covid-19 and prospect of online learning in higher education in Africa. Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education,13(5), 241-251.
  • Bekele, T. A., Cossa, J., & Barat, S. (2021). Toward building strategic international university-society partnerships in Africa. Modern Africa: Politics, History, and Society journal, 9(2), 82-115
  • Bekele, T. A. (2021). Scientization of international educational development. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education, 5(3), 1-5.
  • Bekele, T. A. (2021). Problematizing scientization in international organizations. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education, 5(3), 6-22.
  • Bekele, T. A., Toprak, M., Karkouti, I., & Wolsey, T. (2021). Regional intergovernmental organizations in the Global South: Emerging education policy nodes between the Global and the National. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 29(130), 1-21.
  • Karkouti, M. I., Wolsey, D. T., Toprak, M., & Bekele, T. A. (2021) Empowering teachers during refugee crises: Social support they need to thrive. Teaching and Teacher Education, 107, 1-9.
  • Bekele, T. A. & Ofoyuru, D. T. (2021). Strategic planning in African universities: Emerging university-society engagements. Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education, 13 (1), 151-180. 
  • Bekele, T. A. & Ibrahim, B. (2020). Internationalization of higher education in Egypt: Modalities and policy provisions. In Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, Hans de Wit, Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila, Futao Huang & Wondwosen Tamrat (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South. Bloomsbury Academic, London. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-bloomsbury-handbook-of-the-internationalization-of-higher-education-in-the-global-south-9781350139251/
  • Bekele, T. A. (2019). Exploring emancipatory perspectives in internationalization. University World News, 14 November
  • Karkouti, M. I., & Bekele, T. A. (2019). Human factor behind integrating technology into learning. University World News, 15 June. 
  • Bekele, T. A. (2019). Trends in higher education in Egypt. Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies, Bloomsbury Publishing, London
  • Bekele, T. A. (2019). Funding of higher education in Egypt. Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies, Bloomsbury Publishing, London.
  • Bekele, T. A. (2018). Context in comparative and international education studies. In A. W. Wiseman (Ed.), Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2017: International Perspectives on Education and Society 34 (275–299). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Bekele, T. A. (2010). Motivation and satisfaction impact of educational technologies: A Review. Educational Technology and Society, 13 (2), 116-127.
  • Bekele, T. A. & Menchaca, M. P. (2010). Critical thinking and problem-solving skills in blended learning.  Journal of the World Universities Forum, 3(1), 105-128. 
  • Bekele, T. A. (2009). Cognitive skills in Internet-supported learning environments in higher education: Research issues. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 3(4), 397-419.
  • Bekele, T. A. & Menchaca, M. P. (2008). Research on Internet-supported learning: A review. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 9(4), 373–406.
  • Menchaca, M. P. & Bekele, T. A. (2008). Learner and instructor identified success factors in distance education. Distance Education, 29(3), 231-252.
  • Bekele, T. A. (2009). Technology integration in higher education: Methodological and  theoretical issues in and for research (PhD project, department of Education, UiO
  • Bekele, T. A. (2004). Technology integration in teaching and learning in higher education (MPhil thesis), Department of Education, UiO
  • PhD in Education, University of Oslo, Norway (June 2009)
  • MPhil in International and Comparative Education, University of Oslo (June 2004)
  • BA in Educational Psychology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (July 1998)