Areas of work

Learning, seen
from more than one angle.

Three connected areas of work: inclusive education, early mathematics and teacher development.

01

Inclusive education

Look closely at what makes participation possible.02

Early mathematics

Make quantities and relationships easier to see.03

Teacher development

Connect good materials with everyday practice.
01 / Inclusive education

More ways
to participate.

Access depends on more than admission to a classroom or college. Curriculum, teaching materials, physical environments and support systems all shape whether a learner can participate.

Dr Sako’s doctoral research examines these conditions in Limpopo’s TVET colleges. Her coauthored 2021 article explores teachers’ experiences of supporting learners with impairments in full-service primary schools.

Read the inclusion research
Try the Participation Planner for a fictional classroom example. It is an original website planning aid, separate from Dr Sako’s published research.
02 / Early mathematics

Make the
relationship visible.

Early mathematics involves recognising quantities, understanding relationships and developing ways of thinking beyond counting one object at a time.

At Funda Wande, Dr Sako supports Bala Wande in participating Sepedi-medium schools. The documented role includes teacher and teacher-assistant mentor development and contributions to learning materials.

Her collaborative publication and conference record includes number sense, place value, training videos, and multiplication and division as inverse operations.

Try the Number Studio
03 / Teacher development

Support the people
who teach.

Materials become useful through teaching. Professional learning gives teachers space to inspect a representation, discuss a classroom decision and relate an activity to its mathematical purpose.

The 2022 Bala Wande chapter, written with six coauthors, draws lessons from early implementation across three provinces. It connects materials and support with what happens in the classroom.

Explore the collaborative chapter
Working together

Education is a collective practice.

Dr Lorna Sako with colleagues at a Funda Wande gathering
Dr Lorna Sako with colleagues at a Funda Wande gathering. Supplied photograph.
Dr Lorna Sako at a Funda Wande professional gathering
Dr Lorna Sako at a Funda Wande professional gathering. Supplied photograph.
Dr Lorna Sako with colleagues at a Funda Wande event
Dr Lorna Sako with colleagues at a Funda Wande event. Supplied photograph.
Dakar / 2026

Ideas travel.
Practice connects.

29 June – 1 July 2026

Yidan Prize Conference
Dakar, Senegal

Dr Lorna Sako presenting to seated delegates, with a Funda Wande and Bala Wande slide and a 2026 Yidan Prize Conference banner visible.
From Limpopo to a wider conversation

Sharing the Bala Wande Foundation Phase mathematics work with fellow education delegates.

Explore the professional record
Dr Lorna Sako beside the 2026 Yidan Prize Conference banner.
At the 2026 Yidan Prize Conference.

Multilingual foundational learning. Teacher support. The possibilities of a shared education conversation.

About the conference (opens another website)
Dr Lorna Sako speaking into a microphone beside a projected slide about teacher guides.
Discussing teacher guides and classroom support.
Dr Lorna Sako with another delegate beside the 2026 Yidan Prize Conference banner.
In conversation and exchange with fellow education delegates.
Dr Lorna Sako at the conference welcome desk with two members of the welcome team.
A welcome in Dakar.
Dr Lorna Sako wearing a conference badge beside an Azalaï Hotel Dakar sign.
At the Dakar conference venue.
Dr Lorna Sako beneath a welcome sign in Senegal.
Arrival in Senegal.
Dr Lorna Sako presenting beside a projected slide about Bala Wande classroom manipulatives.
Making mathematics visible through classroom materials.

The supplied photographs document Dr Sako’s presentation. The official event page establishes the conference dates, place and theme. No keynote, award or organiser status is inferred.

A conversation starts here

Better questions.
More possibilities.

Explore a research question, discuss education or share a professional enquiry.

Get in touch