Dr. Vicheth Sen

Area of Study / Keywords

coloniality epistemic justice neoliberalism adult and higher education

About

I was born in a rural farming village in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia. I grew up there until the age of seven, when my family moved to a town in the provincial centre to escape frequent armed clashes between the remaining Khmer Rouge soldiers and the Cambodian government army. I lived in the provincial town until I completed high school in 1998, after which I moved to Phnom Penh to pursue a B.Ed. in TEFL at the Department of English, Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP). I completed the program in 2002 and subsequently worked as a lecturer in the Department.

From 2002 to 2012, between periods spent overseas for graduate studies, I worked as a lecturer at the English Department and the Faculty of Education, RUPP, and as a researcher at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute, a Phnom Penh-based think tank. In 2013, I moved to Canada to pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. My doctoral research explored my own journey of social mobility through higher education, alongside those of my contemporaries in Cambodia, within the context of postcolonial Cambodia. I taught as a sessional lecturer at UBC from September 2018 until June 2026. I also taught at the M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies program, Athabasca University, between 2023-2025.

My scholarship, shaped by my personal biography and transnational, interdisciplinary background, examines coloniality, epistemic justice, and neoliberalism in adult and higher education.

Education

Ph.D. (Educational Studies), 2020, University of British Columbia, Canada

M.A. (International Peace Studies), 2009, University for Peace, Costa Rica

M.Ed. (Curriculum and Instruction), 2008, Simon Fraser University, Canada

Postgraduate Diploma (Applied Linguistics), 2005, Regional Language Centre, Singapore

B.Ed. (TEFL), 2002, Institute of Foreign Languages, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Research

My current project, Navigating the University: Diverse Adult Learners and the Place of Diverse Knowledge Systems in Student Services and Advising, is a qualitative pilot study at the University of Alberta. It examines how diverse adult learners, including first-generation, mature, and racialized students, experience and navigate the institution, and how their knowledge, languages, and experiences are recognized or marginalized in advising and student services.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Books

Poole, W., Sen, V., & Fallon, G. (2022). Neoliberalism and public education finance policy in Canada: Reframing educational leadership as entrepreneurship. Routledge.

Journal articles

Sen, V., & Walter, P. (2020). Community-based ecotourism and the transformative learning of homestay hosts in Cambodia. Tourism Recreation Research, 45(3), 323-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2019.1692171

Poole, W., Fallon, G., & Sen, V. (2019). Privatized sources of funding and the spatiality of inequities in public education. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 52(1), 124-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2019.1689105

Walter, P., & Sen, V. (2018). A geography of ecotourism in Cambodia: Regions, patterns and potentials. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(3), 297-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2017.1422771

Sen, V. (2017). Hybrid governmentality: Higher education policymaking in post-conflict Cambodia. Studies in Higher Education, 44(3), 513-525. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1379985

Poole, W., Sen, V., & Fallon, G. (2016). Manufacturing consent for privatization in public education: The rise of a social finance network in Canada. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 180, 14-46.

Sen, V. (2016). Towards customized privatization in public education in British Columbia: The provincial education plan and personalized learning. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 180, 135-168.

Book chapters

Sen, V. (2022). Higher education in Cambodia: The constraining effects of traditional values. In V. McNamara, & M. Hayden (Eds.), Education in Cambodia: From year zero towards international standards (pp. 97-112). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8213-1_6

Breitschwerdt, L., & Sen, V. (2018). Implementing national qualifications frameworks: Difficulties in Cambodia and Germany. In R. Egetenmeyer, & M. Fedeli (Eds.), Adult education and work contexts: International perspectives and challenges (pp. 101-121). Peter Lang.

Teaching

Graduate courses — The University of Alberta

• EDPS 521 Adult Learning and Development
• EDPS 577 Foundations of Adult and Higher Education

Undergraduate courses — The University of Alberta

• EDPS 410 Ethics and Law in Teaching

Graduate courses — The University of British Columbia

• EDST 540B Locating Oneself in Global Learning
• EDST 575 Work and Learning

Undergraduate courses — The University of British Columbia

• ADHE 327 Teaching Adults
• ADHE 328 Institutions of Adult Education
• ADHE 329 Developing Short Courses, Workshops, and Seminars
• ADHE 330 The Community Practice of Adult Education
• ADHE 412 An Overview of Adult Education
• EDST 401 Education, School, and Social Institutions 
• EDST 403 Education, Knowledge, and Curriculum 
• EDST 404 Ethics and Teaching

Graduate courses — Athabasca University

• MAIS 645 Understanding Work and Learning

EDPS 410 - Ethics and Law in Teaching

This course will examine the ethical and legal responsibilities of teachers. Among the topics addressed will be the following: punishment and child abuse; freedom of speech and academic freedom in schools; parents' rights and teachers' professional autonomy; issues of quality such as inclusive education and the problems of racism and sexism; fairness in assessment and evaluation; teachers' private lives and public obligations; indoctrination and the teaching of value. Prerequisite: EDFX 200.

EDPS 521 - Adult Learning and Development

In this course we will examine key issues in adult learning and development, using concepts discussed in the literature. Content areas include theories of adult learning and development, and related concepts such as learning styles and orientations, personality, motivation, and intelligence. Students may not receive credit for both EDAE 521 and EDPS 521.

EDPS 577 - Foundations of Adult and Higher Education

This survey course examines the various interpretations and paradigms of adult and higher education. Ways of studying adult and higher education are presented using concepts, analysis, theories, and methodologies from the various foundational disciplines. Students may not receive credit for both EDAE 577 and EDPS 577.

Browse more courses taught by Vicheth Sen