Rupal A Thakkar - K J Somaiya School of Education

Dr. Rupal Thakkar holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Science and Education, Post Graduate Diploma in Management Education (PGDME)and is NET qualified. She is currently serving as an Associate Professor at K. J. Somaiya School of Education. A first ranker throughout her education programme, Dr. Thakkar brings strong academic credentials and extensive experience in teacher education. 

At the undergraduate level, Dr. Thakkar teaches Educational Psychology and Environmental Education in the B.Ed. programme. At the postgraduate level, she handles Curriculum Design, Development and Evaluation and Educational Management for the M.Ed. programme, and Understanding of Organisational Behaviour for the PGDEM programme. Her teaching is characterised by clarity, academic rigour and learner-centred pedagogical practices.

An ardent environmentalist, Dr. Thakkar has conceptualised, initiated, and successfully implemented a wide range of experiential learning–based initiatives through the Environmental Club, promoting sustainability awareness and active student engagement. Her research interests primarily focus on Experiential Learning in Environmental Education and the development of strategies and instructional modules for effective English language teaching.

Dr. Thakkar is associated as a Counsellor for the M.Ed. (Education) programme of IGNOU. She has presented research at national and international forums, including a joint paper with Dr. Kalpana Kharade at the London International Conference on Education (2011), which received wide appreciation.

She successfully completed an ICSSR-sponsored two-year research project (2013–2015) on training vernacular-medium teachers in the use of ICT for language teaching. She has also contributed as an e-content developer for the M.Ed. programme under an MHRD-sponsored project coordinated by the Department of Educational Technology, SNDT Women’s University.

In 2025, Dr. Thakkar served as a Resource Person for Pedagogy of English at the Rachana Fellowship Winter School, organised by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), on the theme Inclusive Education, engaging student teachers from across India. She has also served as a Reviewer for the International Conference on Envisioning Industry 5.0: A Holistic Learning Environment, organised by Manjara Charitable Trust, MCT Mauritius Institute, and TIFR (HBCSE).

Her areas of expertise include:

• Experiential Learning in Environmental Education

• Reflective Practices in Teacher Education

• Integration of ICT in Language Teaching

Dr. Thakkar is a Doctoral Advisory Board Member at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore. She has co-authored two academic books, Foundations of OB and HRM and Educational Psychology for Learning and Teaching. She has successfully guided four M.Ed. dissertations (University of Mumbai and Somaiya Vidyavihar University) and is currently supervising four Ph.D. scholars.