Jean Moore

Jean Moore serves as a Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Law, where she co-directs the Law Writing Centre. Previously, she held academic development roles at UKZN Faculty of Law and UNISA's Reading and Writing Centre, and taught high school English in the UK specializing in first additional language instruction and refugee education programs.

Her educational background includes a BA Honours and PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand (2022), with doctoral research examining legal professionals' conceptions of knowledge and their impact on legal writing standards.

Moore's research centers on legal writing development within academic literacies frameworks, emphasizing decolonial and translingual approaches. She investigates how disciplinary knowledge structures in law shape writing expectations, advocates for systemic curriculum integration of writing support, and develops strategies for EAL learners in South African contexts. Her work bridges theoretical scholarship with practical interventions in writing center operations.

Analysis of her 15 publications (2007-2025) reveals evolving focus from foundational literacy strategies to critical examinations of legal epistemology's role in writing assessment. Recent work increasingly addresses decolonial perspectives, crisis-responsive academic support (notably post-Covid), and reconceptualizing writing centers as central to university curricula rather than peripheral services.

As co-director of the Wits Law Writing Centre, Moore leads initiatives developing legal writing competencies through collaborative faculty engagement. Her center has pioneered resilience strategies during educational disruptions and contributes to national conversations on establishing formal structures for legal writing practitioners in South Africa.