Webinar Experts
Opening
Prof. Suzanne Kapelari
Suzanne Kapelari is professor in Biology and Environmental Education, head of the Science, Geography, Computer Science and Mathematics Education Group at the Department of Subject-Specific Education and dean of the Faculty of Teacher Education at the University of Innsbruck. She was and is a coordinator and/or partner of several projects funded by the European Commission and national agencies. The focus of her study is teaching and learning Outside the Classroom (e.g. Botanic Gardens, School Gardens) and Science Education for a Sustainable Development. Recent publications address issues in the education for sustainable food production and food choices.
Speakers
Mag. Rosa Modiba
Rosa Modiba is a doctoral scholar in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria. She is currently working as a Student Counsellor at North West University. She completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts Honours degrees at University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus in 2006 and 2007 respectively. In 2017, She completed Master degree in Education at the University of Pretoria where the focus of her study was the Experiences of Life Orientation teachers in teaching Career guidance.
Prof. Jean Clandinin
Jean Clandinin was a teacher, counsellor, and school psychologist prior to working at the University of Toronto, Calgary, and Alberta. She worked for many years as a professor of curriculum studies and teacher education and was the founder of the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development. She is currently Professor Emerita at the University of Alberta. She is the author, editor, and co-author of many books and articles about narrative inquiry. Her most recent book, with Vera Caine and Sean Lessard, is entitled Narrative Inquiry: Philosophical Roots. She is currently engaged in a narrative inquiry into the experiences of Syrian refugee families as they settle in Canada.
Assist-Prof. Simmee Chung
Simmee Chung is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Concordia University of Edmonton. She has 20 years of teaching and teacher leadership experience in Canadian k-12 and post-secondary school contexts. Her intergenerational narrative research alongside immigrant families and Indigenous youth deepens her understanding of practices and policies that are more responsive to the complexities of diverse communities. Currently, Simmee works in collaboration with Elders, communities, and fellow scholars to support a “Braided Approach” in Teacher Education. Simmee’s research interests include narrative inquiry, intersections in curriculum-making, conceptualizations of belonging and identity-making, and braiding ways of knowing.
Panel Discussion
Prof. Alois Solomon Chiromo
Alois Solomon Chiromo is a seasoned academic and veteran educationist, with a wealth of experience in higher education management and education in general. He served as Executive Dean of Education at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2016. He was the founding Chairperson of the Department of Applied Education before becoming dean and true to his founding nature he was also the founding Director of the Quality Assurance, Teaching and Learning (QATAL) Directorate at MSU. Currently he is the Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor responsible for Research and Academic Affairs at MSU. His main research areas include teacher development, science teaching and learning and quality assurance in higher education.
Ass.- Prof. Michelle Proyer
Michelle Proyer is a TT Professor of Inclusive Education at the Center for Teacher Education/Institute of Educational Science at the University of Vienna. Her research and teaching focuses on inclusive education (in teacher education), diversity in schools and disability at the intersection of gender/diversity, culture and human rights development, as well as participatory approaches to research in inclusive pedagogy.
Mag. Joanna Maria Egger
Joanna Egger is a social scientist, educational worker, lecturer (University of Innsbruck, Pädagogische Hochschule Tirol), facilitator in field of social change and sustainable development. She works with different groups like children, students or organizations. Her focus is on the question of power relations and Global Citizenship Education: In her seminars and trainings she links Anti-Bias education, an experience-oriented and intersectional anti-discrimination approach, with the SDGs and Global Citizenship Education.
Prof. Dominique Klein
Esther Dominique Klein is professor for general teaching and school education at the TU Dortmund University. Her main interests are in school improvement, educational governance, and international comparative education research. In that research, she specifically focuses on schools serving disadvantaged communities and how organizational practice in these schools and the education system as a whole affect the educational opportunities of disadvantaged and marginalized students.
Dr. Carolyn Chisadza
Carolyn Chisadza is a senior lecturer in Economics at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She holds a BSc (Honours) in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe, and a BCom (Honours), MCom and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pretoria. Her courses include undergraduate microeconomics / macroeconomics and introduction to economic growth, as well as postgraduate economic development. Her research interests include economic growth and development with a focus on institutions and conflict within Africa. Her research papers have appeared in journals, such as Economics Letters, African Development Review, the South African Journal of Economics and edited books titled “Women and Sustainable Human Development – Empowering Women in Africa” and “Handbook of Quality of life in African Societies”. Carolyn has also collaborated with national and international organisations, such as the Human Sciences Research Council and The Lancet-SIGHT Commission. She has been awarded the ERSA Prize for achievement in Economics at Doctoral level, the U.P. Economics H.O.D Prize for achievement in Economics at Doctoral level and the Stella Nkomo Award for Best Doctoral Thesis.
Moderators
Dr. Kgadi Mathabathe
Kgadi Mathabathe is the Deputy Director: Academic Development in the Department for Education Innovation, University of Pretoria. Her areas of research are largely in the field of Science Education specifically Chemistry Education. She conducts and supervises research focusing on innovative teaching and learning strategies that promote self- and socially regulated learning as well as the development of student and educator metacognition. She has successfully supervised research at the postgraduate level focusing on collaborative learning and inquiry based science education. Dr Mathabathe has published in high impact factor journals in her field. She has over 10 years’ experience training pre- and in-service science educators in higher education.
Assist-Prof. Evi Agostini
Evi Agostini is based at the Centre for Teacher Education and the Faculty of Philosophy and Education at the University of Vienna, Austria. She lectures on learning theory, research methods and anthropology, and is especially interested in the (professional) learning and teaching of teachers and school leaders. She is coordinator of the phenomenologically oriented International Vignette and Anecdote Research Network (VignA).
Facilitators
MMag. Dr. Sabrina Bacher
Sabrina Bacher is a postdoctoral researcher (Senior Lecturer) at the Department for Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Innsbruck. She completed a doctorate in philosophy as well as teacher training programs in the subjects of philosophy, psychology, Spanish, English, and German as a Foreign Language at the University of Salzburg. Besides several years of teaching at various public and private schools, she worked for almost a decade at the University of Oklahoma in the USA. Her research focuses on philosophy of education, educational ethics, conceptual analysis, and scientific theoretical modeling in the field of education. Furthermore, she is the current president of the Society for the Philosophical Study of Education (SPSE).
Joseph-Sebastian Steinlechner
Mag.rer.Nat. Joseph-Sebastian Steinlechner is a doctoral scholar in the Department of Education at the University of Vienna in Austria. After finishing his Magister Degree in Social Psychology at the University of Vienna, Joseph worked in the esports industry and researched expertise development, before shifting his interest to education and social equality. Currently working as a teacher-researcher at a prevocational school in Vienna, Joseph-Sebastian’s research interests focus on the Sustainable Development Goals, class-room techniques and educational equality. Outside of academia, Joseph-Sebastian is very passionate about disability sports where he leads the Austrian blind football program
Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Claudia Schreiner
Claudia Schreiner is currently working as Assistant Professor at the University of Innsbruck (Department for Teacher Education & School Research). She has been working in the field of international and national large-scale assessments since 1999. She was head of the department for Education Monitoring and Educational Standards and as from 2014, director of the Federal Institute for Education Research, Innovation and the Development of the Austrian school System (BIFIE). Her research interests comprise competency orientation and educational standards, (formative) assessment of student performance, and evidence-oriented quality development.
Barbara Gross, PhD
Barbara Gross, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and lecturer at the Goethe-University Frankfurt. Her research interests include linguistic and cultural diversity in educational institutions, equity in education, teacher education and the organization and internationalization of educational science.
Dott. Sara Baroni
Sara Baroni is PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education at the Free University of Bozen - Bolzano, Italy. Previusly she worked as a primary school teacher and as a researcher in the field of computational thinking and life skills teaching. Now she is conducting an action research in the field of pedagogy of emergency, about teachers’ experiences related to Covid-19, focusing on transformative resilience and change towards well-being and sustainability.
Sunet Grobler
Sunet Grobler is currently a Researcher at the Institute for Teacher Education and School Research at the Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck in Austria. Her research priorities and interests are Teacher Education, Quality Education as a Sustainable Development Goal and Agenda2030.
Closing
Prof. Irma Eloff
Irma Eloff is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria and an adjunct professor at the University of Innsbruck. She is a former dean of Education at the University of Pretoria. She is the founder of the African Deans of Education Forum (ADEF) which is a focal point of the UNESCO International Teacher Task Force. She is the current Chair of the Global Network of Deans of Education (GNDE). In 2018 she was awarded a Förderkreis 1669 Wissenschafft Gesellschaft professorship at the University of Innsbruck. She has served as a panelist in the Nobel Prize Dialogue series, authored 80+ scholarly articles and book chapters, and has edited six book publications. She is a registered educational psychologist in South Africa. Irma is an alumnus of the Universities of Pretoria, Stellenbosch, Northwest and the GIBS Business School.