International network

Maria Platsidou is a Professor of Lifespan Developmental Psychology at the University of Macedonia, Greece. She holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Development. She spent time as a Visiting Scholar at Max-Planck Institute in Munich and in Fuller School of Psychology, USA. She is the co-Director of the Center of Counseling and Psychological Support Services of the University of Macedonia, member of the Board of Editors and a reviewer in a number of Greek and international journals. She has participated in research programs funded by Greek or international grants. Her recent research interests include emotional intelligence, subjective wellbeing, learning strategies.

Athina Daniilidou is a PhD Student at the University of Macedonia, Greece. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Education and an MSc in Continuing Education. She has given lectures at adult education institutions. Her field of research includes resilience, burnout and job satisfaction in the teaching profession. She is currently undertaking her doctoral thesis on the protective and risk resilience factors of primary general and special education teachers in the context of the economic crisis in Greece. For her doctorant she has been awarded a scholarship of the Psychological Society of Northern Greece.

Marjon Fokkens-Bruinsma is an assistant professor at the department of Teacher Education. Her expertise relates to learning and instruction for preservice teachers and students in higher education in general. She has been project coordinator for several projects on the quality of learning and instruction in higher education. Her research focuses on resilience, wellbeing, motivation and learning strategies. As a teacher educator, her work focuses on educating preservice teachers in doing research and on coaching them during their internship.

Els van Rooij is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. In 2018 she defended her PhD thesis on the transition from secondary education to university. Els’ current research projects focus on PhD students’ progress, retention and wellbeing; science students’ motives to become a teacher; and preservice teachers’ resilience. In addition, she has been teaching several courses in teacher education programmes. Els’ research interests include wellbeing, motivation to teach, perceptions of teaching as a career, and the PhD student experience.

Ellen Jansen works in the Department of Teacher Education as Associate Professor Higher Education. Her expertise relates to the fields of teaching and learning, curriculum development, factors related to excellence and study success, social (policy) research, and quality assurance in higher education. Her research focus in higher education lies in the area of factors that determine study success in  higher education, with a special interest in student experience, international students, transition to university, the influence of the learning environment on students’ learning and well-being.

Michelle Gemmink is a PhD-student at the Department of Teacher Education of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences at University of Groningen and teacher educator at KPZ University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle. Her research project focus on teachers’ perceptions, beliefs and coping strategies related to pedagogical practices in primary education. As a teacher educator she works in the Bachelor and Master programmes and teaches courses on practice based research and the theory and practice of pedagogy in education.

Dr. Ietje Pauw works at the KPZ University of Applied Sciences (chair ‘narrative professional identity’). Since 2007 she has been coordinating the development of the narrative professional identity of teachers at the KPZ teacher training institute for primary schools. Her central focus in research and teaching is the use of the story of the (student) teachers as a tool for developing their professional identity. She is involved in innovating the curriculum of the teacher training institute, especially with respect to the topics lsquo;literacy’, ‘reflection’ and ‘research’. She has developed and implemented interventions to promote adaptive instruction. She published about 50 (inter)national publications about a variety of aspects of school improvement and teacher training.

Monika Louws is a researcher and teacher at the Graduate School of Teaching of Utrecht University. Her research interest lies in beginning and experienced teachers’ learning, the school context as learning environment and change process in schools. She was recently involved as a researcher in a national research project on teachers’ use of ICT in secondary schools and another national project on teachers' professional agency and educational leadership. As a coordinator of practice-based research in the Graduate School of Teaching, she strives to make a significant contribution in bridging the theory-practice gap by training Master students to perform small-scale research in their own teaching practice and learn from this experience.

Martine van Rijswijk is a researcher and teacher educator at the Graduate School of Teaching of Utrecht University. In her research, she focuses on student teacher development and especially sense making processes, both on an intrapersonal as well as an interpersonal level. Other interests are teacher educator identity, expertise and supervision in teacher education. As a teacher educator she works as an university supervisor, teaches courses on theory and practice of teaching and is a member of the management team of the teacher education program.  

Dineke Tigelaar is a researcher and teacher at the ICLON Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching.  She has been involved in various projects on professional learning and assessment of teachers and curriculum development. Her major research interests relates to the identity and knowledge of teachers, teacher professional development, and the assessment of teachers in various contexts and domains of expertise. As a teacher educator she works as an university supervisor, teaches courses on learning and instruction, and research in teaching practice.

Dr Gloria Gratacós earned her Ph.D. in Education Sciences, Bachelor´s Degree in Economics from the University of Barcelona, Bachelor´s in Business Administration and Master´s Degree in Business Management from ESADE Business School. She has combined her professional career with a wide-ranging teaching and management experience in educational institutions. She is currently the Dean of the School of Education and Psychology at C.U.Villanueva, a chartered institution of Complutense University of Madrid. Her lines of research are focused on teacher´s motivation, educational leadership, building resilience in the teaching profession and parental involvement in education.

Dr Monika Ciesielkiewicz is a Professor of Education and Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Didactics at C.U.Villanueva, a chartered institution of Complutense University of Madrid. She has also taught at Virginia Commonwealth University and Messiah College in the United States for 7 years. She earned her Ph.D. in Contrastive Indo-European Linguistics from the University of Granada, Spain and is currently pursuing her second Ph.D. in Educational Technology at Complutense University of Madrid. She is involved in a variety of education innovation initiatives and assists teachers and professors with the implementation of ICT tools in the curriculum. Her research interests are concerned with educational technology, high impact educational practices, lifelong learning and building resilience in the teaching profession.

Dr Santiago Sastre Llorente earned his Ph.D. and Master´s Degree in Psychopedagogy from Complutense University of Madrid, as well as Bachelor´s Degree in Education from the University of Wales and a Diploma in Teaching Primary Education from Complutense University of Madrid. He has combined his professional career with a wide-ranging teaching and management experience, counselling activities and research in the field of education. He is a Professor at the School of Education and Psychology at C.U.Villanueva, a chartered institution of Complutense University of Madrid, where he is also the Vice-Dean of Academic Planning and Research.

Mª Inmaculada Rodriguez Gómez earned her Bachelor´s Degree in Physical Education and Sports at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences. She works as an advisor for the research projects of the Master´s Degree in Early Learning. She is a Professor for the Master´s Degree in Neuropsychology and Education Program, as well as for the Pre-School Education Degree. She also works as a coordinator of the Practicum at C.U.Villanueva, the chartered institution of Complutense University of Madrid.

Dr Begoña Ladrón de Guevara Pascual earned her PhD in Education from the International University of Catalonia (2017); the title of the thesis: "The Right of Families to Educational Participation." Bachelor´s Degree in Art History (1998); Pedagogical Adaptation Course (1999) and Advanced Studies Diploma (2009) from Complutense University of Madrid; Assistant Director of Students in the School of Education and Psychology (2012), University Advisor and Course Coordinator at Villanueva, chartered institution of Complutense University of Madrid. Professor of Didactics in Social Sciences and Art History for the Degrees of Pre-School Education and Primary Education. Tutor of Practicum III (2010); Professor of the Master´s Degree in Management of Educational Institutions at Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid and Villanueva. President of the Confederation of Parents´ Associations COFAPA. Member of the State School Board as a personality of recognized prestige. Advisor to the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI). She participates in the research project on Rhetoric and Education at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (2016-18) where she has taught teacher training courses, conferences and seminars and completed her research stay. She is part of "Professional Assessment and Development" research project at Villanueva (2016-2020). She has participated in numerous national and international conferences and seminars, and has numerous publications.

Wendy Timmons is a senior teaching fellow and the programme director of the MSc in Dance Science and Education that she developed at the University of Edinburgh in 2009. She provides leadership in the development of pedagogical and scientific principles that underpin dance teaching. In 2016, she implemented a pathway to Qualified Teacher Status (QTs) within the MSc to allow teachers of dance to be professionally accredited and to register with the general Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS).  Wendy has taught and provided professional development opportunities for dance for many years at early, vocational, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is keen to see advancements in the provision for the teaching of dance alongside all other teacher education programmes. Wendy’s research areas include the provision for teaching young adolescent dancers, the teaching and learning environment for dance and the continuing professional development of educators. She is passionate about exploring student teacher well-being and the ways in which this can be explicitly addressed within dance and teacher education programmes.

Mark Pace is a professional dancer and dance academic, teaching with the University of Edinburgh (UoE) as a Teaching Fellow on the program MSc in Dance Science and Education. Mark has over thirty years of dancing, teaching and guesting experience in various international ballet companies and school settings and has spoken in various conferences. 

Originally from Australia, Mark’s career began at the Australian Ballet aged 17 years. Later awarded a grant to study at The Paris Opera School, Mark performed internationally with The Australian Ballet (Melbourne), Bayerisches Staatsballett, Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin and Béjart Ballet Lausanne.

Other dance projects include international guesting, coaching, creating and assisting choreographers with ballet companies such as the Paris Opera, Shanghai Ballet, Central Ballet of China, National Ballet of Vietnam, among others.

As a pedagogue, Mark’s work includes many educational roles, teaching dance in vocational and non-vocational school settings and higher education. He has also taught primary and secondary schools students in France and Australia creative movement and choreography by developing a practice that employs links to the industry and brings importance of theory in to practice.

Mark is currently one of the leading advisers revising the classical ballet syllabus for the Australian Teachers of Dance (ATOD) and has sat on various juries for dance including Diplome d’Etat and EAT in France. He has also been a member of various funding commissions including the Commission Interregional for Dance and the Ballet de l’Opéra National du Rhin.

He is currently in his first year as a PhD student with the UoE and holds a Masters in Dance Science and Education with Distinction (UoE), a BA (Hons) in Dance Education (University of Surrey), the State Dance Diploma (DE) and Certificate of Aptitude (CA) from France and a Diploma for Dance Teaching and Management (ATOD).

Mark can speak English, French and limited German.

Specialities: Classical Ballet, pedagogue, dance teacher, ballet teacher, education, choreographer, choreography, dancing, performer, Guest Speaking.

Dr Rosie Mulholland is a Lecturer in Physical Education at the Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh (Moray House School of Education). Before commencing work at the University she worked as a physical education teacher and head of faculty in a number of Scottish secondary schools. Since 2000, she has worked extensively with undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers and one of her main responsibilities has been working in partnership with schools and tutors to support students during their professional experiences in schools across Scotland. Her main research interests are aligned with work stress, well-being, coping as well as teacher beliefs and engagement with curriculum change. Building on this she has become increasingly interested in teacher well-being and how teacher education programmes address the whole notion of teacher resilience. As a result, and in conjunction with her colleague Wendy Timmons, she has developed a course which draws extensively on the BRITE initiative with the explicit aim of placing well-being at the heart of professional learning. The team have just completed a pilot study of this initiative which saw the first cohort of MSc (Dance Science & Education) student teachers engaging with the BRITE modules in conjunction with a series of personal development workshops.

Holly Heshmati is a senior teaching fellow at the University of Warwick; she is currently the course leader for secondary PGCE maths and also leads on the Subject Studies modules at the Centre for Teacher Education. As a teacher educator, her research is focused on teacher resilience, with an emphasis on pre-service teachers. This year, Holly has focused predominantly on developing teacher resilience and, more specifically, the use of ‘Growth Zone Model’ to achieve this aim. Since the nature of teaching requires everyday resilience, she believes that the process of developing resilience requires engagement in a social practice to develop qualities related to this complex and multi-dimensional construct.

During the 2018-19 academic year, Holly will be delivering a series of interventions using the BRiTE programme as a part of the interventions with a group of secondary maths pre-service teachers in West Midlands. Participants will attend a series of face-to-face and online workshops focusing on developing teacher resilience and, upon completion; they will be invited to evaluate the impact of the interventions through participation in one-to-one interviews.

Lynn Sikma is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and former elementary school teacher.  In the Elementary Education program at UNCW, she teaches general and science methods courses, supervises student teachers during their internship and field placements, and delivers seminars during students' internship semester.  Her research is focused on teacher support, with an emphasis on beginning teachers.  

During the 2017-18 school year, Lynn will be delivering a series of workshops derived from the BRiTE program to two groups of practicing K-12 teachers in Southeastern North Carolina.  One group will be teachers in their first year of teaching in a rural area in the region.  The other group will be a mixture of beginning teachers in years 1-3 who have been identified as emerging leaders by the principals at their schools.  Participants will attend a series of five workshops focusing on the BRiTE modules and, upon completion, will create a workshop session incorporating what they've learned in the program that will be delivered to other beginning teachers during a professional development day in the spring.