Our team

Fiona is a Lecturer in Digital Literacies in the School of Education at The University of Sheffield (UK), specialising in the digital lives, play and literacies of children. As the project’s Principal Investigator and a Researcher within the project, she provided leadership and oversight of the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of the research across the four countries, as well as undertaking fieldwork with families in the UK. 

Liz is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at The University of Sheffield (UK). Her work focuses on contemporary play cultures, children’s interests and dynamic approaches to curriculum in early childhood. As a Co-Investigator and Researcher within the project, she contributed to  leadership and oversight of the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of the research across the four countries, as well as undertaking fieldwork with families in the UK. 

Stavroula is an Associate Professor in Literacy and Language Arts Education. Amongst other things, her work focuses on literacy and language arts education, embodiment, multimodal and digital literacies and curriculum enactment. As Co-Investigator within the project, she led the case studies in Cyprus. 

Karen is a Professor of Education in the School of Education at Curtin University (Australia) and a Chief Investigator with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. She is a specialist in STEM education with a research focus on young children's creativity and connectedness with digital technologies and multimodal capabilities. As a Co-Investigator within the project, she led the case studies in Australia. 

Karin is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Oulu (Finland) and Emerita Professor of Pedagogy and Philosophy, University of Cape Town. She is a childhood researcher and teacher educator, grounded in academic philosophy and a postqualitative research paradigm. As a Co-Investigator and Researcher within the project, she led the research in South Africa, including data analysis and undertaking fieldwork with families in South Africa. 

Kim is a PhD student and Casual Academic in the School of Education at Curtin University. Her research focuses on Game Based Pedagogies, third spaces of digital game play and teaching and learning with educational technologies. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role  in conducting fieldwork in Australia and has contributed to the analysis of Australian data.

Cath is a Research Associate in the School of Education at The University of Sheffield. Cath is a qualitative researcher with a background in Folklore, and in Sociology. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role in conducting fieldwork in the UK and in the analysis of UK data. 

Anna Maria is an advanced Masters’ student and a special scientist for research at the University of Cyprus. Anna Maria’s professional and research interests  focus on young children’s literacies, and on the linguistic repertoires and literacy practices of diverse communities of practice. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role in conducting fieldwork with families in Cyprus. 

Daniel is a Research Assistant in the School of Education at The University of Sheffield. He recently completed an MA in Early Childhood Education and will soon begin his PhD, focused on early years curriculum in Kenya. As a Researcher within the project, he played an important role in conducting fieldwork in the UK and in the analysis of a range of data across multiple countries. 

Kwakwadi is a teacher at one of the participating schools in Cape Town.  Kwakwadi’s professional and research interests are in language and literacy in bilingual/multilingual children. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role  in conducting fieldwork in South Africa and in the analysis of South African data.

Soern is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education and the University of Agder. Soern is a professional filmmaker and also specialised in early childhood education. As a Research Volunteer in the project, he played an important role in videography as part of the South African data collection and has contributed to the analysis of the South African data. 

Theoni is a Teaching Fellow in Language Education at the University of Cyprus. She specialises in language acquisition and literacy development. As a Researcher within the project, she has been involved in all aspects of data collection, analysis and writing in relation to the Cypriot case studies. 

Joanne is the Head of Academics at the Centre for Creative Education in Cape Town. Through her Doctoral studies, she is currently pursuing relationality in education through thinking with bodies, water, time, memory and space. As a Researcher and Research Coordinator within the project, she played a key role in data management, conducting and coordinating the fieldwork in South Africa and data analysis. 

Shabana is a Research Associate in the School of Education at The University of Sheffield. Shabana is particularly experienced in ethnographic work with children, including work focused on very young children’s agential navigations of adult-formulated rules in the context of their self-initiated play. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role in conducting fieldwork in the UK and in the analysis of a range of data across multiple countries. 

Vanessa is an Early Childhood Lecturer  at the Centre for Creative Education in Cape Town. Vanessa’s professional and research interests are in well-being and creativity. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role  in conducting fieldwork in South Africa and in the analysis of South African data. 

Carole is a Lecturer in Early Childhood Education  at the Centre for Creative Education in Cape Town. Carole’s professional and research interest is in early childhood education and creativity. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role  in conducting fieldwork in South Africa and in the analysis of South African data.

Giovanna is a Doctoral Student at the University of Seville. She is particularly interested in ethnographic research and post qualitative methodologies. As a Research Volunteer in the project, she has contributed to the analysis of the South African data.

Anastasia is an advanced Masters’ student (graduated 2023) and a special research scientist at the University of Cyprus. Anastasia’s research interests include children’s home literacies, digital literacies, and parents’ digital stories and biographies. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role in conducting fieldwork with families in Cyprus.

Yao is a Research Associate in the School of Education at The University of Sheffield. She is a recent PhD graduate with an interdisciplinary background in education, applied linguistics and cross-cultural communication. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role in conducting fieldwork in the UK and in the analysis of a range of data across multiple countries. 

Nadia is a Teacher  at one of the participating schools in Cape Town. Nadia’s professional and research interests are in enquiry based learning and creativity. As a Researcher within the project, she played an important role  in conducting fieldwork in South Africa and in the analysis of South African data.