Kambouri, Maria (rp19419)

Maria Kambouri (PhD University of Warwick, UK), is an Associate Professor of Early Years Childhood, Education and Care at the University of Reading (UoR). Maria has experience as a University lecturer and also as an early years teacher. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a University Teaching Fellow which are national recognitions. She has also won many competitive awards, such as the Collaborative Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning in 2018 and 2020, the Partnerships in Learning and Teaching (PLanT) Award in 2017 and the Award of Excellence in 2016. Maria has been the programme director for the BA in Children’s Development and Learning for the last 5 years and recently took over as the Programme Director for the BA in Education Studies programme. Maria is interested in issues around science education, gender and working in partnership with parents. Her PhD research was on children's conceptual development and the learning of science in the early years. She has also been conducting and using research to support the development of teachers, early years' education policy, research design and science education specifically.Maria has also led and co-led may research projects such as the Marvellous Mums project, a collaborative project between the University and the community which has drown a lot of attention from the media (BBC radio and TV) and the government (the Minister of State for Employment at the Department of Work and Pensions and the JobCentre+) because of its demonstrable impact. The programme offers to women the opportunity to develop their self-esteem and confidence and has secured funding for 4 years. She was also the Principal Investigator of the 4Ps Project “Practitioners and Parents Play Partnership” (funded by The Froebel Trust), that was completed with great success. Maria is a recognised academic in her field and has been invited a number of times to give open lectures and presentations by the parliament and organisations such as the international Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP) and University’s (such as Kingston University and the University of Cyprus).