Nafsika Alexiadou

I am Professor of Educational Work in the Department of Applied Educational Science. I completed my doctorate degree as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, in 1999, after originally training as a primary school teacher in the Dimokritio University in Greece. I worked in the Universities of Keele (UK), and University of Macedonia (Greece) before coming to Sweden. You can read more about my research here.

My research is concerned with the analysis of education policy at national and transnational levels, and in comparative studies:

• Education policy and governance in the European Union, its relationship with national policies & the Open Method of Coordination
• Education policy, inclusion and equality, in national and transnational contexts
• Higher education policies and internationalization
• Marketisation and privatization of education - their contexts, processes and consequences

Nafsika is in the management committee of the EU COST Action CA22121: Rising nationalisms, shifting geopolitics and the future of European higher education and research openness (OPEN) funded by Horizon Europe. 
Visit the EU COST Action Program Website

 Current projects

2018-2021: Internationalising Higher Education: Challenges and opportunities for Universities and academics in Sweden (Vetenskapsrådet, Projektledare)
2019-01-01 till 2021-12-31: Going global: Swedish school companies and their international operations (Vetenskaprådet. Project leader: Linda Rönnberg)
2017-2019: Education transitions of Roma students in Sweden and Europe: Success against the odds (Umeå School of Education)

Completed projects
2015-2017: Higher Education Internationalisation and Mobility (Horizon 2020. The EU Programme for Research and innovation Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research and Innovation Staff Exchange. Project leader: Louise Morley)
2012-2015: Inclusive and Competitive? Working in the intersection between social inclusion and marketisation in upper secondary school. (Vetenskapsrådet. Project leader: Ulf Lundström)

Doctorate supervisions

• Maria Lindgren – field of 'health and education policy in leisure time centers'
• Johanna Sundström – field of 'early childhood education and care'
• Maria Papakosma - field of 'diversity and interculturality in preschool'
• Hanna Vretblom - field of 'Special educational documentation processes in preschool'

 Completed doctorate supervisions

• Anders Norberg - From 'blended learning' to learning onlife, Umeå University, 2017
• Trang Vu - Logics and politics of professionalism: the case of university English language teachers in Vietnam, (Second supervisor) Umeå University, 2017
• Phil Rigby – Becoming a secondary English teacher: Men constructing professional identities, Keele University (UK), 2014
• Ron Sargent – Design and Technology: disjuncture between policy and practice?, Keele University (UK), 2014
• Matthew Cochrane - Pupils' choices in their educational and career trajectories, Keele University (UK), 2014
• Wynne Thomas – Competency Based Curriculum: The Student Nurses' Perspective, Keele University (UK), 2011
• Jackie Waterfield – Post-registration learning in physiotherapy: Practice and Policy, Keele University (UK), 2006

Teaching

Introduction to the Educational Sciences (Introduktion till det utbildningsvetenskapliga fältet) PhD course, 7.5 credits
Theories in Education Research (Teorier i utbildningsvetenskaplig forskning), PhD course, 7,5 credits
Education Policy and Practice in International Perspectives, Grundnivå/Magister, 7.5 hp

Other activities
Since 2012, I am co-Editor of the journal Education Inquiry, an International, Peer-Reviewed, Open Access journal, published by the School of Education, Umeå University. I am also in the editorial board of two international journals: Research in Comparative and International Education, and Research in Education.

Since July 2018, I am responsible for the research area of Early Childhood Education and Care, and Leisure Time Centers.