Keynote Speakers
Prof. Bridget Hamre
Research Associate Professor, Curry School of Education, The University of Virginia, USA; Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Teachstone
Prof. Bridget Hamre, Ph.D. is a Research Associate Professor at the Curry School of Education at The University of Virginia. She is also a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Teachstone. Prof. Hamre’s areas of expertise include student-teacher relationships and classroom processes that promote positive academic and social development for young children and she has authored over 65 peer-reviewed manuscripts on these topics over the last 15 years. Her research documents the ways in which teacher-child relationships and teachers' social and instructional interactions support children's development and learning and may help close the achievement gap for students at risk of school failure.
Prof. Lei Chang
Chair Professor of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau SAR
Prof. Lei Chang, Ph.D., University of Southern California, is Chair Professor of Psychology and Head of Department of Psychology, University of Macau. He conducts research in evolutionary and developmental psychology including evolutionary parenting, life history, and child and adolescent development. He published eight books and over 300 refereed journal articles, with over 25,000 citations and an h-Index of 71 based on Google Scholar.
Prof. Susan Irvine
Professor and Head, School of Early Childhood & Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Prof. Susan Irvine is an early childhood professional with diverse work experience across a range of early childhood education and care (ECEC) contexts. She has held leadership roles in child and family policy, tertiary education and direct service provision and is currently the Head, at School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology. Her research interests stem from her work experience and include: ECEC policy and quality standards, ECEC workforce development, Leadership in ECEC and Curriculum and Pedagogy. She has been a Chief Investigator on several collaborative multi-disciplinary research projects relating to development of the ECEC workforce and quality improvement in ECEC, and was a member of the research team that led the recent update of Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework. Susan’s previous roles include CEO at Lady Gowrie Queensland and in Strategic Policy and Research in ECEC within the Queensland Department of Communities.