Keynote Speakers

Dr Kate Williams is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology, Australia and the founding leader for the Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR) program, and the QUT Centre for Child and Family Studies. Kate is a quantitative and mixed methods researcher who has authored more than 60 papers in the areas of child and adolescent development, parenting, and intervention evaluation. In late 2022, Kate took up a position as Executive Manager – Operations with not-for-profit Play Matters Australia. This has allowed her to bring her leadership and research skills to a national organization that aims to make a difference for young children, families and communities.

Dr. Oswaldo Lorenzo is a tenured Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of Research, International Projects and Transference at the Faculty of Education and Sport Sciences (Melilla Campus) of the University of Granada (Spain). He received the Extraordinary Doctorate Award in Education Sciences (UNED) and the third national prize for educational research 2004 (Ministry of Education and Science, Spain). Dr. Lorenzo is the General Coordinator of the ECALFOR project -Evaluation of teacher education in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Principal investigator of the research project "ICT Innovation for the Analysis of the Training and Satisfaction of Students and Graduates in Early Childhood and Primary Education and the Assessment of their Employers. A Transnational Perspective (Innoteduc).” He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Publicaciones (UGR), indexed in JCR and SJR.

Diana Leyva is an Associate Professor of Psychology and a Research Scientist at the Learning and Development Research Center (LRDC) at the University of Pittsburgh (USA). Dr. Leyva’s research draws from principles and methods in Developmental Psychology, Applied Psychology, and Educational Psychology. She studies authentic familial practices that support preschool children’s early language, literacy and math development and uses that information to design, implement, and evaluate intervention programs for families. Dr. Leyva has expertise and a track record of successfully leading and managing large research teams, designing, and implementing interventions, and disseminating research results in top scientific journals including Child Development and Developmental Psychology.

Dr Yuwei Xu is an Associate Professor and MA Education course leader at the University of Nottingham, UK. His research interests include gender and men’s participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC), child agency, 0-3 curriculum, child-centred pedagogy, parenting and family relationships, play-based pedagogy, and teacher professional development. Yuwei is co-editor-in-chief for Children & Society and Pedagogy, Culture and Society journals, associate editor for Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, and editorial board member for British Educational Research Journal and Early Years. He is also a council member for the British Educational Research Association, and an executive committee member for Gender and Education Association and The Education and Development Forum (UKFIET).

Dr. Weipeng Yang is an Assistant Professor at the Education University of Hong Kong.

He specializes in early childhood curriculum and pedagogy, with a focus on STEAM education, computational thinking, and sociocultural effects. Dr. Yang serves as an Editor of the Journal of Research in Childhood Education (JRCE) and an Associate Editor of the Journal for the Study of Education and Development. He is also a Steering Group Member and SIG Convenor at British Educational Research Association and serves on several editorial boards, including Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Early Education and Development, The Curriculum Journal, and ECNU Review of Education.