Dr. Anna Tsakalaki joined the University of Reading’s Institute of Education (IoE) in August 2018 as a Lecturer in Education with research interests in literacy difficulties in different languages. Her roles here include serving as the new Director of the PG Cert SENCo (Postgraduate Certificate in Special Educational Needs Coordinator) programme and teaching on the MA and BA in Education programmes in modules relevant to her expertise. Previously, she has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education at Oxford Brookes University and a sessional lecturer at the University of Reading and the University of Winchester. Anna completed her PhD at the IoE back in 2016. The title of her thesis is ‘Investigating spelling in English and Greek native speaking children with and without dyslexia’.
As a researcher, Anna has explored the areas of literacy development and literacy difficulties in different languages (PhD), she has led the educational research at the Tony Little Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning (CIRL) at Eton College and has collaborated with colleagues at Oxford Brookes, Reading, Winchester and UCL in educational research projects in various fields including the development of literacy skills, vocabulary, language teaching and learning, interaction between EAL and mathematics abilities, partnerships between schools and between practitioners and parents and inclusion of learners with different educational needs.
Her future research plans include leading a one-year project exploring linguistic diversity in mathematics teaching for learners with EAL, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (£6,000) and collaborating in research projects led by former and current colleagues in fields relevant to her interests.