Maria Sakellariou
Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina, Greece

Maria Sakellariou is a Professor at the University of Ioannina, Greece. She studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) where she completed her Post- Graduate studies as well as her Doctoral Thesis, with particular emphasis on Pedagogy and Preschool Pedagogy. Her studies also include international seminaries in Pedagogy and Preschool Pedagogy at Zurich University, Switzerland. She has taught as a visiting professor on the Educational Sciences Department at the University of Cyprus and on the post- graduate course under the title “Gender and New technologies within Education” which is being implemented by the Department of Pre-school Education and Educational Design (DPEED) of the University of the Aegean. Her research interests and her bibliography focus mainly on Pedagogy and Preschool/ Primary School Education, particularly on the cognitive domains of Teaching Methodology and Curricula Design, Socio- Ethical Cognition as well as School- Family- Community Collaboration. She is the author, co- publisher and editor of 13 books- scientific manuals some of which are: Cooperation between Family and the Kindergarten: Theory- Research- Teaching Proposals (2008), Teaching Methods Enhancement of Cognition for Children from Kindergarten to High School (2009), Ethics and Education: Dilemmas and Perspectives (2011), Introduction to the Didactics of Pedagogical Labor in the Kindergarten: Theoretical Approaches and Teaching Implementations (2012), Space, seen as a Pedagogical Domain within Preschool Cognitive Environments: Planning and Organizing (2014), Playing Pedagogy within Preschool and School Education. Learning for Life (2015), A Gentle Transition towards the Preschool Age. Politics and Global Strategies to a gentle transition in life (2015) and Educationalists’ Conferencing: A Methodological Proposal (2015). Professor Sakellariou has also composed numerous essays and articles for international double blind- peer reviewed journals, as well as for collective works (http://earlychildhoodpedagogy.gr & http://ecedu.uoi.gr). During the last years, she has been successfully organizing The Annual International (Early) Childhood Pedagogy Symposium (http://earlychildhoodpedagogy.gr/symposia) in which Greek and foreign Universities participate, and is attended by renowned foreign scientists, and within its context, the current research trends concerning transformational education, the effective teaching and curricula designing, are reviewed. Lastly, Professor Sakellariou is the Managing Director of the Pedagogy and Didactics’ Methodology Laboratory of the Department of Early Childhood Education (T.P.N.) of the University of Ioannina and supervisor on the students’ graduate training, where, among others, she implements entrepreneurial educational acts, such as the Woodland Kindergarten and the Learning through Planning Curriculum, in collaboration with research networks and community organs.

Maria Banou
Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina, Greece

Maria Banou is a Kindergarten Educator, a Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Early School Education of the University of Ioannina and a scholar of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI/ΕΛΙΔΕΚ). She has studied at the University of Ioannina where she acquired her Post- Graduate Certificate on pre-school Education (PGCE) with a First, with a major in Designing, Implementation and Evaluation of Pre-school and Primary School Curricula. Her research interests are focused on issues of Pedagogics as well as Pre-school and Primary School Education, mainly on the cognitive domains of Designing and Evaluation of Curricula as well as on Play Didactics. She has participated in numerous colloquies, meetings, seminaries and experiential learning laboratories related to Pre-school Education and Training, Teaching Practices, Special Education, Co-inclusive Education, Differentiated Teaching, Physical Education (PE) – Sports and juvenile Literature. She has also worked as a volunteer in the Secretariat for various Pre-school Pedagogics Symposia and has participated as a coordinator in meetings on the thematic axis of play and playful approach of learning. She has worked on the provision of subsidiary services from Post-graduate Students, students’ support and conduction of tasks at the University Library as well as at the Information Centre of the University of Ioannina. In the context of her PGCE she was commissioned as an assistant of the Faculty members on students’ internship issues, on conducting academic tutoring, supervision of examinations and project editing. Her teaching experience occurs from her service in Kindergartens, in a Centre for Creative Activities of Children (CCAC/KDAP/ΚΔΑΠ), in amusement parks for children as well as from her service at the former Experimental Kindergarten of the University of Ioannina in the context of the “Creative Learning in Childhood- Summer School” programme.