Dr Aikaterini Tavoulari

• PhD in Vision Impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder; University of Birmingham, UK; 2022
• MEd (Distin) in Social Discriminations and Human Rights – Special and Inclusive Education; University College London, UK, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece; 2009
• BA (Hons) in Childhood and Early Childhood Education; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece; 2005
• Diploma in Classical Music and Psychology (Hons); National Conservatoire of Athens, Greece; 2005

From 2002 and for about 16 years, Dr Tavoulari worked as a chartered special education teacher and an educational psychologist in private and public institutions both in Greece and in the United Kingdom. 

A key aspect of her professional path was running her own private practice in Greece, called the “Special Education Centre for the Child, the Adolescent and the Family” focusing on children and adolescents with multiple and learning disabilities, as well as their families. Another stepping stone in her career was her role as the Headteacher of the ‘‘Special Pre-primary School for the Blind’’ in Athens, Greece. 

She has organised educational seminars and academic conferences and has done voluntary work as a counsellor for persons with disabilities regarding social welfare issues at the Greek Red Cross, the World Summer Games Special Olympics and at summer camps.

Dr Tavoulari has been a recipient of awards for her innovative teaching approaches to students with vision impairment from UNICEF and the Greek National Olympic Committee. 

Last year, she worked as a Teaching and Training Associate at University College London, where she delivered face-to-face seminars at the Social Research Institute of the Institute of Education. 

This academic year, apart from the established relationship with the University of Birmigham, Dr Tavoulari also works as an Editor in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Careers Service. Her role is to source career profiles from a range of diverse sectors written by researchers with backgrounds from fields such as humanities, social sciences, physical and life sciences. On top of her academic duties, she a reviewer for an online Greek journal (i-Teacher Journal) and a conference held bi-annually (Neos Paidagogos conference as well as a speaker in international conventions. 

Furthermore, her collaboration and volunteering activity with organisations/charities/hospitals such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, enabling her to maintain her clinical experience and contact with individuals with vision impairment.

Dr Tavoulari has been involved into the teaching and learning support of different modules across different Schools and Departments of the University (School of Education, Business School). She currently has an established collaboration with the Management and the Marketing Department of Business School, in terms of the following modules:

BSc Management:

• Managing Equality and Diversity

• Management Education & Learning A

• Management Education and Learning B

• Decolonising the Business School in the Barber Fine Arts Gallery

BSc Marketing:

• Public Relations & Reputation Management

MSc Marketing:

• Consumer Insights

Dr Tavoulari provides supervisory support to undergraduate and master-level students

Research interests

Disability

Ableism

Vision Impairment

Repetitive Behaviour

People with vision impairment during their transition into adulthood

Current projects

• She is involved in a meta-analytic study with Dr Margarita Nyfoudi and Dr Timothy Bednall. This is a systematic literature review in managerial coaching.
• She is due to apply for the ESRC Fellowship Scheme, the Leverhulme Trust and the Spencer Research Grant, with an interdisciplinary collaborative action research project on disability leadership with a use of art methods.

• Coordination and management of the University of Birmingham Twitter account called “Children and Childhood Network (CCN)”. This is a unique forum for collaboration on research, education, policy, and practice, for and with children. 

Official member of the:

• National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP)
• d&i (diversity, equality & inclusion) Leaders
• European Association on Early Childhood Intervention (Eurlyaid)
• International Council for Education & Rehabilitation of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
• European Educational Research Association (EERA)
• Greek Scientific Association of Special Education.