DR. ELENI DIDASKALOU

Dr. Didaskalou’s research interests focus on understanding how schools can design and implement

preventive policies and intervention approaches to build the resilience collectively and individually of

students who are facing adversities and risks such as bullying and mental health challenges. The core

areas of her research agenda focus on: a) how to assess and counterbalance the risks and adversities

experienced by students presenting emotional and behavioral challenges b) how to promote school-wide

protective factors to diminish the potential negative impact of external adversities on student mental-

health and well-being and c) how to train and empower teachers to develop inclusive interventions

which promote the mental health of vulnerable students, particularly of those with emotional and

behavioral problems who attend mainstream schools.

 

Having drawn her methodological approaches from the socio-ecological framework, Dr. Didaskalou has

been conducting research examining the interactive nature of various societal, teacher-related and

school-related variables (i.e. school connectedness, applied classroom behavior management strategies,

student resilience and wellbeing, teacher emotional intelligence) which are associated with the genesis

and development of emotional and behavioral problems in students. She has also been engaged in cross-

cultural comparative approaches to explore the incidence of bullying and the effectiveness of prevention

policies and intervention practices which are applied within school communities across numerous

educational contexts.

 

Throughout the years of her career as an academic, Dr. Didaskalou has been collaborating and

conducting research with many colleagues working in Universities in the US and Dr. Eleni Didaskalou, Visiting Professor Australia. Thus far, she has been an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Education, Psychology and Social Work at Flinders University in Australia (2015-2022) and a Honorary Visiting Professor at the

Wheelock College of Education & Human Development at Boston University, USA, (2015), and the

Department of Applied Psychology of Northeastern University in the USA (2018, 2019, 2021-2022).

Since 2018, Dr. Didaskalou has been collaborating on joint research projects with the Director and Co-

Director of the Center for Research in School-Based Prevention (CRISP), at Northeastern University.

More specifically, she carried out a study to validate the Greek translation of the Classroom Observation

of Engagement, Disrespect and Disruptive Behavior (COEDD). During the last four years Dr.

Didaskalou, together with the Director and Co-Director of CRISP, have conducted a research project,

funded by the Onassis Foundation, designed to evaluate the psychometric adequacy of the Greek

translation of the Integrated Teacher Rating Form (ITRF).

 

She is committed to supporting students from marginalized groups and fostering their inclusion within

school communities. Dr. Didaskalou received her Ph.D in Education with a specialization in Special

Education from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in England, her Master of Education (M.Ed)

with a specialization in Special Education from the same University and her B.A. on Educational Studies

(with an emphasis on Primary Education) from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her

research has been supported and funded by International Foundations (i.e. Alexander Onassis Benefit

Foundation) and has been awarded the Visiting International Fellowship to Flinders University in

Australia.

 

Dr. Didaskalou has served as a Lecturer (2002-2007), Assistant Professor (2007-2011), Assistant

Professor with tenure (2011-2016) and Associate Professor (2016-present) at the Pedagogical

Department of Special Education of the University of Thessaly, in Greece. Prior to joining the

University of Thessaly, she worked as a special education teacher in Greek public schools. Dr.

Didaskalou is currently serving on the editorial board of the Psychology in the Schools and the Journal

of Disability Policy Studies and has been a reviewer of many journals in the field of expertise. She has

published about sixty scholarly works in International Journals.

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CV