Dr Eleonora Teszenyi

Professional biography

Eleonora's main reserach interest is focused on early childhood pedagogy, multi-age pedagogical practice, which she is investigating for her doctoral study. Employing Q-method and observations for data generetaion, she is conducting  a collective case study that examines the characteristic features of multi-age practice in Hungarian kindergartens.

Most recent national and international research projects she has been involved in include:

• practitioner and parent partnerships (in England, Kazakhstan and Hungary)
• an examination of factors that influence parents' choice of early childhood provision for their children (Hungary)
• an exploration of work-based learners' experiences on the Early Years Foundation Degree - framed within the theories of andragogy, heutagogy and the 'more knowledgeable other' 
• an exploration of how children understand their rights in the context of theri everyday lives in kindergartens in Hungary
• participatory piece of research on socialist childhoods that examines childhood memories using collective biography methodology (Re-connect/Re-collect project)

Eleonora has 13 years experience of teaching and assessment in Higher Education on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and she has a keen interest in work-based learning. When designing module materials, she draws on her prior practice experiences as well as her theoretical understanding of child development, early childhood curricula and pedagogies to bring learning to life for students. She is particularly interested in topics relating to:

• ​​child development in the formative years
• children's learning through play, their involvement and well-being
• ​early childhood curriculum approaches
• ​children's voices and rights

She is the chair of module E229 'Listening to Young Children's Living and learning: Critical Reflections'. 

Eleonora is an Academic Reviewer for the OU Validation Partnerships supporting FE colleges delivering early childhood programmes validated by the OU.

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Eleonora is one of the PIs in a collaborative research project with Debrecen University in Hungary and Cardiff Metropolitant University in Wales focusing on children's voices and rights. This includes working with Vojtina Puppet Theatre (Debrecen Hungary) on visualising research findings. 

Eleonora has links with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia where she studied the Reggio Emilia approach. Observations, reflections and professional dialogues with ‘pedagogistas' enabled her to develop a more in-depth understanding of a participatory, rights-based approach to listening to and engaging with young children and the affordances of a creative curriculum. These have influenced the module materials she has written.

Eleonora has close links with Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University through an academic mobility professional development programme, which provided her with a valuable insight into early childhood education in Kazakhstan.She has worked closely with fellow academics, doctoral and Master’s level students to help develop their research literacy and skills of writing for publication. 

​Eleonora also engages with the School of Early Childhood at Debrecen University in Hungary through collaborative scholarly activities, research projects, which produce publications both in English and Hungarian.  She works closely with the Kindergarten Pedagogues' National Professional Network where her main focus is the interpretation and implementation of the National Core Programme for Kindergarten Education.