Fyssa Aristea

Aristea Fyssa is an Assistant Professor in Special Education at the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras, and member of the Laboratory of Pedagogical Research and Life Long Learning. She holds degrees from the University of Thessaly, Department of Special Education (BEd in Early Childhood Special Education), the University College London, Institute of Education (MSc in Special Education: Inclusion and Disability Studies) and the University of Thessaly-Department of Special Education (PhD in Early Childhood Special-Inclusive Education). Her research interests fall within the areas of early childhood special and inclusive education policy support systems, early childhood intervention, assessment of the quality inclusive processes, practices for promoting the educational and social inclusion for children with or at risk of disabilities, and parental-professional partnerships and parental empowerment. Aristea has been involved in teacher education programs for regular and special education teachers at bachelor and master levels lecturing on special education, early childhood education intervention, inclusive pedagogy and assessment and planning of curricular inclusive routines and activities. She has been involved in the development of a training manual for teacher assistants with the aim to promote the idea of developing interdisciplinary teams within the educational communities so as facilitating the processes of early childhood intervention and early childhood inclusion for disabled children (and children at risk). Aristea has been published in high indexed scientific journals (that is, Early Intervention; International Journal of Early Years Education; International Journal of Disability, Development and Education; European Early Childhood Education Research Journal; Frontiers Education; Research in Developmental Disabilities). In 2023, Aristea has been appointed as the coordinator of the early childhood intervention national project running by the Ministry of Education. In her University Department, Aristea has been involved in supporting university students with disabilities and other additional needs and in promoting the collaboration between the Department and the local (and of other areas in the geography of Greece) school communities.