H. Billur Çakırer

billurcakirer@gau.edu.tr http://uab.academia.edu/BillurCakirer

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE:

Academic Achievements: Partial scholarship during high school years (F.M.V. Ayazağa Işık High School (graduated with Honors), AFS fellowship (studying in USA for a year in an American high school), AIESEC Developmental Internship (UNICEF Dominican Republic), Erasmus grant to study in Portugal for five months, Professional exchange grant given by the State Department of USA (CIPUSA-YORET Foundation Project), Partial Scholarship (50%) for Professional Development Specialist Certificate Program (MGSUP, Yenilikçi Öğrenme ve Öğretme Merkezi). Doctoral Degree Qualification (Excellent). Affiliations: AFS (Since 1998), AIESEC ALUMNI (Since 2004), Turkish Psychologists Association (Since 2004), Association for Child Mental Health and Guidance (ÇARE-DER) (Since 2005). Research Experience: 2010-2014 Play as a medium of inclusion in culturally diverse

preschools. Doctoral Research

Project 2008-2009

Research internship in GREI (Early childhood education research group) in UAB, Barcelona.

Research on an inclusive nursery

Dr. Department Lecturer of Psychology (September 15th,2015)

Girne American University

Ph.D. Educational Psychology Faculty of Psychology 2009- December 16th, 2014

Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. (Graduation Grade: Excellent)

M.Sc. Educational Psychology Faculty of Psychology 2007-2009

University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. (GPA: 8.9/10)

Erasmus Faculty of Psychology Student and Educational Sciences 2006-2007 (Fall Semester)

University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.

M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction 2005-2007 (attended)

Yıldız Technical University Istanbul, Turkey.

B.A. Psychology 2000-2004

Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. (GPA: 3.18/4)

2008 Qualitative research project on play corners in the

preschools.

Masters Research Project

2006 Quantitative research on mothers’ working condition and its influence on the time spent with their children in Istanbul, Turkey.

Final project of a class taken during the attended

M.Ed. program

2002 Quantitative research on gender role stereotypes. Final project of a class taken during the

undergraduate studies.

2002 Data Collector (survey maker) for Family Research Center Of Prime Ministry, Ankara Turkey

Part-Time paid job

Research Interests: Qualitative research in early childhood education and/or elementary education. Play based learning, Inclusive Education, Cultural Diversity, Socio-Constructivist Theory, Early Childhood Development and Education. Teaching Interests: Developmental Psychology, Early Childhood Development Psychology of Learning (From Socio-constructivist perspective) Psychology of Inclusion / Inclusive Education Psychology of Play Play and Learning Culturally Responsive Teaching Early Childhood Education Educational Psychology Publications: Çakırer, H. B. (In Press). Travelling to knowledge world in learning adventure by play: Play-based curriculum. In E. Aktan Acar (Ed.) Educational models in early childhood education. Ankara: Nobel. Çakırer, H. B., Fuentes, M. (2014). Talking with the teachers about inclusion through play in multicultural early childhood education context. In A. B. Mirete Ruiz & M. Sánchez Martín (Eds.), Investigación en educación infantil para la mejora educativa (pp. 193-204). Murcia, Spain: Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones. ISBN: 978-84-616-7508-1 Çakırer, H. B. (2013, October 24). Katalanlar yeni eğitim yasasına neden karşı çıkıyor? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.egitimtercihi.com/gundem/11707-katalanlar-yeni-egitim-yasasina-neden-karsi-cikiyor.html Çakırer, H. B. (2011). Including a 5 year-old turkish boy in an international preschool in sant cugat, catalonia: Challenges in putting theory into practice. In J. M. Ramon Sanchez, M. A. Carbonera Martin & J. D. Valdivieso Pastor (Eds.), Educación, aprendizaje y desarrollo en una sociedad multicultural (pp. 1041-1055). Madrid, Spain: Asociación Nacional de Psicología y Educación. ISBN: 978-84-614-8296-2

Çakırer, H. B., & Guibourg, I. (2010). A qualitative study on play corners: comparison of a semi-private preschool and a public preschool in Catalonia, Spain. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 590-594. Presentations and Public Appearances: Çakırer, H. B. (2015, April 5th). Play and cultural diversity in early childhood. Public seminar given at Educashow (April 2nd -5th), İstanbul. Çakırer, H. B. (2011, October 11th). Play and play-based learning in early childhood education. Teacher training workshop. (3 Hours) conducted in Toki Şekerpınar Preschool, Kocaeli, Turkey. Çakırer, H. B. (2014, May 21st). Play: a protagonist or a villain for academic goals in kindergarten? Paper presented at the IPA 19th World Play Conference (May 20th-May 23rd), Istanbul, Turkey. website: http://www.ipa2014.org/ Marin, I., Hierro, E., Çakırer, H. B. (2014, May 20th). Celebrating world play day during economic crisis: the case of Spain. Paper presented at the IPA 19th World Play Conference (May 20th-May 23rd), Istanbul, Turkey. website: http://www.ipa2014.org/ Çakırer, H. B., M. Fuentes. (2013, August). How do kindergartners include and exclude their peers in culturally diverse play settings? Paper presented at the EECERA 23rd Conference, Tallin, Estonia. Çakırer, H. B., Fuentes, M. (2013, May). Talking with the teachers about inclusion through play in multicultural early childhood education context. Paper presented at the I Congreso Internacional y II Nacional de Investigación e Innovación en Educación Infantil y Educación Primaria, Murcia, Spain. Çakırer, H. B., Angel, C., Flaquer, E., Guibourg, I., Moll, B., Ortega, A., Redó, M., Tovías, S. & Vilaplana, E. (2011, July). Inclusive nursery: A qualitative study. Paper presented at the 12th European Congress of Psychology, Istanbul, Turkey. Çakırer, H. B. (2011, March). Including a 5 year-old Turkish Boy in an international preschool in Sant Cugat, Catalonia: Challenges in putting theory into practice. Paper presented at the VI Congreso Internacional de Psicología y Educación y el III Congreso Nacional de Psicología de la Educación, Valladolid, Spain. Çakırer, H. B., & Guibourg, I. (2010, April). A qualitative study on play corners: comparison of a semi-private preschool and a public preschool in Catalonia, Spain. Paper presented at the World Conference on Psychology, Counseling and Guidance (WCPCG, 2010), Antalya, Turkey. Kutluay, A. D. (2010, March). Youth exchange in the Mediterranean, a youth project by AFS. Project presented by me as a substitute to Ms. Kutluay at the Anna Lindh Forum, Barcelona, Spain. Symposiums, Conferences and Congresses: 2014 5th Basic Education Symposium, Union of Turkish Private Schools, Istanbul, Turkey (December 6th, 7th). 2014 IPA 19th World Play Conference, Istanbul, Turkey (May 20th-May 23rd). 2013 4th Basic Education Symposium, Union of Turkish Private Schools, Istanbul, Turkey (December 7th, 8th). 2013 EECERA 23rd Conference, Tallin, Estonia. (August 28th, 31st). 2013 I Congreso Internacional y II Nacional de Investigación e Innovación en Educación Infantil y

Educación Primaria, Murcia, Spain (May 23rd-25th). 2011 12th European Congress of Psychology, Istanbul, Turkey (July 4th-8th). 2011 6th International Congress of Psychology and Education and 3rd National Congress of

Educational Psychology, Valladolid, Spain (March 29th-April 1st). 2010 17

th International Congress of Creative Drama in Education, Istanbul, Turkey

(September 1st-5

th ).

2010 World Conference on Psychology, Counseling and Guidance (WCPCG, 2010), Antalya,

Turkey, (April 21st- 25

th).

2010 Anna Lindh Forum 2010 Barcelona, Spain, (March 4th

-7th

). 2008 XXIX. International Congress of Psychology, Berlin, Germany, (July 20th-25th). 2007 10th International European Congress of Psychology (ECP), Prague, Czech Republic,

(July 3rd-6th, 2007). 2006 14th National Psychology Congress, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey,

(September 6th -8th). 2006 2nd Symposium of Children and Adolescent At Risk, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey,

(May 6th -7th). 2005 Symposium of Children and Adolescent At Risk Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey,

(April 19th -20th). 2004 Turquoise 2004, International Congress of Culture and Leadership, AIESEC, Bodrum,

Turkey, (March 5th-7th). 2002 XII. National Psychology Congress, METU, Ankara, Turkey, (September 11th-13th). 2002 16th Conference of EFPSA, Avanos, Turkey, (April 23rd-30th). 2001 VII. National Psychology Students Congress, Hacettepe University, Ankara, (June 25th-28th).

Certificates: 2014 Play Therapy, Bengi Semerci Enstitüsü, İstanbul, Turkey. 2012 Monitoring Leisure Activities (Monitora de Temps de Lleure), Generalitat de Catalunya. 2006 WISC-R Application Certificate, Turkish Psychologists Association. 2005 Little Steps, Early Childhood Intervention Program Certificate, Mentally Disabled

Support Association, Anatolia University, Turkey. 2002 Psychiatric Urgencies Assistant Training Summer School Attendance Certificate, Psychiatry

Association of Eastern Turkey Malatya Turkey. 2001 Attendance Certificate, Lions Club Youth Camp, Denmark. Languages: Turkish (Native), English (Proficiency), Spanish (Proficiency), Catalan (Intermediate), Portuguese (Beginner). Language certificates:

2015 YDS-English (91.25, - A level English), OSYM, Turkey, (Apri 5th, 2015) 2012 Certificat de Nivell B de Catala, Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística - CPNL,

(June 20th, 2012) 2010 Certificat de Nivell Avançat d’Angles (Certificate of Advanced English), EOI de Girona,

Apta (92.08, Nivell A) (February 22nd, 2010) 2005 Diploma de Espanol (DELE Intermedio, Nivel Avanzado), Spanish Ministry of Culture,

Cervantes Institute 2004 TOEFL (277 Computer Based Point, Writing 6/6) 2003 KPDS (Language Test For Civil Servants) (94 – A level English), OSYM, Turkey