Natalia Kucirkova is Professor of Early Childhood Education and Development at the University of Stavanger, Norway, Professor of Reading and Children’s Development at The Open University, UK and Visiting Professor at University College London, UK.

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Her work is concerned with social justice in children’s literacy and use of technologies.

Dr Kucirkova's research takes place collaboratively across academia, commercial and third sectors. She is the lead developer of the app Our Story and founder of the UKLA Children's Digital Book Award.

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Dr Kucirkova's projects integrate multiple levels of analysis to investigate cross-cultural relations among children’s cognitive (eg language) and emotional (eg empathy) skills and personalized stories. She co-leads the FILIORUM Centre at the University of Stavanger and the Centre for Literacy and Social Justice at The Open University.

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Natalia was the Jacobs Foundation Fellow 2021-2023. She blogs for The Psychology Today, Wired, The Guardian and Huffington Post. Her latest book is The Future of the Self.

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