Dr. Adalet Baris Gunersel
Adalet Baris Gunersel is a Visiting Scientist working with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek on various research endeavors. After receiving her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 2008, she worked at Temple University as an administrator and instructor. Since 2013, she has been conducting qualitative research and analysis on NSF- and IES-funded grants collaborating with Kansas University and Purdue University. She has worked as a Registered Behavior Technician with children with special needs. Her research interests include the enhancement of the quality of educational practices at every level — K-12 and higher education — as well as special education, teacher professional development, motivation, and creativity.
Charlotte Wright
Charlotte is a Research Associate currently working with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek to research parental attitudes and involvement in children’s learning through play and develop recommendations for how policies can support parental engagement in children’s learning through play. She has a decade of experience working with young children and their families as a licensed early childhood educator in a variety of settings. Motivated to address challenges she witnessed as an educator on a more systemic level, she pivoted her career from early childhood educator to early childhood researcher and advocate. Charlotte is particularly interested in the “schoolification epidemic” and studying how a child’s right to play can be best defended. She recently earned an M.Ed. in International Educational Development with a concentration in Early Childhood Policy and Planning from Columbia University. Under the guidance of Dr. Sharon Lynn Kagan, her master’s thesis consolidated research on early childhood development and play to create a taxonomy and rubric for naming and defining early childhood play experiences (the Explanatory Rubric for Play in Early Childhood). Charlotte also has a M.S. in Early Childhood Education (Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University) and a B.A. in Child Development (Tufts University).
Dr. Ji Young Lee
Ji Young Lee, Ph.D. is an adjunct research faculty working with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek to expand playful learning internationally. She is leading a global research team to study how early childhood teachers can be supported to shift their practice to align with playful learning research. She has explored how the playful learning model, a flexible framework founded on cultural and community values, can be adapted for diverse cultural contexts. She has a Ph.D. in Child Psychology and Education and three years of experience teaching young children and infants. Her research has been published in academic journals including Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Early Education and Development.
