PESA Agora Team

PESA Agora Editor in Chief – Michael A. Peters

Michael A. Peters, Distinguished Professor of Education, Beijing Normal University, P.R. China is Emeritus Professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (USA). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and was awarded honorary doctorates by State University of New York (SUNY) in 2012 and Aalborg University, Denmark in 2015. He held a personal chair at University of Auckland and professorships at Universities of Glasgow and Waikato. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Educational Philosophy and Theory and founding editor of several other journals. He is the author of 120 books in education and philosophy.

PESA Agora Founding Editor & Project Manager –  Tina Besley

Tina Besley is a Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University, P.R. China. She is a fellow of:  the Royal Society of Arts; the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia; and The Association for Visual Pedagogies. She is PESA Past President, and Founding President of the Association for Visual Pedagogies. Tina is Founding Project Manager and Founding Editor of PESA Agora,  and is now Consulting Editor;  deputy editor of  Educational Philosophy and Theory.  With many publications, a recent book, with Michael A. Peters is Pandemic Education and Viral Politics.

PESA Agora Editor & Social Media – Sean Sturm

Sean Sturm, is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland, New Zealand coordinates its Higher Education programme. He is Book Reviews Editor for Educational Philosophy and Theory, Editor of Knowledge Cultures and Treasurer for the Association for Visual Pedagogies. He researches at the intersection of philosophy of education, critical university studies and settler studies.

ACCESS Editor Vol 41 – Nesta Devine

Nesta Devine is a Professor of Education at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) New Zealand. Her work spans education policy and theory, prison education, Pasifika teachers and school exclusion. It aims to disrupt the structures and pedagogical assumptions that can lead to inequities for different groups of learners in Aotearoa/New Zealand. She is a past president of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA) and Associate Editor of Educational Philosophy and Theory (EPAT).

ACCESS Editor Vol 40 – Nina Hood

Nina Hood , Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand focuses on the philosophy and practice of knowledge mobilisation in education and the role and purpose of the practical knowledge of teachers, and open, online learning in higher education. She founded The Education Hub, a not-for-profit that bridges the gap between research and practice in education. She was Editor, for Vol 40, Access: Contemporary Issues in  Education.

ACCESS Deputy Editor –  Marek Tesar

Marek Tesar , Associate Professor and Associate Dean International at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, is a deputy editor of Educational Philosophy and Theory, and Access: Contemporary Issues in  Education,  and editor-in chief of  Policy Futures in Education.. He is President of PESA.  His research is focused on philosophical methods, childhood studies and early childhood education, the construction of childhoods, notions of place/space, and methodological and philosophical thinking around ontologies and the ethics of researching these notions.

ACCESS Editorial Administrator – Andrew Madjar

Andrew Madjar was a primary school teacher in New Zealand for 10 years and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland. He is secretary of PESA and Managing Editor of Educational Philosophy and Theory; and Editorial Administrator for ACCESS: Contemporary Issues in Education. His current research explores moral uncertainty in the lives of teachers. His research uses hermeneutic and phenomenological philosophy to develop understandings of pedagogy and practice that are grounded in lived experience.

Finance – Rachel Buchanan

Rachel Buchanan is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She teaches educational foundations, and has published in the areas of educational philosophy, pedagogy, technology, policy and politics. Her research area is equity in education with a focus on the use of educational technology and how this impacts the practice, education and identities of educators and students. She is Executive Editor of E- Learning and Digital Media and  is PESA Treasurer.

Videos – Rene Novak

Rene Novak, PhD  has teaching qualifications, degrees in pedagogy, science. For the last ten years he has been working for BestStart Educare and is currently Regional Professional Practice Leader for the South Island, Christchurch, NZ.

Podcasts – Alex Means

Alex Means is Graduate Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Educational Foundations, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His work examines education in relation to political, economic, cultural, technological, and social change. His most recent book is Learning to Save the Future: Rethinking Education and Work in an Age of Digital Capitalism (Routledge 2018). Alex is co-host with Amy Sojot for the PESA Agora Podcast series,  Collective Intellectualities.

Podcasts – Amy Sojot

Amy Sojot is a PhD candidate in Educational Foundations at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her research interests include aesthetics, philosophy of education, embodied pedagogies, and the ethics of contemporary educational relationalities. Her current work uses new materialism to theorize pedagogy and sensation. With Alex Means, Amy  co-hosts the PESA Agora Podcast series, Collective Intellectualities.

Webinars – Liz Jackson

Liz Jackson is Professor of International Education at the Education University of Hong Kong and is  past president PESA . Liz is an editor for New Directions in the Philosophy of Education , Educational Philosophy and Theory: Editor’s Choice, and Deputy Editor for Educational Philosophy and Theory. She has written, Muslims and Islam In US Education: Reconsidering Multiculturalism; and Questioning Allegiance: Resituating Civic Education.

Sonja Arndt

Sonja Arndt is a lecturer in early childhood education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia. She is the Vice President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, Deputy Editor of Policy Futures in Education, Chair of the Foucault SIG, AERA, and of the Editorial Development Group (EDG) for the Editors’ Collective and co-editor of the book series Children: Global posthumanist perspectives and materialist theories.

Communications – Bernadette Farrell

Bernadette Farrell is a lecturer in education at University of Canterbury, New Zealand and is a member of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, (PESA) Executive. Her interests in the ethics, politics of education, Freire and Dewey is inspired by experience as a former youth leader and an elected officer of the Union of Students in Ireland.

To contribute items to the PESA Agora Newsletter: comms@pesaagora.com