ITLA Leadership

Circles: Leadership, Stewards

Aliki Nicolaides is Associate Professor of Adult Learning and Leadership at the University of Georgia. Dr. Nicolaides seeks to optimize vital developmental conditions for the evolution of self and society. Her research has led to the development of Generative Knowing: Ways of being and becoming. Specifically, her work suggests that under certain conditions and with intentional scaffolding, encounters with ambiguity and complexity can evoke deep learning and reveal hidden potential that generates response-ability.  Dr. Nicolaides is a founding steward and current Director of the International Transformative Learning Association.

Circles: Leadership, Research & Practice

Dr. Petra Buergelt is an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra and co-leading the ITLA Research & Practice Circle. Petra is an award winning interdisciplinary social scientist. Using qualitative and Indigenist research, she is working at the nexus of transformative learning, disaster risk reduction and recovery, and Indigenous/ancient worldviews-knowledges-practices to contribute to creating a paradigm shift from Western to ancient/Indigenous paradigms.

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Circles: Leadership, Research & Practice

Alexis Kokkos is Emeritus Professor of Adult Education at Hellenic Open University, Chairman of the Hellenic Adult Education Association. His interests are in critical reflection and aesthetic experience. He has been awarded for his Exemplary Service and Leadershipwithin the international transformative learning community. He is a member of ITLA Leadership Circle and Co-leader of Research & Practice Circle.

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Circles: Leadership, Education

George Koulaouzides is Assistant Professor at Hellenic Open University. His research interests are transformative learning and educational biography. He has translated in Greek six books on education/research (including Mezirow’s works). In 2019 he was inducted in the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame becoming the first Greek scholar/practitioner receiving this notable distinction. In 2021, he founded the Biographical Learning & Transformative Education Laboratory. He serves at the Executive Board of the European Association for the Education of Adults. He is a member of the ITLA Leadership Circle.

Circles: Leadership, Education

Claudio Melacarne, Ph.D, is Associate Professor of Social Pedagogy at University of Siena. His research focuses on theories of adult and continuing education and collaborative research methodologies. He is Co-director of the Educational Reflective Practices Journal and of the Ph.D. Program in “Organizational learning and innovation in workplaces and social contexts”. Dr. Melacarne is a member of the ITLA Leadership Circle.

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Circles: Leadership

Renee´ Owen is Assistant Professor of Education at Southern Oregon University in Educational Leadership and Adult Education. Renee became fascinated with transformative learning while in the AEGIS program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and she is now Facilitator for the ITLA Leadership Circle. She co-edits of the Holistic Educational Review open access journal.

Circles: Leadership

Marguerite Welch is the Program Director for the MA in Leadership Program at Saint Mary’s College of California (SMC).  She designs and facilitates innovative and transformative learning experiences for working professionals in the areas of building cross-cultural capacity, online learning, leadership, and action research.  Her scholarship focuses on developing capacity in white people to thrive in multicultural environments. Dr. Welch is a member of the ITLA Leadership Circle and the Conference Circle, and was Co-Chair of the 2018 International Transformative Learning Confernce in New York, USA.