Anna Kirova, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

Newcomer students Multiculturalism Education policy Linguistically diverse children Hermeneutic phenomenology Community-based participatory research Arts-based methodologies Bicultural identities Early childhood education.

About

Anna Kirova is a professor of early childhood education in the University of Alberta Faculty of Education. Her credentials include a PhD in early childhood education from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1987 and a PhD in elementary education with an early childhood specialization from the U of A in 1996. She was a faculty member in the Department of Human Development and Child Studies at Oakland University, Michigan between 1996 and 2000. 

Awards and Fellowships
Kirova has earned numerous awards and recognitions, including SSHRC grants, most recently in the years 2021 to 2025. In 2018, she was granted a 2018 Killam Annual Professorship, and she received the Alberta Teachers’ Association Advocate for Young Children Award in 2013.

Research

Kirova’s appointment at the U of A in 2000 marked the beginning of a long-term research program focusing on various aspects of the relationship between young immigrant children’s social competence and their social adjustment to school. Her wide-ranging repertoire of research methods includes hermeneutic phenomenology, arts-based methodologies, and community-based participatory action research aimed at gaining insights into human phenomena by including vulnerable populations in meaningful and empowering research. As an educator, her goal is to create learning environments in which students can build on their experiences working with young children in various capacities and critically reflect on these experiences through examining social, cultural and historical discourses. 

Teaching

As an educator, Kirova aims to create learning environments in which her students can build on their experiences in working with young children in various capacities. Additionally, she aims to foster the ability to critically reflect on these experiences through examining social, cultural and historical discourses that influence their beliefs and assumptions about childhood and early education. 

Kirova believes her mission as an educator of future teachers is to engage pre- and in-service teachers in dialogue that helps them gain a better understanding of what it means to educate children and young people in today’s complex world. As an instructor of master’s and doctoral-level courses, she supports students and helps them gain confidence in their capacity to become researchers and leaders in their fields. In these courses, she strives to create forums — both face-to-face and online — for dialoguing about some fundamental questions about studying the nature of teaching and learning. 

EDU 542 - Schools as Welcoming and Inclusive Environments for All Students

This course explores the complex issues of diversity and ideologies of difference as they relate to multiculturalism, inclusion, and Indigenous issues in early childhood education, through a variety of theoretical perspectives. It also investigates markers of difference, the right to be different, and agentive possibilities for creating teaching and learning contexts that position concerns of social justice, care and equity as central to early childhood education. Sections may be offered at an increased rate of fee assessment, refer to the Fees Payment Guide in the University Regulations and Information for Students section of the Calendar.

Browse more courses taught by Anna Kirova

For a full list of Dr. Kirova's published work, please refer to her CV.
 

Books Edited

• Abu-Laban, Y., Reza Hasmath, R., Michael Frishkopf, M., & Kirova, A. (Eds) (2024). Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees: A Transdisciplinary Perspective. Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University Press. 

• Emme, M. & Kirova, A. (Eds.). (2017). Good Questions: Arts-based Approaches to Collaborative Research with Children and Youth. Thunder Bay, ON: National Art Education Association. Available on Amazon and Apple. 

• Adams, L., & Kirova, A. (Eds.). (2007). Global migration and education: Schools, children and families. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Guest Editor of Special Issues

• Kirova, A. (2019). Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, Syrian Refugees’ Encounters with the Canadian Education System Theme Issue, 14(1). https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/jcie/index.php/JCIE/issue/view/1943

• Kirova, A. & Thorlakson, L. (Winter 2015). Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Inclusion and Education Rights of Roma Children Theme Issue, 61(4).

 Books Authored

• Kirova, A., Prochner, L., & Massing, C. (2020) Learning to teach young children: Theoretical Perspectives and implications for practice. London: UK: Bloomsbury. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/learning-to-teach-young-children-9781350037786/

• Prochner, L., Cleghorn, A., Kirova, A., & Massing, C. (2018). La formación de docentes en contextos diversos: crear espacios para la intersección de visiones del mundo. Cali: Universidad del Valle Press.

• Prochner, L., Cleghorn, A., Kirova, A., & Massing, C. (2016). Teacher education in diverse settings: Making space for intersecting worldviews. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. 

 Book Chapters

• Kirova, A. (in press). The Indispensability of Difference: Pedagogical Responsiveness to (Im)Migrant Students’ Foreignness. In W. Kalisha, T. Szkudlarek (eds.), Educating the Next Generation, Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education 21. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8991-7_4

• Jamison, N. M. & Kirova, A. (2024). Navigating cultural differences: A young newcomer child’s expressions of individual and social subjectivities within play and personal art-making activities. In R. M. Holmes & J. L. Roopnarine (Eds.), Culture, schooling, and children’s learning experiences. Oxford University Press.

• Amjad, A., Ellis, J., & Kirova, A. (2024). Interpretive Inquiry into Muslim Students' Elementary School Experiences in Canada. In J. McClinton & A., E., Hernandez (Eds.) Qualitative Research for Diverse and Underserved Communities (pp.191-203). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing (IAP).

• Kirova, A. (2024). (Not) Meeting the Needs of Refugee Students: Towards a Framework for Humanization of Education. In Y. Abu-Laban, R. Hasmath, M. Frishkopfand A. Kirova (Eds.) Ethics, Rights, Culture and the Humanization of Refugees: A Transdisciplinary Perspective. Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University Press.

• Lambrev, V., Kirova, A. (2022). Emerging teacher leadership: Taking social responsibility for Roma students’ inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Handbook of Research on Preparing Early Childhood Teachers for Managing Emergencies (pp.132-151). IGI Global eEditorial Discovery. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7020-3.ch010

• Burgess-Pinto, E., Kirova, A., Dastjerdi, M., & Chiu, Y. (2020). Best practices in early childhood development programs in newcomer populations. In A. R. Vallman, E.T. Anderson, and J. McFarlane (Eds.) Canadian community as partner: Theory & multidisciplinary practice (5th edition) (pp. 395-403). Pittsburgh, PA: Wolters Kluwer Press.

 Refereed Articles

• Jamison, N, & Kirova, A. (in press) Playful Art-Making and a Responsive Adult to Sustain Interest and Affirm Minoritized Children’s Experiences.Journal of Research in Childhood Education.

• Yohani S, Kirova A, Georgis R, Gokiert R, Taylor M. & Tahir S. (2023) Creating community learning for empowerment groups: an innovative model for participatory research partnerships with refugee communities. Frontiers in Education. 8: 1164485. DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1164485

• Lambrev, V., Kirova, A. & Prochner, L. (2020). Education reforms for inclusion? Interrogating policy- practice disjunctions in early childhood education in Bulgaria, Education Inquiry, 11(2), 126-143,DOI: 10.1080/20004508.2019.1708616

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/20004508.2019.1708616

• Yohani, S., Brosinsky, L., & Kirova, A. (2019) Syrian Refugee Families with Young Children: An Examination of Strengths and Challenges During Early Resettlement. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education. Syrian Refugees’ Encounters with the Canadian Education System Theme Issue, 14(1), 13-32. http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/JCIE DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20355/jcie29356

• Yohani, S., Kirova, A., Georgis, R., Gokiert, R., Mejia, T., & Chiu, Y. (2019). Cultural brokering with Syrian refugee families with young children: An exploration of challenges and best practices in psychosocial adaptation. Journal of International Migration & Integration. Published online January 25, 2019 at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00651-6

Encyclopedia Entries

• Kirova, A. (2019). Migration and Mobility in Childhood (Canada). In R. Heydon (Regional Ed.); W. Corsaro (Ed.-in-Chief). Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. London: Bloomsbury Academic. DOI: 10.5040/9781350995925.0025 Available at: https://www.becs-bloomsbury.com

• Kirova, A. (2016). Phenomenology of inclusion, belonging, and language. In M.A. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational philosophy and theory, (pp. 1-5) Singapore: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_97-1 Available at: http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-981-287-532-7_97-1