Across Borders, Across Disciplines: The Global Reach of UC Irvine School of Education
By Rachel Sampson
November 12, 2025
November 12, 2025
Education doesn’t happen in isolation — and neither does innovation.
As we celebrate International Education Week, it’s the perfect time to highlight how UC Irvine’s School of Education is connecting across borders to advance learning and equity worldwide. From Germany to Ghana, Japan to Morocco, our faculty and students are collaborating with partners who share one goal: to improve education and expand opportunity for all.
These projects span continents and disciplines — exploring everything from human–AI collaboration and teacher learning to climate education, early childhood development, and neurodiversity. Together, they reflect the School’s belief that research becomes most powerful when it’s shared, tested, and lived out in diverse contexts.
Whether in a preschool classroom, a government ministry, or a community sports field, UC Irvine’s global partnerships remind us that education is both local and universal — rooted in community, yet open to the world.
As we celebrate International Education Week, it’s the perfect time to highlight how UC Irvine’s School of Education is connecting across borders to advance learning and equity worldwide. From Germany to Ghana, Japan to Morocco, our faculty and students are collaborating with partners who share one goal: to improve education and expand opportunity for all.
These projects span continents and disciplines — exploring everything from human–AI collaboration and teacher learning to climate education, early childhood development, and neurodiversity. Together, they reflect the School’s belief that research becomes most powerful when it’s shared, tested, and lived out in diverse contexts.
Whether in a preschool classroom, a government ministry, or a community sports field, UC Irvine’s global partnerships remind us that education is both local and universal — rooted in community, yet open to the world.
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Designing AI as a Global Teammate: Collaborative Research Across Europe
Performing research in: Germany, Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland When Associate Professor Nia Nixon talks about artificial intelligence, she doesn’t describe it as a tool — she describes it as a teammate. Her research explores how humans and AI can learn and work together more equitably through collaborations across Germany, Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland.
With Dr. Katie Winkle (Uppsala University, Sweden) and Dr. Marcelo Worsley (Northwestern University), Nixon examines how trust and agency develop when students collaborate with intelligent systems. Alongside Dr. Jenny Mayer (University of Austria) and Dr. Jeanine Grüetter (Germany/Zurich), she studies how people and AI coordinate through gesture and discourse, while her work with Dr. Sasha Poquet (Technical University of Munich) explores cross-cultural differences in human–AI interaction. At the center of this network is a long-standing partnership with Professor Ulrich Trautwein and the University of Tübingen’s Hector Research Institute, which connects UC Irvine faculty like Drew Bailey, Rossella Santagata, and Jacquelynne Eccles. The collaboration also opens opportunities for doctoral students such as Daniel Richie, Patricia Fuentes Acevedo, and Siling Guo, who recently joined research retreats in Germany. /
"Global collaboration is essential to advancing our work,” says Nixon. "Understanding human–AI teaming and inclusive learning requires perspectives that cross cultural and institutional boundaries."
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For Nixon, designing AI that supports inclusion and belonging isn’t just research — it’s a vision for the future of learning.
Advancing Neurodiversity Awareness Across Africa: Leading Conversations for Change
Performing research in: Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa For Julie Washington, Professor & Interim Dean of the School of Education, advancing equity means ensuring every learner is seen and supported — wherever they are.
This summer, she delivered keynote addresses at the first-ever Africa Dyslexia Conference in Ghana and the Africa Rising Dyslexia Conference in Kenya, which gathered educators, researchers, and families under the theme “Rewriting the Neurodiversity Narrative: From Stigma to Strength.” Washington also collaborates with colleagues at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa to advance research on language development in multilingual contexts. Her work reflects the School’s broader mission — building inclusive systems and conversations that expand understanding and reduce stigma for neurodiverse learners worldwide. |
Improving Teaching, Globally: Cross-Cultural Research on Teacher Learning
Performing research in: Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe, and Chile Where Nixon studies how people and technology learn together, Professor Rossella Santagata focuses on how teachers learn — and how that process can be strengthened across cultures.
Rossella Santagata (left) and Patricia Fuentes Acevedo
Her collaborations with the University of Tübingen’s Hector Research Institute unite faculty across UCI and Europe to study teaching quality and professional growth. In Italy, Santagata works with Dr. Ira Vannini (University of Bologna) to explore how digital video supports educators' reflection on their practice. Their partnership includes joint research visits, conferences, and a forthcoming book with Mondadori on video-based professional learning for more equitable schools.
Through UCI’s Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice, she also hosts visiting scholars from around the world — and continues projects with colleagues in Germany and Chile to deepen understanding of teacher noticing and cross-cultural pedagogy. /
“Studying issues that schools face across national boundaries illuminates new solutions and challenges our assumptions,” says Santagata.
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Doctoral students like Aakriti Bisht (India) and Patricia Fuentes Acevedo (Chile) are extending this work globally, representing UCI at international conferences from Cambridge to Potsdam. Together, Nixon and Santagata’s research shows how international partnerships fuel both innovation and empathy — redefining what it means to teach and learn in a connected world.
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Building Global Mindsets: Student Exchanges and Cross-Cultural Learning in Japan
Performing research in: Japan Assistant Professor of Teaching Fernando Rodriguez brings global learning directly into the classroom through international partnerships that help students experience education across cultures.
His first exchange began in 2019 with International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, where UCI and Japanese students created short videos and articles comparing school life, civic engagement, and community values — sparking conversations about how culture shapes learning. Several students later traveled to Japan, visiting classrooms and afterschool programs, an experience many described as transformative. That collaboration continues through the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) and the Training Program for Trans-Pacific Bridge Persons (TP-Bridge), where students from both universities explore how technology and AI intersect with culture and learning. Beginning in Spring 2026, a new study-abroad partnership will send UCI students to TUFS for a quarter of coursework, volunteering, and cultural immersion. /
“Education is not just about content or curriculum,” says Rodriguez. “It’s about understanding how culture shapes the way we learn.”
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Understanding Learning in a Complex World: Global Research on Human Development and Resilience
Performing research in: Germany and Columbia For Professor Drew Bailey, international collaboration is essential to understanding how children grow, adapt, and learn in a changing world.
In Germany, he works with Kou Murayama, Nicolas Hübner, Steffen Zitzmann, and Martin Hecht, alongside UCI Ph.D. student Siling Guo, to study how psychological traits like motivation and self-control evolve in complex environments. Collaborations with Lisa Bardach, Jessika Golle, Ulrich Trautwein, and Benjamin Nagengast at the University of Tübingen’s Hector Research Institute examine related questions, such as how children’s cognitive abilities become more specialized over time, with contributions from UCI Ph.D. alumnus Robert Kalinowski. Beyond Europe, Bailey and Carolina Maldonado-Carreño of Universidad de los Andes in Colombia — and led by UCI student Juan Camilo Cristancho — study how exposure to community violence affects students’ learning and classroom dynamics. /
“In the absence of international collaborations,” Bailey reflects, "this work in its final form would have been basically impossible."
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These partnerships deepen scientific understanding and prepare UCI’s graduate students to tackle education’s most complex global challenges.
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Strengthening Public Education Worldwide: Research Partnerships Across India, Morocco, and Zambia
Performing research in: India, Morocco, and Zambia Associate Professor Andreas de Barros, a faculty affiliate with Berkeley’s Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) and Invited Researcher at J-PAL, partners with ministries and NGOs to improve public schools in low- and middle-income countries. His work spans India, Morocco, and Zambia, uniting researchers, governments, and local educators to test scalable, evidence-based reforms.
In India, de Barros and his Swedish co-investigator Martina Björkman Nyqvist collaborate with Pratham’s Hamara Gaon (“Our Village”) initiative to strengthen early-grade learning across 17 states and 5,000 communities. In Morocco, he works with the Ministry of National Education to evaluate the country’s flagship Pioneer Schools reforms, improving learning and socio-emotional outcomes. And in Zambia, his partnership with TaRL Africa, VVOB, and the Ministry of Education studies the national scale-up of the Teaching at the Right Level model. Each partnership serves as both a research hub and a mentorship pipeline for international scholars and UCI students, including Aaron Ainsworth, who is studying a teacher evaluation reform in Chile. /
“When we co-create evidence with governments and local educators,” says de Barros, “we’re not just testing theories — we’re building systems that last.”
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Designing for Impact: Strengthening Early Learning and Youth Development Across Borders
Performing research in: Morocco, Mexico, and Spain Assistant Professor Paola Guerrero Rosada bridges continents to improve early learning and youth development — from Morocco’s preschools to youth sports fields across the Americas.
In Morocco, she leads a collaboration with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool, and Sports (MENPS) and the Morocco Innovation and Evaluation Lab (MEL), co-designing a randomized controlled trial (with Andreas de Barros) to test strategies for improving preschool quality. Guerrero Rosada also co-leads the Alianza MX Summit for Youth Development with Gustavo Carlo, Andrés Bustamante, and Lindsey Richland — a coalition uniting UCI with the UANL Tigres Foundation (Mexico), Ricky Martin Foundation (Puerto Rico), and University of Granada (Spain). Their goal is to build a prosocial youth sports model and an AI-powered family engagement tool that connects social–emotional learning, cognitive development, and community well-being. /
“When education research crosses borders, we strengthen both the scientific and societal impacts of our work,” Guerrero Rosada says. “We’re learning from one another — from Morocco to Mexico to California — about how to collaborate at scale to improve the contexts where children can thrive.”
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Reimagining Education for a Climate-Changed World: A Global Handbook for Collective Action
As Chief Editor, worked with contributors from Ghana, New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean. Performing research in Germany. For Stacey Nicholas Endowed Chair of Climate and Environmental Education Aslı Sezen-Barrie, tackling climate change begins with education. As Chief Editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Climate Change Research in Transdisciplinary Education (SpringerNature & Palgrave Macmillan, 2026), co-edited with Dr. Sara Tolbert (Monash University), she leads a worldwide effort to reimagine what learning can look like in a climate-altered world.
Asli Sezen-Barrie (second from right)
Spanning more than 100 contributors across 20 countries, the two-volume handbook features educators in Ghana, Indigenous scholars from Aotearoa New Zealand and Latin America, and youth activists from the Caribbean and the U.S. Together, they explore how schools, museums, and communities can cultivate hope, action, and justice in the face of climate change.
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“Climate change is planetary in scale but felt unevenly,” says Sezen-Barrie. “By weaving together perspectives across continents, we’re building a living network of practices rooted in place yet connected globally."
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In another project, Sezen-Barrie is co-leading TEACH-AI (Teacher Education for AI and Climate Harmony) with the University of Bremen, Germany. The initiative aims to prepare future teachers for the responsible use of AI in climate and environmental education, at a time when interest is rising but many schools still struggle with integration.
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Fostering Prosocial Futures: Building Empathy and Connection Across Cultures
Performing research in: Hong Kong, Costa Rica, Turkey, Spain, Taiwan, and Argentina Across five continents, Professor Gustavo Carlo studies how empathy and kindness develop in young people — and how communities can nurture these traits through education.
In Hong Kong, he and colleagues at the Education University of Hong Kong study how parental “phubbing” (device distraction) affects children’s well-being and how adolescents use the internet for activism and support. In Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, Carlo works with the Ricky Martin Foundation and the National University of Costa Rica on story-based interventions that foster empathy and moral reasoning — programs now expanding to Santa Ana, Mexico, and Spain. He also collaborates with scholars in Turkey on post-disaster resilience and on board game interventions that promote cooperation. He leads a cross-cultural study across Turkey, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, and the U.S. on how parenting styles shape prosocial behavior. /
“Every culture holds its own wisdom about kindness,” says Carlo. “When we study those differences together, we learn how to build a more empathetic world.”
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A Shared Vision for Global Learning
Across continents and disciplines, the UC Irvine School of Education is helping reimagine what it means to teach, learn, and lead in a connected world. Each collaboration — whether in AI, climate change, teacher education, or youth development — expands our collective understanding of how learning takes shape and how it can better serve society.
Under the leadership of Interim Dean Julie Washington, that vision continues to grow. Her recent work advancing neurodiversity awareness across Africa mirrors the same belief that drives our global partnerships: that learning is a shared endeavor, one that flourishes through empathy, equity, and collaboration.
In every classroom, research lab, and community we touch, our mission remains the same — to build a future where education connects rather than divides, and where every learner, everywhere, has the chance to thrive.
Under the leadership of Interim Dean Julie Washington, that vision continues to grow. Her recent work advancing neurodiversity awareness across Africa mirrors the same belief that drives our global partnerships: that learning is a shared endeavor, one that flourishes through empathy, equity, and collaboration.
In every classroom, research lab, and community we touch, our mission remains the same — to build a future where education connects rather than divides, and where every learner, everywhere, has the chance to thrive.
