Maria Birbili is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She holds a DPhil in Educational Studies (emphasis on Higher Education) and an MSc in Educational Research Methodology from University of Oxford, UK. She also has a Master’s degree and a BA in Early Childhood Education from USA (Boston College) and Greece respectively. She has taught at different levels and in a variety of contexts in Greece and England. She is the author of a book on the pedagogy of dialogue (in Greek) and has published in international peer-reviewed academic journals and handbooks like Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, Early Childhood Education Journal, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, British Journal of Educational Studies and the International Encyclopedia of Education (4th Edition). She has also co-authored chapters in books on early childhood education and educational methodology both in Greece and abroad, and is the co-editor of a special issue on interest as a learning phenomenon in Learning Culture and Social Interaction. She is currently a member of the scientific committee of the Daycare Center and Nursery School of Aristotle University, while in the past she has been the scientific coordinator of Aristotle University’s Laboratory kindergartens. Her current research and teaching interests include curriculum development, teacher professional learning, assessment in education, dialogic pedagogy, and concept-based teaching.