Professor Chrissi Nerantzi

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds in September 2022 as an Associate Professor in Education, following a varied and international career that spans roles as a computer programmer in the Hellenic Navy, a teacher of modern foreign languages, a translator, a teacher educator in Adult, Community and Further Education, and an academic developer in Higher Education across Greece, Germany and the UK.

Since September 2023, I have been Professor in Creative and Open Education and lead the Imaginative Curriculum Centre (ICC) for Research and Scholarship, a role that continues to inspire and energise my work.

Before joining Leeds, I worked at Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Salford and the University of Sunderland, where I led initiatives in creative and innovative learning and teaching, and teaching excellence. My first experience in higher education was at Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz in Germany, where I taught translation and German language in 1996 to 1997.

Throughout my career, I have co-created and openly shared a wide range of open educational resources and have initiated, with collaborators, cross-institutional professional development opportunities. These provide alternative, inclusive spaces for collaboration and growth among academics, students, professionals who support learning, and the wider public.

Examples include the monthly Teaching and Learning Conversations (TLC) webinars (since 2011), the open courses Flexible, Distance and Online Learning (FDOL) (2013 to 2014) and Flexible, Open and Social Learning (FOS) (since 2015), the weekly Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (#LTHEchat) tweetchat (since 2014), and the open course and global community Creativity for Learning (#creativeHE) (since 2015).

My teaching is characterised by ongoing experimentation with creative and open approaches. This is closely connected to my scholarship and research, where I develop and explore empirical and conceptual pedagogical models and frameworks.

Examples include:

• The FISh model for Problem-Based Learning (Nerantzi & Uhlin, 2012)
• The 5Cs framework (Connecting, Curating, Communicating, Collaborating, Creating) for social learning (Nerantzi & Beckingham, 2014; Nerantzi & Beckingham, 2015)
• The Playground model (Nerantzi, 2015; dx.doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.4.907" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nerantzi, 2019)
• The cross-boundary collaborative learning framework (Nerantzi, 2017; Nerantzi, 2019)
• Drivers of pedagogic innovation (Nerantzi & Thomas, 2019)
• A community recipe (Nerantzi, 2021)

More recent and current activities and outputs can be found via the ICC.

I am passionate about supporting colleagues and students to embrace creative, playful and open approaches to learning and development. Storytelling, picture books, and learning through making, objects and play are areas particularly close to my heart, and these often inform both my teaching and research.

My work has been recognised nationally and internationally. I am a National Teaching Fellow (2015) and was awarded the ALT Learning Technologist of the Year (2017). Further recognitions include the Global OER Graduate Network Award for Best Open Research Practice (2018) and a GO-GN Fellowship (2020). In 2021, the open collaborative picture book project I led received the OEGlobal Open Innovation Award, and in 2022 the #creativeHE community received a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence from Advance HE. In 2023, I received the OER Champions Award by the National Teaching Repository. In 2024, the project “101 creative ideas to use AI in Education” received the Global Open Curation/Repository Award by OE Global.

I am a lifewide-lifelong learner and hold a range of academic qualifications. I am currently studying towards the Executive Leadership Apprenticeship at Leeds University Business School.

Outside work, I enjoy crafting, writing picture books and experimenting with illustration. These creative practices often find their way into my educational and scholarly work.

Responsibilities

• Director, Imaginative Curriculum Centre for Research and Scholarship
• Senior Lead, Knowledge Equity Network

Research interests

My research interests focus on creativity, imaginative curriculum design, playfulness, openness, storytelling and picturebooks, collaborative learning, and the creative use of generative AI in education. I warmly welcome PhD applications in these areas.

I am a GO-GN alumna and have, over many years, collaborated with educators and students on a wide range of research projects and scholarly activities. As an open scholar, my work is recognised both nationally and internationally. I regularly contribute to conferences, events and institutional initiatives through talks, presentations and workshops, and collaborate across disciplines and institutions to co-create research that is shared widely.

The book The Power of Play in Higher Education, co-edited with Professor Alison James, was the first of its kind when published. It brings together 44 contributions from practitioners across disciplines internationally, exploring playful learning in higher education.

My doctoral research used phenomenography to explore variations in the lived experiences of open learners engaged in collaborative, cross-institutional professional development. This work generated new insights into the nature and patterns of collaborative learning and led to the development of an empirical design framework for cross-boundary collaborative open learning. I particularly welcome postgraduate researchers interested in phenomenographic approaches.

Qualifications

• PhD in Open cross-boundary collaborative learning, Edinburgh Napier University
• MSc in Blended and Online Education, Edinburgh Napier University
• MA in Coaching and Mentoring in Education, Manchester Metropolitan Universisty
• MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University of Sunderland
• MA in Creative Writing Innovation and Experimentation, University of Salford

Professional memberships

• Principal Fellow of HEA (PFHEA)
• National Teaching Fellow (NTF)
• Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE)
• Accredited LEGO(R) SERIOUS PLAY(R) Facilitator

Student education

2026/27

EDUC5272M Education in a Digital Society (redesign), module leader;
EDUC5270M Dissertation in Digital Education, supervisor;
EDUC5430M Dissertation. supervisor;
EDUC5020C Creativity and Play for learning, module tutor;
EDUC5271M Digital Education Research, module leader;
EDUC5265M Digital Education in Practice, module leader;
EDU5091M Artificial Intelligence and Education, module leader;

Current postgraduate researchers

• Muhammad Zulfadhli Kamarudin
• Mark Grattan