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Dr Betzabé Torres Olave

Dr Betzabé Torres Olave

  • Position: Research Fellow in Science Education
  • Areas of expertise: science education, critical pedagogies, science educators' praxis, Freirean philosophy, qualitative social research
  • Email: B.TorresOlave@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 1.06 Hillary Place
  • Website: Googlescholar | Researchgate | ORCID

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds as Research Fellow in science education in September 2022. Before that, I worked as a research assistant and associate teacher at the University of Bristol, where I also did my PhD in Education with a focus on science teachers’ agency in the context of educators’ communities.

Before coming to the UK, I worked as a physics teacher educator and physics lecturer at the faculty of science in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and as a secondary physics teacher in a state school.

Research interests

My research interests are centred around educators' agency, collective praxis, and justice-oriented pedagogies in the context of science education. My research critically debates how neoliberal agendas have shaped science education, looking for counternarratives to such a project in educators' daily practices through the concepts of transformative agency and critical imagination. 

Philosophically, I am interested in Paulo Freire's philosophy of education and feminist philosophies of science. I am also interested in qualitative methodologies, physics education research, and inter and transdisciplinary praxis.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • PhD Education University of Bristol
  • MRes Educational Research University of Bristol
  • MA Philosophy of Science Universidad de Santiago de Chile
  • Bsc Pedagogy in Physics Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso

Professional memberships

  • European Science Education Research Association ESERA
  • British Association for International and Comparative Education BAICE
  • Science Educators for Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice SEEDS
  • Sociedad Chilena de Educación Científica SChEC