Charikleia Kanari

Charikleia (Chara) Kanari is Assistant Professor of Museum Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Early Childhood Education. She holds two Bachelors in Museum Education and Special Education as well as a M.Ed. in "Modern Learning Environments and Didactic Material Development" from the University of Thessaly. She received her PhD in Museum Education and Special Education from the University of Thessaly with scholarship from the European PhD Scholarship Programme “Heraclitus II” (NSRF, Co-financed by the EU and Greece). The title of her PhD is “Museums and individuals with visual disability: Issues of access and education in museums for children with visual disability”.
Her research interests include issues of museum education, the educational and social role and responsibility of museums, the role of cultural heritage in the education, the conjunction of museum education, informal and nonformal learning with formal education, the Universal Design for Learning, accessibility and inclusion of children with diverse characteristics, with and without disabilities in culture and arts.
She has taught in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in different universities (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, University of Western Macedonia, Hellenic Open University, University of Nicosia), courses with regards to museum education, schools and nonformal/informal education and learning, culture, accessibility and disability, creative arts, inclusive education, differentiated instruction and teaching practice. She has also been invited as a lecturer to different university departments (Department of Fine and Applied Arts-University of Western Macedonia, Department of Early Childhood Care and Education - International Hellenic University, Department of Special Education, Department of Primary Education, Department of Early Childhood Education - University of Thessaly) for lectures with regards to museums, disability and accessibility, Universal Design for Learning in museums and schools, collaborative practices between informal/non formal and formal educational settings, inclusion, arts, museums and disability and early intervention.
She has collaborated with many organizations of Culture and Education (e.g., Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, ICEVI-Europe, Μuseums and Μuseum Νetworks, Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education, Schools, Centers of Environmental Education) for the design of educational programs in museums, the development of differentiated, accessible and inclusive museum educational programs and material for children and adults with and without disabilities, in-service training courses for museum professionals in accessibility issues and in-service training courses for teachers in Museum Education.
She has also worked as special education teacher in different educational settings in Primary Education. She has collaborated as expert in Special Education with the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs of Greece for the development of training material for in-service teachers’ training in Differentiated Instruction at national level (2020). She has participated in a number of national and European research projects for the access and inclusion of students with disabilities in cultural nonformal learning environments (e.g. museums) and in formal education. She has participated in many national and international conferences and she has published papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals, chapters in books and conference proceedings. She is President of the Association of Museum Educators in Greece and Member of the Balkan Museum Network.