Rate My Professor Somayeh Ba Akhlagh

Dr Somayeh Ba Akhlagh serves as Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at the University of New England, part of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education. She joined the university in 2020, following roles teaching early childhood courses and educational psychology at various institutions in Australia and overseas, as well as practical experience as an early childhood educator in Sydney and Iran. Her robust academic background includes a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Newcastle, Master of Teaching from the University of Sydney, Master of Psychology and Education of Children with Special Needs from the University of Tehran, Bachelor of Psychology and Education of Children with Special Needs from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment from Newcastle TAFE, and diplomas and certificates in children’s services from Randwick TAFE, Sydney.

Ba Akhlagh's research focuses on the history of early childhood education, comparative education, teacher education, inclusive education, and educational psychology. Notable publications comprise Ba Akhlagh et al. (2026) "Professional Development to Inspire, Support, and Extend STEM-Related Learning" in Behavioral Sciences; Ba Akhlagh et al. (2026) "Voices of resilience: narratives of immigrant academic women advocating for diversity and empowerment" in Journal of Organizational Ethnography; Veliz, Zhang, & Ba Akhlagh (2025) "Early Childhood Educators’ Pedagogical Knowledge for Effective Practice in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Contexts" in Early Childhood Education Journal; and Ba Akhlagh & Leggett (2024) "A comparative analysis of creativity: Australian and Iranian early childhood national policy frameworks" in International Journal of Early Years in Education. She has earned recognition including Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2024), Early Childhood Australia NSW Conference Travel Scholarship (2025), University of New England School Citation for Education Excellence (2022), and several student satisfaction awards. Additionally, she has obtained competitive grants such as the $60,336 DFAT-CAAR Australian-Saudi STEM gender equity initiative (2024) and AARE SIG grant (2025), and leads projects supporting refugees, cultural responsiveness, and plurilingual practices in early childhood settings. Ba Akhlagh teaches units in early childhood education history, theory, practice, policy, educational psychology, inclusive education, and curriculum; she also co-supervises master’s and PhD students in related areas and participates in Australian Association for Research in Education committees.