Juliene Madureira Ferreira

Juliene Madureira Ferreira works as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education and Culture at Tampere University, and currently leads the subgroup Child Development and Diverse Needs in Early Years in the ECEPP research group. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology (Developmental Psychology) from São Paulo University in 2017 and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Tampere at the end of 2018, followed by a two-year postdoctoral fellowship also at Tampere University. Before arriving at TAU, she worked as a teacher and educational psychologist at the Department of Educational Psychology of the Teacher Training School of the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil (2010-2017). Juliene Ferreira coordinated the administrative, academic, and research activities in areas of Early Childhood Education and the First years of Elementary Education (2012-2015), as well as one of the Programs for Teacher Education in Special Education in the National Network for Teacher Education in Inclusive Education, organized by the Ministry of Education in Brazil (2009-2014). 

In her research, Juliene has investigated students’ sociability in challenging social interactions/contexts (e.g., when group members have significantly different developmental paths or when groups discuss complex problem-solving strategies), analyzing how the diverse ways to establish intersubjectivity influence/impact peer learning. She has been equally interested in improving teachers’ training, facilitating their learning to become more aware and equipped to support social interactions and collaborative learning in these challenging situations.  

My research spans different topics in educational psychology. More recently, I have focused on the applications of embodied cognition theories (5E cognition) in the learning sciences, examining, for example, the implications of the embodied shift in autism studies. My research interests vary across the following: 

• Learning and development in formal education, 
• Embodied learning, 
• Intersubjectivity (social cognition) in learning, 
• Materiality in learning
• Inclusive and special education,  
• Autism research (focus on communication and learning processes)  

Educational Psychology

Ferreira J. M. & Muniz, L. S. (2024). Material Engagement Shaping Participation of Children on the Autism Spectrum: Embodiment and Subjectivity in Small-Group Learning. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 20(2), 143–164, https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.13307 

Alessandroni, N., & Ferreira, J. M. (2024). Materiality and Cognitive Development: Contemporary Debates and Empirical Studies in Early Childhood. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 20(2), 79–83, https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.14433 

Ferreira, J. M., (2023). An embodied view on collaboration in early childhood education: combining microanalysis and introspective analysis of experiences to understand meaning-making between children with and without intellectual disabilities.Human Arenas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-023-00380-4

Ferreira, J. M. (2021). What If We Look at the Body? An Embodied Perspective of Collaborative Learning. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09607-8

Ferreira, J. M., & Bottema-Beutel, K. (2023). The interactional structure of accounts during small group discussions among autistic children receiving special education support in Finland. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-05916-9

Ferreira, J. M., & Midgette, A. J. (2023). Learning and Teaching Care within the Family: Experiential learning reflecting informal teaching. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075231211359