PROFIL PRACOWNIKA: Joanna Leek

About me in Scopus www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri

Academic Profile 

Education

• 2014 – PhD in Social Sciences (Education), University of Lodz, Poland
• 2003 – Postgraduate Studies: "German and European Law", Faculty of Law, University of Warsaw, Poland
• 2000 – MA in Modern Languages (Teaching German as a Second Language), University of Lodz, Poland

Current and Previous Positions

• 2008 – present – Assistant Professor, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Lodz, Poland
• 2004-2006 – Research Assistant, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Vienna, Austria

Memberships of Scientific Societies

• World Education Research Association (WERA)
• European Educational Research Association (EERA) (Working Group NW19: Ethnography)
• Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) (Globalization and Education SIG)
• International Network for Early Career Scholars in Global Education Policy (INECS)
• European University Foundation (EUF) – Project management and advisory community
• Research group Children’s Rights within Child Friendly Cities (European University of Cities in Post-Industrial Transition – UNIC Alliance)

Selected Research Fellowships

• 2024 (2 months) – Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute for Educational Sciences, Germany
• 2022 (2 months) – University of Vienna, Center for Teacher Education, Austria

Main Research Areas

• International education programs and their role in social change
• Education in the context of migration and globalization
• Educational policy and internationalization of higher education
• Children's rights and education in child-friendly cities

Research Interests
Comparative Pedagogy – comparing different educational systems, with a particular focus on the context of international schools and the International Baccalaureate (IB) model; teacher professional development systems; analysis of interdisciplinary mechanisms of teacher training and continuing education.

Analysis of Educational Systems – examining differences and similarities between the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and the Polish national education system, with a special emphasis on the impact of educational policy on school practices.

International Education – international education programs, the International Baccalaureate, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

School Pedagogy – theories of educational curricula, the hidden curriculum in schools; immigrant education.

Educational Policy – evaluating the impact of Poland’s centrally controlled educational policy on the autonomy of teachers and students, and comparing it with more open, international models such as the IB.

Selected publications 2019-2025

• Leek, J., Rojek, M., & Szulewicz, E. (2024). International schools for LGBTQ+ youth: A comparative case study of the educational function of international schools in Poland . In A. W. Wiseman (Ed.), Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2023 (Vol. 48, pp. 251–272). Emerald Publishing Limited. doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920240000048014
• Leek, J., Rojek, M., Dobińska, G., & Kosiorek, M. (2024). Navigating the power of time in classroom practices: teachers’ and students’ perspectives. Educational Review, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2024.2438878
  
• Leek, J., Sliwerski, B. (2024). How international curriculum effectively challenge and counteract the negative effects of authoritarian education policies: a case of Poland. Curriculum Perspectives
• Leek, J. (2022). International Baccalaureate schools as islands of educational resistance in East-Central European region. A case study of Poland. Globalisation, Societies, Education.
• Leek, J.; Rojek, M. (2021). Functions of digital learning within the international mobility programme – perspectives of university students and staff from Europe, Education and Information Technologies
  
• Leek, J.; Rojek, M. (2021). ICT tools in breaking down social polarization and supporting intergenerational learning: cases of youth and seniors citizens. Interactive Learning Environments
• Leek, J. (2020). From educational experiment to the national programme. International Baccalaureate Programmes in Poland - policy and practice perspectives. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education

• Leek, J. (2020). The role of ICT in intergenerational learning between immigrant youth and non-related older adults: experiences from Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

• Leek, J. (2020). Homo Sovieticus in policy versus teacher leadership in Polish international baccalaureate practices. International Journal of Leadership in Education

• Rojek, M., Leek, J. Svoboda,, P. (2020). Exploring the virtual world of learning across generations. Information and communication technology for the educational support of immigrant youth. Lodz-Cracow: University of Lodz Press-Jagiellonian University Press

• Leek, J. (2019). Decentralization policies concerning leadership of parents and students in school councils in Poland. From autocracy to democracy within the state monopoly. International Journal of Leadership in Education, published July 2019, online first.

• Rojek, M., Leek, J. (2019). Intergenerational learning in the virtual world. Case of the European community-based educational project. The New Educational Review, 53, 2019, s. 88-100.

• Leek, J. (2019). Teachers perceptions about supporting youth participation in schools: Experiences from schools England, Italy and Lithuania. Improving Schools, 22 (2), 173-190.

• Leek, J., & Rojek, M. (2019). ‘ICT Guides’ project as an example of educational support of young immigrants through intergenerational learning and ICT tools. In E. Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, H. J. Abs, & P. Müller (Eds.), Thematic papers based on the Conference “Migration, Social Transformation, and Education for Democratic Citizenship” (pp. 87-106). University of Duisburg-Essen: DuEPublico. doi: 10.17185/duepublico/47639.