Petros Pashiardis
MY BACKGROUND:
I am a Professor of Educational Leadership at the Open University of Cyprus. During 2004-2008, I was President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management. Then, during 2013-14 I was Visiting Professor at the Centre for Principal Development, Umeå University, Sweden. In 2008 I co-edited the International Handbook on the Preparation and Development of School Leaders, published by Routledge. In 2014 my book, Modeling School Leadership Across Europe: In Search of New Frontiers, was published by Springer. My research interests are in leadership effects on student achievement and leadership development, as well as teacher and school principal evaluation.
WHY AM I INTERESTED IN RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION:
Responsible Research and Innovation always takes the world forward. In my field of Educational Leadership and Policy, such kind of research is in the forefront to help us develop better and more responsible educational and school leaders for the improvement of our schools, teaching and learning, and, consequently, society at large. In any case, this has been the way forward for societies through the ancient times and it will continue being so. Thus, as long as researchers are acting responsibly, the world has nothing to fear with the research and innovation developments in every area of human activity and interaction.
WHAT DO I HOPE TO LEARN / CONTRIBUTE AS COUNTRY CORRESPONDENT:
As stated on the SUPER MoRRI webpage, “Responsible research and innovation (RRI) policies aim to support processes of transformation of the R&I system through better alignment with societal values, needs and concerns, and by encouraging societal actors to work together during the whole research and innovation cycle.” Based on this aim, as country correspondent for Cyprus, I will try to find out more about how we can make this happen, so that people in general (not just researchers) can see the beauty of research and how it can assist humanity go a step further towards a better and more evidence-informed world. I hope that through my participation in this project I will make my colleagues aware of the importance of the quality of schooling and school improvement issues, such as the impact of educational leaders on students’ academic and affective results and, at the same time, become aware of what is important for them, so that we can better aligning the various research and cognitive areas with the needs and concerns of societies at large. As we know by now, research and innovation results can be used and abused. Let us try to learn how to use them wisely.