Vishalache Balakrishnan

Biography

Started primary school in St Bernadette's Convent, Batu Gajah, Perak. Went on to secondary school in SMK Convent, Batu Gajah, Perak. Completed Form Six in SMK Sultan Yussuf, Batu Gajah, Perak. Started working career as a college trained secondary school teacher after attending professional training at Lembah Pantai Teachers' Training College and Ilmu Khas Teacher's Training College. Completed one year speacialist course in Ilmu Khas Teacher's Training College in 1995. Completed Degree in TESL, minor Moral Education followed by Masters in Education, majoring in Moral Education in University of Malaya. Completed PhD in Education in Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Strongly passionate about helping teachers to upgrade themselves in the teaching profession through training, research and publication in this area. Started a new chapter in academic life as a post doctoral scholar at The University of Waikato from 1 December 2014 until 31 December 2016. Will be working closely with Associate Professor Dr Lise Claiborne in international comparative research on inclusive education and how educators world wide are prepared in the 21st century to work towards inclusive education. Currently working on book chapters on spiritual and personality development in a multicultural Malaysia. In 2015 after the AME Conference in Santos, Brazil, Visha has been elected as the Elected EXCO for the next two years. It is an honour to be the first Malaysian to be in the AME EXCO which comprises mostly renounced academics from Europe and North America.

Research Interest

Early Childhood Development in Understanding Stories On Values (Multicultural Universal values) Tertiary Education (Ethnic Relationship) Religious Issues (Social justice, Minority right, Peace and Harmony) Inclusive Education (Ethics in inclusion, Social Justice) Developmental Psychology (Disability, Diversity, Inclusive Education) Moral(Akhlaq) (Social morality) Cultural History (Ethnic relation) Humanities, (Lessons from the past, holistic education) Ethics and Moral Education (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) Teacher Education (Curriculum Pedagogy Assessment) Multiculturalism in Schools:Theory and Practise (Multiculturalism, Interculturalism and Education) Interfaith Studies (Multiculturalism, Interculturalism and Education) Moral and Religion (Values in religion) Ethics and Moral Education (Multiculturalism, civics, pluralism) Values Education (Religion, Pluralistic society, Social service) Curriculum Development (Moral Education, Civic and Citizenship Education, Adolescent Development, Teaching and Learning Strategies).