Arş. Gör. Dr. ZELİHA DEMİRCİ ÜNAL

I am a Research and Teaching Assistant in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Türkiye and an Honorary Research Associate at the Institute of Education within the School of Environment, Education and Development at the University of Manchester, UK.

I completed my undergraduate studies in Early Childhood Education at METU in 2017, alongside a minor in Sociology. After graduation, I worked as a preschool teacher in Ankara/Türkiye. This practical experience continues to inform my academic work, as I always aim to connect research with the everyday, lived experiences of children, teachers and parents in the context of early childhood education. 

I subsequently earned my MA in 2022 and completed my PhD in 2026 in the same department at METU. Funded by METU’s Scientific Research Projects (BAP) programme, my doctoral research focused on the lived agency of Syrian and Turkish children in multicultural early childhood settings using an ethnographic design to explore how they experience and negotiate social, cultural and linguistic agency through participation during play in their peer culture.

During my doctoral studies, I further broadened my academic experience through international research visits, as a Visiting Researcher at Queen Margaret University (Scotland, UK) and Staffordshire University (England, UK). These experiences contributed to my growing interest in international and comparative education.

Throughout my time at METU, I have assisted with undergraduate and postgraduate courses, gaining experience in teaching, assessment, and student mentoring. These experiences have strengthened my interest in higher education pedagogy and in supporting students throughout their academic journeys. 

• Sociology of childhood and children's rights: children’s agency and participation
• Pedagogical practices in multicultural early childhood education
• Play, alternative programs and learning environments,
• Comparative and international education (Türkiye and England)

I am primarily interested in qualitative research methodologies; I mainly use ethnographic and participatory research approaches in my research with children, I also use interpretive phenomenology and case study designs.