Profile
Nahla Mahmoud Gahwaji is a professor of early childhood education, specializing in total quality evaluation in kindergarten, working in the Department of Early Childhood, she is now the dean of the faculty of Human Sciences and Designs, and she was previously assigned as the former Vice Dean of Quality and Academic Accreditation, the former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences and Design for Development, and the former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Home Economics.
Prof. Nahla is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development, President of the House of Expertise for Consultations and Studies in Early Childhood, winner of the Scientific Research Citation Award and the Best Supervisor Award for Humanities at King Abdulaziz University for the year 2019, and a recipient of the Medal of Excellence in Social Responsibility from His Excellency the President of King Abdulaziz University. She published the ECERS Quality Scale and the Infant and Toddlers Environment Rating Scale (ITERS).
She supervised many master's and doctoral theses in addition to examining dissertations, always participates in international conferences and forums, is a consultant to many educational bodies, and heads many development projects for governmental and international agencies and bodies such as the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom and the Sharjah Education Council, in addition to being a member and arbitrator in many international, regional and local scientific journals, a certified trainer at the local and regional levels, a reviewer at the Education and Training Evaluation Commission ETEC, and an auditor in the European Excellence System Institutional EFQM, and examiner in the CDA system Professional Recognition Council for Teachers.
Education
- 1988
Bachelor degree from Home EconomicsFaculty oF Science, Merdith College, Raleigh USA, امــريــكـا
- 1990
Master degree from Business AdminstrationSchool of Business, Merdith College, Raleigh USA, امــريــكـا
- 2006
Doctorate degree from Early ChildhoodEducation and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter, Exeter UK, بريطانيا
Employment
- 1994-2006
Lecturer, Home Economics, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
- 2009-2009
Head of Childhood Studies Dept., Home Economics, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
- 2009-2014
Vice Dean of Home Economics, Home Economics, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
- 2014-2016
Vice Dean of development - Faculty of Home Economics, Faculty of Home Economics, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
- 2018-2022
Vice Dean of Quality and academic accrediation, Deanship of Quality and Academic Accrediation , جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
- 2020-2022
Vice dean of Development - Faculty of Human Sciences and design, Faculty of Human sciences and design , جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
- 2022-حاليا
Dean of Faculty of Human Sciences and Design, , جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية
Research Interests
· “Preschool Children’s Drawings: A Reflection on Children’s Needs within the Learning Environment Post COVID-19 Pandemic School Closure”, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Vol. 36 No. 2 2022
· “Evaluating Children’s websites in Arabic languages”, Review of European Studies, Vol. 12 No. 1, 2020
· "The Implementation of The Epstein’s Model as A Partnership Framework at Saudi Kindergartens” ، The Journal of College Teaching & Learning, Vol.13 No.3, March 2020
· “Quality of Saudi Nurseries: Application of the Translated Infants and Toddlers Evaluation Rating Scale –Third Edition (ITERS-3)”, London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 19, No. 7, 2019
· “Practices of Participative Leadership in Relation to Professional Competency of Principals at Saudi Kindergartens”, Social Science and Humanities journal, Vol. 3 No. 9, September 2019
· “Early Childhood Curriculum Reform in Saudi Arabia, Conceptualization of theories in early childhood curricula: Three models”, Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, Vol.8 No.3, August 2019
· “Designing an interactive program in Arabic for preschool children using Q-mold program”, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, Vol. 9 issue. 1, 2018
· The Effects of Two Different Instructional Programmes on Literacy Skills of Kindergarten Children”, the Journal of International Education Research, Vol. 12, Number 1, Jan.2016.
· "Controversial and Challenging Concerns Regarding Status of Saudi Preschool Teachers", Contemporary Issues in Education Research, Oct. 2013.
· "The Role of the iPad Device in the hands of the Learner", special issue (Innovative Instructional Technologies of the Journal of Universal Computer Science, Nov. 2013.
· The Effects of Interactive Teaching Programs on Preschool Children's Literacy Skills: Case Study, the Journal of International Educational Research, Vol. 7 (213-228), 2011.
Scientific interests
Quality Assessment and evaluation
Educational Leadership
collaboration and partnership with families
Assessment and evaluation
Children's identity
Curriculum development and design
Utilization of ICT in education
Areas of expertise
| • Lead Expert at Saudi Alliance for Development of Education & Training (SAFEA) empowered by Wadi Jeddah Company/King Abdulaziz University. |
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| • Director of Expertise House for Childhood Studies Research and Consultations, 2019 to present. |
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| • Member of the Board of Trustees of Arab Council for Childhood and Development (ACCD), 2013 to date. |
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| • Consultant at Tatweer Education Services Company empowered by Ministry of Education. |
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| •Academic Consultant for Prince Noura bint Abdulrahman University. |
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| Consultant - Dar Alhekma university - Master of Educational Leadership |
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| • Head of the development research team entitled "Entry and Exit Security Systems in Early Childhood Schools" – Tatweer Company for School Buildings – 2021 |
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