Dr. Garene Kaloustian is the SEL specialist under QITABI 2, at World Learning Beirut and is currently a TWCF visiting research fellow at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University. She holds a Ph.D. in Child Development from Purdue University. Among the various SEL activities under QITABI 2, Garene is currently working on the development of Lebanon’s national SEL framework and contextualized SEL measurement tools in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) and with Q2 research partner New York University Global TIES.

Garene has been in the field of early childhood education for over 10 years working as a researcher and consultant in both the public and private sector in Lebanon and the region.Prior to joining World Learning, Garene taught at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, for 8 years in ECE in the department of Education; during this time, she re-designed the Early Childhood Education MA program, revived the EC Lab School under the Department of Education with its original mission to serve as both an early childcare and research centre, and established research relations between the School of Arts and Science and Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Health.

Her research interests center around policies in early childhood; teacher quality of care, classroom environment, and children’s social and emotional development; exploring the diverse, unique, and fragile conflict-laden context to better understand the cultural nuances that prevail in schools and how those impact children’s social environment and development.