Eloff

Prof. Dr. Irma Eloff

Adjunct professor

Institut für LehrerInnenbildung und Schulforschung
Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck
Agnes Heller Haus, A-6020 Innsbruck

Irma Eloff is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria and an adjunct professor at the University of Innsbruck. She is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and a founding member of the South African Positive Psychology Association (SAPPA). She is the immediate-past Chairperson of the Council of 'Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns' and was the second woman in the 110 years of its existence to fill this position.

In 2012 she was chosen amongst the top three Most Influential Women in Business and Government in South Africa in the Education category. She is a former dean of Education at the University of Pretoria. She was the seventh dean and the first woman to hold the position. She is the founder of the African Deans of Education Forum (ADEF) which is a focal point of the UNESCO International Teacher Task Force and currently the Chair of the Global Network of Deans of Education (GNDE), which works to support Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality education. Irma is an NRF-rated researcher and a registered psychologist.

She is editor of the books 'Understanding Educational Psychology', ‘Insigte uit Opvoedkundige Sielkunde’, 'Keys to Educational Psychology' and the 'Handbook of Quality of Life in African Societies' (Springer). She is the co-author of the book 'Life Skills & Assets'.

She has held visiting professorships at Yale University, Rhodes University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, CPUT Wellington, Bathspa University UK and Fordham University in New York. In 2018 she was awarded a Förderkreis 1669 Wissenschafft Gesellschaft professorship at the Universität Innsbruck.

Irma is an alumnus of the Universities of Pretoria, Stellenbosch, Northwest and the GIBS Business School.

Her research focuses primarily on Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4 (Good health and wellbeing; and Quality education).

Recent publications:

Wagner, J., Szelei, N., Eloff, I and Acquah, E. 2024. Together or separate? Tracing classroom pedagogies of (un) belonging for newcomer migrant pupils in two Austrian schools. Frontiers in Education, 9:1301415 (online)
Boon, W. & Eloff, I. 2023. Using vignettes to understand the social-emotional experiences of three-year-olds in diverse language contexts. Journal of Education, (93), pp.43-63.
Eloff, I. 2023. Language(s) in education: An auto-ethnography of meaningful language moments across a lifetime. DiSlaw – Didaktik slawischer Sprachen, Special issue 2023, pp. 229-243.
Mühlmann, N., Eloff, I. & Dittrich, A. 2023. Teacher Well-Being Studie: Lehrerwohlbefinden von Tiroler Sekundarlehrer*innen in Zeiten der Covid-19 Pandemie. Pädagogische Hochschule Tirol Transfer journal. 221-225. [English title: Teachers‘ Well-Being Study: Well-being of Tyrolean secondary school teachers in times of the Covid-19 pandemic].
Books:
Agostini, E., Schratz, M. & Eloff, I. 2024. Vignette Research. Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic.
Will, L., Stadler, W. & Eloff, I. (Editors). 2022. Authenticity across Languages and Cultures – Themes of Identity in Foreign Language Teaching & Learning. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Selected publications:

Leask, M., Eloff, I., Eng, L.S., Fazlagic, J. & Jumani, N. B. 2023. Leadership, mentoring and paying forward. In: Leask, M. (Ed). Pathways to professorship. London: Routledge.
Eloff, I., Agostini, E., Dittrich, A., & Mathabathe, K. 2023. Vignettes of Equality, Wellbeing and Teaching. In: Mayer, C. H., Vanderheiden, E., Braun-Lewensohn, O., Chen, G., Sueda, K., Mangolothi, B., Safdar, S. & Kim, S. (Eds). Women’s Empowerment for a Sustainable Future World: Transcultural and Positive Psychology Perspectives. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
McCall, D., Eloff, I., O’Meara, J.G. 2023. The Global Agenda for Quality Education: the critical role of Faculties of Education. In: Villanueva, S.A. & Huber, T. (Eds). Global Citizenship Education at TAMIU: Elevating Education at the Frontera. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Eloff, I. & Du Plessis, A.B. 2023. Situational Support to Develop the Well-being of future teachers – supporting Sustainable Development Goal 4. In Madalinska-Michalak, J. (Ed.), Quality in Teaching and Teacher Education: International Perspectives from a Changing World (pp.166-179). Leiden: Brill Publishers. 166-179.
Symeonidis, V. & Eloff, I. 2023. Addressing teacher shortages to achieve inclusive and equitable education for all: Policies and strategies for the supply-and-demand of qualified teachers. In: Hummel, S., Assinger, P., Bauer, C., Brudermann, T., Jany, A., Jury, M., Rauter, R., & Van Poppel, M. (Eds). Sustainable Development Goals Series, Shaping Tomorrow Today – SDGs from multiple perspectives. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Eloff, I. & McGee-Hewitt, R.M. 2023. Leading from the center: Leadership wellbeing and team effectiveness in education agencies. In: Carpenter, B.W., Mahfouz, J. & Robinson, K. (Eds). Supporting leaders for school improvement through self-care and wellbeing. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Eloff, I., O’Neil, S., & Kanengoni, H. 2022. Factors contributing to student wellbeing: student perspectives. In: Schutte, L., Guse, T. & Wissing, M.P. Embracing well-being in diverse African contexts: Research perspectives. New York: Springer

Selected Keynote Addresses & Invited Lectures

Eloff, I. Teaching sustainability: the critical role of education in creating prosperity, peace and partnerships for people and the planet. The World Education Research Association Conference - in partnership with the Educational Research Association of Singapore (ERAS), Singapore 24 November 2023. Keynote address.
Eloff, I. What promotes student well-being in difficult times? The International Summer School in Positive Psychology, Università di Bologna (online), 12 September 2023. Invited address.
Eloff, I. Vignettes of Sustainability: The Role of Teacher Educators in Supporting Agenda2030. Education Association of South Africa. 8-11 January 2023, Cape town. Keynote address.
Eloff, I. Transnational perspectives on vignette research. International Symposium on “Professionalisierung von (angehenden) Pädagog*innen und pädagogischen Führungskräften durch Lernforschung mit Vignetten” at the Pädagogische Hochschule Wien, 21 October 2022. Invited address.
Eloff, I. Positive Psychology and education. School of Health Sciences, North-West University, 22 September 2022. Invited guest lecture.
Eloff, I. Connecting, innovating, thriving: Wellbeing in Globally Mobile Student Populations. Families in Global Transition conference. 24 March 2022. Invited address.