Open to the public
Reading is often taken for granted as a basic skill, yet it is a remarkable achievement shaped by the interplay of mind, brain, and environment. Dr Pavlidou’s talk uses reading as a ‘case study’ to explore how psychology, neuroscience, and education converge to explain how we learn to read—and why some learners, including those with dyslexia, experience it differently. Moving beyond a single-discipline perspective, the session will highlight how insights from these fields inform more inclusive and flexible approaches to literacy. It will also introduce the idea of future literacies: evolving practices that recognise diverse cognitive profiles and embrace multiple ways of engaging with text. By bridging research and real-world application, both specialists and non-specialists are invited to reconsider what it means to be “literate” in contemporary societies that value accessibility, diversity, and innovation in learning.
Dr Elpis Pavlidou is an Associate Professor of Psychology in Education at the University of York (UoY), a member of the Psychology in Education Research Centre (PERC) and Director of the ‘Reading A.R.C’ lab. She is also affiliated with the University of Edinburgh (her alma mater), Yale University (Haskins Laboratories, where she completed her postdoctoral research), and the Rudolf Berlin Centre in the Netherlands.
Her research focuses on the science of reading and dyslexia, examining both cognitive (e.g. implicit/statistical learning) and socio-emotional factors (e.g. resilience, academic self-concept, and stress). She is particularly interested in understanding risk and protective factors associated with reading difficulties, at both the individual level and within family contexts, and how these contribute to positive or negative outcomes. Her work has been published in various international academic journals.
Dr Pavlidou regularly supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students and serves as a reviewer for international journals and grant funding bodies. She is also Deputy Chair of the Ethics Committee in her department (Education). In addition, she acts as the academic advisor for the PGCE (teacher training course) Mentoring Scheme, supporting beginning teachers, particularly those with a diagnosis of dyslexia, by providing guidance on effective support strategies in the workplace. Finally, she has recently formed a partnership with Redpen AI (a UK Government, Department for Education contract holder) for the development of an AI-integrated early identification tool for dyslexia and dysgraphia.
