Rate My Professor Tunde Szecsi

Tunde Szecsi is a Professor and Program Coordinator for Elementary Education in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, College of Education, at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she has served since 2003. Initially appointed as Assistant Professor, she advanced to Associate Professor in 2008 and to full Professor in 2013, while also serving as Co-Program Leader for Early Childhood Education from 2011 to 2014. Prior to joining Florida Gulf Coast University, Szecsi held positions as Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant at the State University of New York at Buffalo's Early Childhood Research Center from 2000 to 2003, Assistant Professor at Saint Stephen University in Jászberény, Hungary from 1996 to 2000, and various teaching roles in Hungarian schools and for the American Peace Corps. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education from SUNY at Buffalo (2003), M.Ed. in Teaching English Language and Literature from the University of Pécs, Hungary (2000), B.A. in English as a Foreign Language from the University of Debrecen, Hungary (1995), and M.Ed. in Hungarian and Russian Language and Literature from the University of Szeged, Hungary (1986).

Szecsi's research focuses on early childhood education leadership in culturally and linguistically diverse settings, heritage language maintenance and practices in immigrant families, infusing undergraduate research skills in teacher education, benefits of holistic family language and literacy programs, strategies for teaching English language learners, neuropedagogy and EEG research in early childhood, humane education, multicultural education and diversity in teacher preparation, and cross-cultural professional dialogues. Notable publications include Fonsén et al.'s 'Teachers’ pedagogical leadership in early childhood education' (Educational Research, 2022), Szecsi et al.'s 'Bilingual refugee-background student resilience, meta-linguistic awareness, and pride in bilingual skills' (Journal of English Learner Education, 2021), Szecsi, Aydin, and Giambo's 'Lived experiences of Puerto Rican university students displaced to South Florida after Hurricane Maria' (Journal of Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 2021), Szilagyi and Szecsi's 'Why and how to maintain the Hungarian language: Hungarian–American families’ heritage language practices' (Heritage Language Journal, 2020), and Halpern, Szecsi, and Mak's 'Everyone can be a leader.' Early childhood education leadership in a center serving culturally and linguistically diverse children and families (Early Childhood Education Journal, 2020). She has earned distinctions such as Fulbright Specialist Candidate (2013), Faculty Advisor of the Year from the Association for Childhood Education International (2009), Team Service Excellence Award from Florida Gulf Coast University (2012), and multiple grants including Hungary Initiative Foundation Conference Grant (2017), Innovative Assignment Design Grants (2018, 2021), and Scholarship Reconsidered Grants (2018–2022).