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Shushan Vardanyan

Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education

Shushan Vardanyan

Dr. Vardanyan is a full-time tenure track assistant professor in Teacher Education department who teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses related to early childhood education along with service and research.

Research Interests

Dr. Vardanyan's research interests include Active Learning, Learning through Play, STEAM, Piagetian Constructivism, Vygotsky, Whole Language, Bronfenbrenner, and Forest School Education.

Biography

Dr. Shushan Vardanyan is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education (ECE) who obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2019. Her primary areas of interest revolve around the development of children's play, the impact of culture on children’s development, outdoor education, and the application of constructivists’ perspectives in the education of young children. Dr. Vardanyan's fascination with culture stems from both her professional and personal experiences working with diverse cultural backgrounds. She has accumulated 12 years of working with young children in Dubai, and in America where she taught kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade classrooms. Additionally, her formative years in Armenia where she attended kindergarten, sparked her interest in nature education. Her multicultural outlook in education significantly influences her teaching of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Mississippi.

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

Cultural influence and language acquisition of a Syrian immigrant girl in Alabama

Using ethnography and case study approaches from qualitative methodology, this study examined a Syrian immigrant child’s language acquisition and culture adaptation in the United States. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with the teachers and the mother of the child, participant observations during home visits, and field notes during classroom observations.

More Publications

Ernest, J. M., Nicholas, A., Vardanyan, S., Hafiz, F., Alazemi, M., & Dixon, D. (2019). Childhood remembered: Reflections on the role of play for holistic education in Armenia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the USA, and Wales. International Journal of the Whole Child, 4(1), 5-19.

Vardanyan, S. (2025). You are here to teach us, not kill us’: A case study of a child’s fears of gun violence through drawings and writings. Critical Questions in Education Journal, 16(1).

Vardanyan, S. (2025). Exploring first-grade teachers’ perspectives on DELTA initiative: active learning in a rigid educational system. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 1–27.

Vardanyan, S., Smith, D., & Amidon, K. (2025). Exploring Young Children’s Number Order and Hierarchical Inclusion Concepts Through Modified Piagetian Tasks. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1–20. 

Vardanyan, S. (2025). Bottom-Up and Outside-Inside Perspectives: Children’s and Parents’ Views on Quality of School Life. School Community Journal, 35(2), pp. 83-112.

Vardanyan, S. & Stapp, A. (2025). Seven principles of teaching and learning: Lessons learned from first grade reading and writing sessions. Dimensions of Early Childhood. 

Vardanyan, S. (2025). Adultism and Redefining Adult-Child Relations through Constructivist Pedagogy. Early Years, 46(3), pp. 18-22.

Courses Taught

Education

M.A. Education, Murdoch University (2013)

Ph.D. Early Childhood, University of Alabama at Birmingham (2019)

B.A. Linguistics, Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction (2002)