Katerina Kalfopoulou

Katerina Kalfopoulou was born in Thessaloniki in 1963. Her admiration for her first-year high school Mathematics teacher inspired her to study Mathematics. She attended the University of Ioannina and, after completing her studies, worked in tutoring centers for about twenty years until 2007, when she was appointed to the public sector through the ASEP for Educators. Since then, she has been teaching in public schools, both within and outside Thessaloniki. Meanwhile, she pursued postgraduate studies in Education, focusing on Sociolinguistics, action research in educational practice, and the teaching of Natural Sciences. Her thesis, titled "From the Autonomous to the Ideological Model of Mathematical Literacy," is a teaching proposal that presupposes a paradigm shift in the teaching of Mathematics. Since 2006, as a representative of the group THALES+FRIENDS, she organized "Seminars for Secondary Education" at the Thessaloniki History Center and coordinated student reading clubs for mathematical literature in schools and other institutions, as well as adult reading clubs. She volunteers in activities that promote reading and Mathematics, such as the Cultural Programs of the Directorate of Secondary Education of Western Thessaloniki, from which she has been awarded for her overall contribution. Additionally, she implements Environmental Programs aimed at linking Mathematics with environmental issues and has been awarded by the Environmental Committee of the A.T.E.I. Thessaloniki in the "Best Environmental Action 2014-2015" competition for the program "Environmental Education through Mathematical Activity," which she carried out with her students. Her research interests include studying the difficulties students face when transitioning from middle school to high school, particularly in learning Algebra. She maintains the website "Mathematics + Literature" (www.mathandliterature.blogspot.com), where, in addition to "episodes" from the classroom, she publishes suggestions and reviews for literary books and popular science books on Mathematics and Sciences.