Tenured Scholars
Balladares, Jaime
Assistant Professor
Psychologist, Master in Educational Psychology from the Catholic University and Ph.D. in Education from University College London (UCL) – Institute of Education (IoE) (London, United Kingdom). He is currently a professor in the Department of Learning and Development.
Main areas of study: Initial literacy, implementation and evaluation of free games to learn to read, and effects of socioeconomic level on learning processes.
Education
| Job title | Institution that grants it | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. in Education | University College London (UCL) | 2018 |
| Master in Psychology with mention in Educational Psychology | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | 2010 |
| Psychologist and graduate in Psychology | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | 2008 |
Research Projects
| Year | Type | Name | Role | See more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | FONIDE - Research and Development Fund in Education - 16th version | From the Tool to Pedagogical Improvement: Criteria and strategies for the effective application of Artificial Intelligence in teaching curriculum management (FON2500105). | Principal Investigator | Go to project launch |
| 2025-2028 | Regular Fondecyt (1251102). National Agency for Research and Development – ANID | A longitudinal study of the contribution of disciplinary vocabulary to reading comprehension in the first cycle of primary school: a key to supporting struggling readers. | Co-investigator | |
| 2025-2026 | UC Educational Challenges Program | Scaling and transfer of the “8 Consonants for Fluent Reading” Methodology in Early Childhood Education | Principal Investigator | |
| 2022- 2024 | Initiation fund (11220812). National Research and Development Agency - ANID | Evaluation of the impact of regulated games on literacy predictors in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten children in contexts of high and low socioeconomic status. | Principal Investigator | Go to project launch |
Publications
Recent
Author
Year
Title
Magazine
Volume
Pages
DOI
Meneses, G.; Balladares, J.; & Navarro, M.
2025
Analysis of attitudes towards curricular innovation in Higher Education staff
Limite. Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy and Psychology
20 (13)
1-12
Balladares, J., Valdivia, R., Sprovera, I. & Córdova, J.
2025
Did you do something today, or did you only play? Barriers and facilitators for the use of play in early childhood educational contexts
Early Years: An International Research Journal
-
-
Varas-Pavez, A., Sepúlveda, F., Balladares, J. & Peake, C.
2024
Motivation and Mathematical Performance Using Digital Game-Based Learning in Kindergarten
Computers in Schools
-
1-20
Strasser, K., Balladares, J., Grau, V., Marín, A., Preiss, D. & Jadue, D.
2024
Playfulness and the quality of classroom interactions in preschool
Learning and Instruction
93
Strasser, K., Balladares, J., Grau, V., Marin, A., & Preiss, D.
2023
Efficacy and perception of feasibility of structured games for achieving curriculum learning goals in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten low-income classrooms.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
65 (4)
396-406
Balladares, J., Miranda, M. & Córdova, K.
2023
The effects of board games on math skills in children attending prekindergarten and kindergarten: A systematic review
early years. An International Research Journal
43 (3)
1-25
Mengisidou, M. & Balladares, J.
2023
Lexical skills in children with developmental dyslexia and developmental language disorder: an overview.
Hellenic Journal of Psychology
20
22 - 53
Meneses, G. & Balladares, J.
2022
Challenges in curricular innovation in university education from the perspective of academics.
Interscience (Web of Science - WoS)
47 (5)
181-190
Balladares, J., Carvacho, R., Basualto, P., Coli Acevedo, J., Molina Garzón, M., Catalán Hernández, L., Gray, N., & Aracena Alvarez, M., G.
2021
Caring for those who care: experiences of informal caregivers of dependent older people in the context of COVID-19.
Individual and Society Psychoperspectives (Scopus)
20 (3)
1-12
Balladares, J., Marshall, C. & Griffiths, Y.
2016
Socio-economic status affects sentence repetition, but not non-word repetition, in Chilean preschoolers.
First Language (Web of Science - WoS)
36 (3)
338-351
Book chapters
Author
Year
chapter title
Editors
Book Title
Pages
Editorial
DOI/Url
Rodriguez, P. & Balladares, J.
2024
Early Childhood Education: Analysis and Pending Challenges
Ignacio Sánchez
Ideas in Education IV. Impact and consequences of changes in Education
81-99
UC editions
Policy Briefs
Author
Year
Title
Editorial
DOI/Url
Balladares, J. & Carrasco, D.
2021
Job satisfaction of Kindergarten Teachers in the Chilean context
Ministry of Education. Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education
Balladares, J. & Carrasco, D.
2021
Development of linguistic, numerical and socio-emotional skills in Early Childhood Education.
Ministry of Education. Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education
Balladares, J. & Carrasco, D.
2021
Professional Development and Teaching Career
Ministry of Education. Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education
Balladares, J. & Kankaras, M.
2020
Attendance Matters. The effect of preschool attendance and PISA outcomes in different backgrounds/economies (1-33).
OECD Education Working papers EDU/WKP (2020)2
Espinola, V., Balladares, J. Claro, JP & Valencia, E.
2011
Map of the Effectiveness of Secondary Education in Chile: Management factors associated with the completion of secondary studies.
Final report FONIDE, Ministry of Education.
Teaching and training of researchers
| Course name | Sigla |
|---|---|
| Adolescent Development and Learning | EDU0160 |
| School Learning and Development | EDU0315 |
| Learning and Development: theory and practice | EDU0310 |
| Course name | Sigla |
|---|---|
| Contemporary challenges of education | EDU 3895 |
Commitment
Management Responsibilities at the Faculty or University
2023 – Present: Member of the Curriculum Committee of the Pedagogy Degree
in Special Education UC
2023 – Present: Associate Editor, Latin American Educational Thought Magazine – PEL
