Sissil Lea Heggernes

Sissil Lea Heggernes serves as Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University's Department of Primary and Vocational Teacher Education within the Faculty of Teacher Education and International Studies. Her office is located at Pilestredet 42, 0167 Oslo (Q4012), with contact via sissil-lea.heggernes@oslomet.no or +47 672 37 074.

Her research centers on intercultural learning, critical thinking through picture books, and language education, with particular focus on dialogic approaches in primary and secondary contexts. Current projects include the KriT initiative developing critical thinking didactics using children's literature, and STELT strengthening foreign language teacher education. She actively explores how picturebooks stimulate curiosity about socioeconomic inequality, migration narratives, and historical consciousness among young learners.

Heggernes' publication trends reveal deep engagement with visual literacy and democratic education through multimodal texts. Her recent work analyzes Peter Sís' The Wall for adolescent critical engagement, examines Jon Klassen's hat trilogy for philosophical inquiry, and investigates refugee narratives in picturebooks for inclusive English teaching. The interdisciplinary nature spans educational psychology, literary studies, and social justice frameworks.

As study leader for Area 4 and contributor to the 'Challenging Picture Books in the Classroom' research group, she designs professional development for teachers. Her dissemination includes keynote addresses on socioeconomic inequality in picturebooks (LINN-conference 2024), workshops for Oslo school librarians on critical thinking resources, and presentations at ARCLEN and IRSCL conferences. Current grant activities center on the KriT project managed through OsloMet for the Norwegian Agency for Education.

Heggernes leads research within the 'Beginner training' group focusing on practical implementation of critical literacy frameworks. Her collaborative projects with Norwegian municipalities and international partners like PHZH (Zurich) demonstrate applied research bridging theory and classroom practice, particularly in developing dialogic techniques for complex picturebook analysis across age groups.