Professor Gail Gillon, PhD, FRSNZ, FASHA, (Ngāi Tahu iwi) is the founding director of the Child Well-Being Research Institute, University of Canterbury. Prof Gillon is the Director of the national implementation of PLD in BSLA structure literacy teaching for teachers and literacy specialists in Years 0- 8.
Professor Gillon has extensive leadership experience in education. She is the currently New Zealand’s National UNESCO Commissioner for Education and formerly she has held positions as Pro-Vice Chancellor for the College of Education and Dean of Education at the University of Canterbury.
Professor Gillon is an internationally leading expert in children’s phonological awareness development and understanding its importance to reading and writing success. She has won several prestigious awards nationally and internationally for her pioneering work in this field. She is particularly well known for her research in effective interventions for children with speech -language and reading problems such as dyslexia.
Together with Professor McNeill she has led the development of the Better Start Literacy Approach since its inception in 2015. She has successfully led the national implementation of professional learning and development in this structured literacy approach since 2021.
Professor Gillon is Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the first New Zealander to be made a Fellow of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
