Sophal Kao, Ph.D.

Dr. KAO Sophal is an Associate Professor at American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP). He previously worked as an Associate Dean, a Dean and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at PUC from 2014 to 2022.

Dr. Kao specializes in English language teacher training, English language teaching, school monitoring and evaluation, and English language curriculum and materials development. He used to hold a number of positions including school director and training manager for both private and public educational institutions, training education specialist and education consultant for international NGO’s, and National English Language teacher trainer and supervisor for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia for many years. Moreover, he trained English teachers and undergraduate and graduate students at PUC for many years. He has presented papers at various national and international conferences. He is a motivational lecturer and speaker who has inspired university students to highly commit to their academic work to achieve their academic goals.

  • PhD of Education in Educational Planning, Policy and Management in 2018
  • Master’s Degree of TESOL in 2008 from Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia (PUC)
  • Bachelor of Education in TEFL from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1999
  • Also studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, in 2000, and at Reading University, UK, in 1995
  • My Personal Philosophy of Education and Its Practices (2022). Cambodian Education Forum. Available at: cefcambodia.com
  • Self-Directed Learning Approach to Developing Teaching Professionalism (2018). PhD Dissertation. Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia. Phnom Penh: Cambodia
  • The Analysis of Teacher Development Practice against the Educational Legal Framework in Cambodia. International Journal of Advance and Innovative Research, Volume 2, Issue 1(II): pp 37-54, January-March, 2015.
  • The Relationship between Students’ Grades and their Occupational Goals. Global Educational Research Journal, vol. 2(5): pp 054-059, 2014. The article is available at: springjournals.net
  • Practical Methodology in TESOL (2019). KAO SOPHAL Publications. Phnom Penh
  • Report on Education Strategy Assessment (2008). Save the Children Norway, Cambodia. Co-author with George Tailor and Ly Panharith. The report is available at: drive.google.com