The Chair of Diversity Education and International Educational Research welcomes Dr. Gabriel Cohen as ERASMUS+ Visiting Lecturer in Nürnberg from 4 to 8 May 2026
Dr. Gabriel Cohen is a Senior Lecturer at the Academic Gordon College of Education (Haifa, Israel) and a doctoral-level Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA-D) with over 20 years of professional experience. Currently the Head of the Premium ABA Programme in Gordon Academy – Haifa, Dr. Cohen brings a unique blend of academic leadership and clinical excellence to FAU. A British national and Israeli citizen, he not only practiced in the United Kingdom for approximately 15 years but also earned his degrees there with distinctions. He completed his doctoral studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Selinus University, Italy, where his doctorate was also awarded with distinction.
At the heart of Dr. Cohen’s innovative approach is what he terms the ‘Behavioural Prism’. This framework invites us to see the social world through a behavioural lens, viewing the individual as a rich, autonomous organism rather than a collection of sociological labels. His perspective is supported by research indicating that whilst genetics and ‘traits’ influence approximately 6-13% of our behaviours, wide environmental variables account for roughly 56%.
Dr. Cohen meticulously argues that traditional personality trait approaches often fall into hazardous circular reasoning. In these models, behaviours are frequently ‘explained’ by personality traits or diversity variables that are themselves defined by those very same behaviours. This creates a pseudo-explanation that repeats the observation in a different form rather than identifying a real cause. From a behavioural standpoint, he maintains there is no singular ’cause’ but rather a dynamic transaction between individuals’ behaviours and the environment where those behaviours are exhibited.
The Behavioural Prism forces us to look beyond these circular labels to fundamentally learn about the person: their unique ways of communicating and understanding, learning styles, needs, preferences, aspirations, and what they truly want or like. Dr. Cohen maintains that this individualised focus applies to every human being – not just those with so-called ‘learning difficulties’ – as labels only serve to create further groups and divisions.
Principally, Dr. Cohen believes that every human being behaves, no matter their location background and so forth, and everyone shares the fundamental desire for a rich Quality of Life (QOL). Because QOL is a subjective measure that looks and operationally defined different for every individual, his approach enables a truly personalised path to success through individual agency and social adaptation.
During his visit at FAU (4 – 8 May 2026), Dr. Cohen aims to discuss this behaviour-centered model and its implications for global education and diversity. He is eager to support student research, provide mentorship on clinical leadership, and foster new collaborative links between the Academic Gordon College of Education and the FAU community.