Bernardita Tornero is a psychologist with a master's degree in educational psychology from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile who obtained her Ph.D. in Education at King’s College London UK. Her doctoral research allowed her to consolidate her academic interest and knowledge in initial teacher training as a way of finding the key points that will allow to improve educational quality by decreasing the existing gaps between low- and high-income students.

In 2014, she became a faculty at the School of Education at Universidad de los Andes Chile, where she has been teaching, conducting research, and holding academic positions.

Most of her academic career has been dedicated to understanding the complexity of training future teachers effectively to transfer that knowledge to initial teacher training programs in Chile. In 2023 she became an affiliate professor at the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET) at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, to collaborate in bridging teachers' education research and practice.

In addition to her academic career, she has been a member of the board of directors of nonprofit educational organizations in Chile such us Fundación Impulsa, Fundación Paso a Paso, and Fundación Trabun.

Working in diverse educational contexts has given her the conviction that preparing effective teachers during their initial teacher training programs is one of the most powerful ways of constructing more equitable and just societies.

Research on topics related to higher education in general and initial teacher training in particular, mainly with regard to the formation of pedagogical strategies that promote the development of cognitive skills in students.