Dr Gisela Oliveira

I am currently the MA Education Practice Programme Leader and I teach and supervise students on the BA Education Studies, the MA Education Practice and the Doctoral College.

I joined the education team at DMU in October 2018. Previously, I was a researcher in the School of Education at the University of Leeds, working on the project “Narnian Virtues: A Character Education English Curriculum”, funded by £1.1M from the John Templeton Foundation.

In 2017, I completed my PhD on “Transfer of Learning between Higher Education and the Workplace” also at the University of Leeds, and prior to that I completed a Master by research at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. In Portugal, I worked as a research assistant, an education technician, a project manager and as a training coordinator. All of these roles allowed me to explore different areas of adult education, leading me to a desire to work in higher education and explore issues around transfer of learning and the transition between university and the workplace.

My research interests are learning and teaching in higher education, namely issues related to transfer of learning, employability and the transition from education into work. I have also developed a particular interest in qualitative research methods.

Institute for Research in Criminology and Community and Social Justice

Journal Articles

1. Hart, P., Gundarina, O., Paul, S-A., and Oliveira, G. (2022). Problematising conceptions of “effective” homeschool partnerships in secondary education. Educational Studies. DOI: 10.1080/03055698.2022.2103651
2. Gundarina, O., Hart, P., Oliveira, G. and Paul, S-A, S. 2020. Effective parent-practitioner partnerships in children’s secondary education. Education in the North, 26(2) pp. 82-89. https://doi.org/10.26203/f5e5-pj12
3. Hart, P., Oliveira, G. and Pike, M. 2019. Teaching virtues through literature: learning from the ‘Narnian Virtues’ character education research. Journal of Beliefs & Values. Pp. 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2019.1689544
4. Oliveira, G. 2015. Employability and Learning Transfer: What do Students Experience During Their Placements? Studia paedagogica, 20(4), pp.123-138. DOI: 10.5817/SP2015-4-8

My research focuses broadly in the area of teaching and learning in higher education and, more specifically, on transfer of learning in the transition between university and the workplace. I am particularly interested in students’ experiences of work-placements and internships while at university, and how these experiences may enable them to develop a “professional identity”. I am also interested in the development and exploration of qualitative research methods to investigate the transition between university and work.

I can supervise research students in the following areas: Higher Education teaching and learning; transitions in HE and to employment; employability in HE; comparative education.

I teach on the BA Education Studies, MA Education Practice and the Doctoral College on modules focusing on learning and transitions, research methods and comparative education.

PhD in Education, University of Leeds
MA in Training Management and Educational Administration, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
BA (Licenciatura) in Education Sciences, University of Coimbra (Portugal)

BA L4- Thinking and Learning in Higher Education
BA L5- Preparing for Professional Practice
BA L5- Global Comparative Education
MA L7– Researching Education
MA L7– Negotiated Study
MA L7- Dissertation
Doctoral College – Introduction to NVivo

School of Education Scholarship, University of Leeds (2012-2015).
Full Scholarship, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (2015 - 2017)

BAICE - British Association for International & Comparative Education
EERA Emerging Researchers' Group

Fellow, The Higher Education Academy
Certificate of Pedagogic Competences, IEFP - Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional 

I am currently engaged in the following projects:

1. A research project entitled “Education Studies Students’ experiences of the transition between university and the workplace in short-term placements”. The main aims of this study are: (1) to investigate education studies students’ experiences of the transition between university and the workplace within the context of a short-term placement in an educational setting; and (2) to explore in what way attending a placement module mediates students’ experiences of the transition between university and the workplace.

2021 – 2025: External Examiner for MA Education and MA Educational Innovation at Warwick University.