Dr Gisela Oliveira

I am a Senior Lecturer at the Education Division, teaching and supervising students on the BA Education Studies, the MA Education Practice and the Doctoral College. My research focuses on transitions from a sociocultural perspective and currently I am interested in exploring these through creative methodologies.

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.

I share my teaching and research here:

https://www.instagram.com/research_zines/

https://figshare.dmu.ac.uk/authors/Gisela_Oliveira/17651943

Full member of the Social Sciences Research & Innovation Institute, De Montfort University, UK.
Full member of the Centre for Social Justice and Empowerment, De Montfort University, UK.Affiliate member of the Arts, Design and Performance Research Institute, De Montfort University, UK.
Research collaborator for the Centro de Investigação em Educação de Adultos e Intervenção Comunitária (CEAD), University of Algarve, Portugal - https://cead.ualg.pt/site/

Blog Posts

1. Oliveira, G. and Sibley-White, A. 2024. 'Codebooks are not just for teams', SAGE Research Methods Community, 30 September. Available at: https://researchmethodscommunity.sagepub.com/blog/codebooks-not-just-for-teams
2. Oliveira, G. and Sibley-White, A. 2024. 'Creating a Codebook - where to start?', SAGE Research Methods Community, 2 September. Available at: https://researchmethodscommunity.sagepub.com/blog/creating-a-codebook
3. Sibley-White, A. and Oliveira, G. 2024. 'What is a Codebook?', SAGE Research Methods Community, 27 August. Available at: https://researchmethodscommunity.sagepub.com/blog/what-is-a-codebook

Book chapters

1. Oliveira, G. and Daya, A. 2024. Placements as Communities of Practice (CoP): Insights from a student and a lecturer’s exploration of CoP in a placement module in higher education. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 5(2), pp. 129-147.

Journal Articles

1. Oliveira, G. 2023. Placements as mediational transitions: an opportunity for negotiated, identity-shaping make belief experiences. In: Pulsford, M., Morris, L. and Purves, R. (eds.) Understanding Education Studies: critical issues and new directions. Routledge. ISBN 9781032284682
2. Oliveira, G. 2022. Developing a codebook for qualitative data analysis: Insights from a study on learning transfer between university and the workplace. International Journal of Research and Method in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2022.2128745
3. 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
4. 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

Other outputs

1. Oliveira, G. 2024. Identical Elements Theory – Key Reading Zine 5. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.27240645.v1
2. Oliveira, G. 2024. Employability and Placements – Key Reading Zine 4. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.26799289.v1
3. Oliveira, G. 2024. Untitled Communities of Practice – Key Reading Zine 3. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.26799274.v1
4. Oliveira, G. 2024. My Placement as a Mediational Transition – Key Reading Zine 2. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.26799256.v1
5. Oliveira, G. 2024. Expressive Self-Reflection – key Reading Zine 1. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.26335336.v2
6. Oliveira, G. 2024. Interrogação, exploração e criação: exemplos do uso de pedagogias creativas no ensino superior – A Dissemination Zine. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.26335162.v2
7. Oliveira, G. 2024. Work-Placements in Higher Education: How do mature students experience them? – A Research Zine. De Montfort University. Physical object. https://doi.org/10.21253/DMU.26013820.v1
8. Smith, R., Sibley-White, A., Oliveira, G., Daya, A. Page, G. and Metz, S. 2023. Easy Read theory prototype, Social and Cultural Capital. https://figshare.com/s/d9b6babee48cfe98f7e8

 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 and research methods. I also supervise student dissertation for the BA and MA. 

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 L4 - Perspectives in Education
BA L4 - Childhood, Social Justice and 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
Doctoral College – Introduction to codebooks in qualitative analysis

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

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

2023-2027. The impact of co-created SEND education on future educators' perceptions and self-efficacy. With Rosi Smith , Emma Wright, Eden Turner, Sameana Asghar, Alicja Dziatkowiak and Isabella Florence. 

2022-2025. Easy Read - Inclusive Access To Theory. Internally funded Institute for Research in Criminology, Community, Education and Social Justice project with Rosi Smith, Angie Sibley-White and Sam Metz. 

2022-2025. Education Studies Students’ experiences of the transition between university and the workplace in short-term placements.

Adam Wykes - Support in the UK Higher Education sector: Developing a model for personal tutoring to increase student retention and success (2^nd supervisor).

John Chatterjee-Woolman - Exploring Teacher Workload, Resilience, and Institutional Support in Further Education (2^nd supervisor).

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