Dr Tania Dias Fonseca

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Tania Dias Fonseca
About
Teaching and learning
Research
Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

About

I am the Strategic Academic Lead for Sustainability, leading Strand 1 of the Sustainability Plan – Sustainability in Learning, Teaching, Research, and Knowledge Exchange. In this context, I work with colleagues across the university to support them in embedding sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the curriculum to ensure that sustainability is a significant part of the student experience and positions our students as community leaders and change-makers and that sustainability is recognised as central to Kingston research and civic contribution activity.

Between 2018 and 2022, I co-led the Introduction to Learning and Teaching programme for PhD students, professional services and early academics. I contribute to Kingston's ILT and SALT programmes and the CPD on sustainability and inclusive teaching practices.

I have over 20 years of teaching experience at secondary and higher education levels. I acted as an educational consultant and expert to various institutions (e.g., the European Commission, Bradford University, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute). In the last four years, I have been a guest lecturer and instructor at several universities (e.g., Open University, Portugal, Malmö University, Federal University of Amazon, Brazil). I have also designed a MOOC and other online training for eTwinning, the European Union programme, on educational technologies, project-based learning, inclusion and diversity.

Before joining Kingston, I worked as an Open Digital Educational Resource Coordinator for the Secretariat for Education of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Portugal. In this role, I designed and led the development of an educational resource online platform for teachers and students (http://reda.azores.gov.pt) and designed several digital resources in STEM and Citizenship. 

Academic responsibilities

Strategic Academic Lead for Sustainability

Qualifications

  • 2003 Licenciatura in Physics in Physics and Chemistry Education, variant Physics (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
  • 2005 Postgraduate studies in Child Protection (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
  • 2009 Master of Education (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
  • 2015 PhD e-Planning (University of Lisbon, Aveiro and Nova University of Lisbon)
  • 2016 Qualified Teacher Status, National College for Teaching & Leadership
  • 2021 Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Teaching and learning

At Kingston University, I taught Educational Technologies at the master level (2017-2021), and Project-based Learning at the foundation level (2018-present) and co-led the Introduction to Learning and Teaching Programme for new academics and PhD students with teaching responsibilities.

I have successfully designed the new Support and Assisting Learning and Teaching (SALT) and Introduction to Learning and Teaching programmes, accredited by AdvanceHE. I deliver sessions on Identities and inclusive practices in higher education and University agendas and institutional toolkits.

I also deliver CPD workshops on sustainability, inclusive teaching practices, and educational innovation (e.g., problem and project-based learning, role-playing, and educational technologies). In t2023, I was nominated for the KU People's Award in the Innovation category.

Qualifications and expertise

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2021)
  • Anti-Racist Pedagogies Trainer (2021)
  • Action Learning Set Facilitator (2021)
  • Qualified Teacher Status (2016)

Research

My research focuses on how educational institutions foster students' civic agency and democratic practices. I have focused on how institutions empower youth to participate in social, environmental, and scientific decision-making. Positionality, inclusion, and diversity are central to my research, particularly in addressing social inequalities to climate change.

EdD Supervision: Farrukh Akhtar (2022-2025). Exploring the potential of Focusing Partnerships on cultivating a sense of belonging in HEI students, Second Supervisor, Kingston Univerisity

Research projects:

  • Investigator: Advancing Sustainability in Education and Training (2023-2025). Aim: To understand how sustainability aspects are addressed in teaching and research and how to develop the best training programmes for staff and students.
  • Investigator, SDGs Navigator: Pioneering AI Powered Sustainability (2023-2025),  funded by KU Collaborative and Interdisciplinary research grant (£29,400), led by Dr Purva Tavri.
  • Principal Investigator: Digital teacher identities (2022-2025). Aim: to explore and understand the developing nature of individual digital teacher identities of academics throughout COVID-19 and beyond—a collaboration between KU, Liverpool John Moores University, and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China.
  • Erasmus + Guest Scholar (2020), Global-MINDS Programme. Joint programme  ISCTE, Portugal; University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland; Koç University, Turkey; University of Limerick, Irland; University of Oslo, Norway.
  • Principal investigator: iLearn: On the go with digital media (2017–2018). Aim: to understand mature, commuting, and disabled students' learning perspectives using video and audio in higher education.
  • Investigator: The Hilali Network – Exploring Lived Cultural Heritage Through Design in Higher Education (2017–2019), Living Curriculum for Cultural Heritage and STEM, jointly led by Kingston University and the City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, Alexandria, Egypt. Funded by the Newton Fund.

Other:

  • KERN Advisory Board member
  • Steering Group: London Student Sustainability Conference 23, 24 and the INU's Intercultural Learning Conference 23
  • Reviewer, Scientific Journals in Education and Educational Technologies
  • Review Committee, European Conference on Education, 2018-2022

Qualifications and expertise

  • Education for Sustainable Development
  • Inclusive teaching practices
  • Planning and Education

Areas of specialism

  • Citizenship, democracy, and sustainability
  • Hidden Curriculum, Positionality, Values and Believes
  • Educational Technologies and Technology Enhanced Learning

Scholarly affiliations

  • Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE, UK)
  • Portuguese Society for Education Sciences (SPCE, PT)

Publications

Jump to: Article | Book Section | Conference or Workshop Item | Thesis
Number of items: 8.

Article

Maccabe, Rebecca and Dias Fonseca, Tania (2021) 'Lightbulb' moments in higher education : peer-to-peer support in engineering education. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 29(4), pp. 453-470. ISSN (print) 1361-1267

Dias Fonseca, Tania (2019) The internet as a global playground : young citizens and informal spaces of agency, a Portuguese case study. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 26(4), pp. 353-370. ISSN (print) 1074-9039

Dias-Fonseca, Tania and Potter, John (2016) Media education as a strategy for online civic participation in Portuguese schools. Comunicar : Media Education Research Journal, 24(49), pp. 9-17. ISSN (print) 1134-3478

Book Section

Vieira, Carlos Jorge C., Rijo, Catarina Isabel, Fonseca, Tania and Delgado, Vanda (2008) Uma Visão sobre a Terra : proposta de aplicação de uma wiki [A View from Earth : the application of a wiki]. In: Carvalho, Carlos Vas de , Nistal, Martin Llamas and Silveira, Ricardo, (eds.) TICAI2008 : TICs para a Aprendizagem da Engenharia [TICAI2008 : ICT for Learning in Engineering]. Porto, Portugal : IEEE, Sociedade de Educação, Capítulos Espanhol e Portugués. pp. 133-140.

Conference or Workshop Item

Thatti, Baljit, Dias Almeida Fonseca, Tania and Mulrooney, Hilda (2023) Exploring transformative learning and teaching to enhance awareness of the UN Sustainable Goals with an EDI lens. In: Festival of Learning 2023; 22 Jun 2023, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Orwell, Suzan, Dias Fonseca, Tania and Casanova, Diogo (2018) TEL communities : bridging the gap between the theory and practice in using virtual learning environments in higher education. In: Advance HE Teaching & Learning Conference 2018 : Teaching in the Spotlight : Learning from Global Communities; 03-05 Jul 2018, Birmingham, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Price, Linda, Downward, Stuart, Lawrence, David, Avery, Barry, Preston, Anne, Dias Fonseca, Tania, Vyas, Nora, Lock, Nick, Alsop, Graham, Orwell, Suzan, Beardsmore, James and Casanova, Diogo (2017) Putting technology in the frame : multiple lenses on evidenced based practice in a university wide roll out. In: HEA Annual Conference 2017 - Generation TEF : Teaching in the spotlight; 04 - 06 Jul 2017, Manchester, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Thesis

Fonseca, Tania Marisa Dias Almeida (2014) e-Literacy, schools and municipalities towards a common goal : e-citizenship. (PhD thesis), University of Lisbon, University of Aveiro, New University of Lisbon, .

This list was generated on Thu Apr 25 06:45:40 2024 BST.

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

I actively participate in various national and international professional and subject communities. In these contexts, I have fostered change in culture and teaching and learning at both HE and secondary levels. Some examples include:

-  Big Design Lab, co-led two of the five workshops in the BIG (Business, Innovation & Growth) South London Partnership-funded project between the Kingston and Richmond Councils. I lead the Green Skills Van /Bicycle (£5K) and Sustainability educational card game (£2K) outcomes of these workshops. SMEs, schools, and FH partners are involved (e.g., Harris Academy and South Thames Colleges Group). (2023-present)

- South Thames Colleges Group. Delivered Continuing Professional Development on green skills open to all lecturers (2023)

- Regional Directorate of Education of the Azores Govenrment. Adviser and an accredited instructor for schoolteachers with the Portugal. Since 2020, I have delivered CPD coursePortugaleaching to more than 200 schoolteachers

-  Portico Library (2021) pedagogical consultant on inclusion and diversity, Manchester, United Kingdom.

- Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (M-ITI) and University of the Azores, Portugal (2017- 2022): Scientific and pedagogical consultant on the research project Field Guide: Designing Mobile Interactive Tools for Place-Based Learning

Examples of external workshops pedagogy and teaching practices

Identities and Non-Traditional Students, University of Westminster, 2022Developing your practice: inclusive teaching and learning, Goldsmith, University of London, 2021

Challenging the learning and teaching cultural landscape, University Institute of Lisbon, ISCTE, Portugal, 2020

Perspectives and Experiences of Higher Education in the UK: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as an Educational Practice, University Institute of Lisbon, ISCTE, Portugal, 2019

Living in a diverse world, , within eTwinning prohect ‘A Cultural Journey (participants from Romania, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Turkey). 2021

Diversity and the Globalised School, within the Teachers for Europe project (participants from Greece, Italy, Portugal and Turkey), 2021.

Online learning and teaching in the time of Covid 19: Strategies for inclusivity and diversity – eTwinning Online Seminar 2020, workshop, for teachers of primary and secondary education organised by the European coordination of the program.

I no longer have a classroom: how to teach inclusive classes online during quarantine, Regional Directorate of Education of the Azores, Portugal 2020.

Tips and suggestions to support students in a period of mandatory quarantine, Regional Directorate of Education of the Azores, Portugal 2020

The Internet?! Apps?! Games?! No, I'm a teacher, and I need to teach. European coordination of the program eTwinning Learning Event, 2020 (participants from 30 countries), 2020

Professional and scholarly affiliations

  • Association for Learning Technologies, ARLT SIG Internal Engagement Officer (2021-present)

Social media

LinkedIn