Dr Maria Grazia Imperiale
- Lecturer in Adult Education (School of Education)
Biography
I hold a PhD in Language Education (University of Glasgow), and my doctoral research looked at intercultural language education in the context of siege of the Gaza Strip (Palestine). I hold a MA (Hons) in Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Communication (University for Foreigners of Siena, Italy), and a BA (Hons) in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation (University for Foreigners of Siena). I am CELTA certified (Pass A).
I am a qualified language teacher and teacher trainer, and I taught Italian and English as foreign languages to adults in Italy, Australia, Lebanon, Morocco, UK. I have several experiences of teaching and volunteering with refugees from the Middle East.
I worked as a postdoctoral research associate on several research projects. I coordinated the Culture for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace Network+, researching conflict transformation through arts-based methods in Palestine, Mexico, Morocco, Zimbabwe, and Ghana.
Research interests
I am interested in intercultural language education in situation of emergencies and protracted crisis, and in language education for wellbeing and resilience. My focus is on adult education.
I am also interested in teacher identity and agency; teacher wellbeing; critical pedagogy; pedagogies of discomfort; local and global theories and perspectives in adult education.
Methodologically, I work with qualitative approaches. In particular, I am interested in participatory methodologies, in art-based methods, in decolonizing methodologies and indigenous knowledges, with a strong interest in ethics in research in fragile settings.
Grants
British Council consultancy 'Early Career English Teacher Identity and Agency'
British Council prize for the essay 'Language teachers as agents of cultural relations and intercultural understanding'
British Council consultancy on the project 'Ethiopia language for resilience'
Doctoral Research on the AHRC ‘Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State’.
Award Ph.D. Visiting Scheme at the University of Luxembourg
Award Saifi Institute (Beirut): Intensive Course of Intermediate Arabic
Supervision
I would be happy to supervise students interested in: intercultural dialogue, language education in situation of emergencies and crisis, language teachers' wellbeing, the capabilities approach applied to education and language education, creative teaching pedagogies, participatory action research, peacebuilding and conflict transformation, integration through languages and the arts, decolonizing methodologies and indigenous knowledges.
Teaching
I am teaching on:
International Masters in Adult Education for Social Change (IMAESC)
- Dissertation course (course leader)
MSc/MEd Education for Sustainable Futures
- Local and global theories and perspectives (course leader)
- Approaches to Inclusive Learning
MSc/MEd Educational Studies
- International Issues in Adult Education (course leader)
Additional information
I am a member of the GRAMNet (Glasgow Refugee Asylum Migration Network) steering committee.