I joined UEA's School of Education and Lifelong Learning in 2013 in order to lead its expanding postgraduate studies suite and develop research in the area of sociology of educational and youth studies. Before coming to UEA, I held positions at Middlesex University (Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer), Birmingham City University (Visiting Lecturer), University of East London (research associate and then research fellow) and led two modules at UCL Institute of Education. 

Before joining academia, I interned at the Ministry of Justice, London, taught at various independent primary and secondary schools in London and worked as a consultant for a German-based company offering evaluation, assessment and advice to multinational enterprises in the UK. 

I have won a number of competitive awards of national (e.g. 1+3 ESRC-funded scholarship), international (e.g. Marie Curie fellowship, jointly funded by the EU and the Central European University) and cross-national distinction (e.g. fellowship sponsored by the Universities of Lecce, Italy, and Ioannina, Greece). I have designed and delivered workshops, developed resources and participated in international projects and events aiming to explore the role of critical education in educational and social change. 

My current research interests focus on youth activism and social movements as well as educational inequalities in comparative perspective.

• UEA Aurora lead for Culture: Diversity and Identity
• Course Director of the MA in Education: Learning, Pedagogy and Assessment
• Internationalisation Coordinator
• SeNSS Pathway Institutional Leader for Education

EDUE7030A-Pedagogies in Global Educational Contexts. Core module for the MA Learning, Pedagogy and Assessment.

EDUE7035- Critical Reading. Core module for the MA Education.

The research I conduct is interdisciplinary and multilingual (i.e. in English, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese). My expertise is in critical pedagogy/education, youth and social movements, social mobility/inequalities, Gypsy/Roma/Travellers and inclusion. My methodological expertise is in mixed methods, ethnography, participatory research and research (synthesis) evaluation. Some competitive research projects I have won or participated include:

• Synthesis evaluation of the Norwich and Ipswich Opportunity Areas, DfE. (£47,977). CO-PI with J. Craske and A. Balckett (2022).
• Building of an Inclusive and democratic Europe against the rise of fascism and xenophobia. Jean Monett (EU). PI J. J. R. Fernandez, Universidad de León (2020-22).
• Capacity building and internalisation: building sustainable partnership between UEA and UECE. British Council (£20,000). With C. N. Alencar, UECE, Brazil (PI). (2018).
• The role of financial support in widening participation; A systematic review. Widening Participation Committee, UEA (£50,000). Co-PI with Ming Cheng (2017-18).
• Exploring issues of financial hardship and potential food insecurity among HE students. The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC, currently Earlham Institute). (£10,500). CO-PI with Konidari, E. Angiolini (2015-16).
• Thematic Forum ‘Challenging deficit discourses in international education and development’. British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE). CO-I. UEA and University of Leeds. (2014).
• Curriculum-based innovations to improve learning outcomes for Roma children (part of UNESCO’s 2013/14 report ‘Education for All Global Monitoring: Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all’). UNESCO. (€ 4,000). CO-PI with B. Foster. (2013).