Dr Tania Dias Fonseca
Faculties, deparments and locations
- Non-faculty academics
- Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre (LTEC)
- Kingston Hill
Strategic Academic Lead for Sustainability
- Email:
- t.fonseca@kingston.ac.uk
About
I am an Associate Professor and the Strategic Academic Lead for Sustainability, leading Strand 1 of the Sustainability Plan – Sustainability in Learning, Teaching, Research, and Knowledge Exchange. I collaborate with senior leadership, colleagues, and students to integrate sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals into the curriculum, ensuring it is a core component of the student experience and central to Kingston's research and civic contributions.
My work has received national and international recognition, with the University being Highly Commended in the Next Generation of Learners and Skills category at the UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards and named a finalist at the 2024 London Higher Awards for outstanding contribution to sustainability leadership.
From 2018 to 2022, I co-led the Introduction to Learning and Teaching programme for PhD students, professional services, and early-career academics. I actively contribute to Kingston's ILT and SALT programmes and CPD initiatives on sustainability and inclusive teaching practices.
My external work includes guest lecturing at the Portuguese Open University and teaching in the International Network of Universities’ International Global Citizenship and Sustainable Futures program. I co-chair the Sustainability network within the UK University Alliance and serve as the internal engagement officer for ARLT-ALT SIG. Additionally, I have served as an educational consultant and expert for various institutions, including the European Commission, the Education Secretariat of the Azorean Government, Bradford University, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Museums and Galleries of Scotland, and Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute. I have designed a MOOC and other online training for eTwinning, focusing on educational technologies, project-based learning, inclusion, and diversity.
With over 20 years of teaching experience at secondary and higher education levels, I previously 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 online educational resource platform for teachers and students (http://reda.azores.gov.pt) and created various digital resources in STEM and Citizenship. The Portuguese Education Ministry has recognized the platform as an essential tool for educators and students.
I am available for PhD supervision.
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)
Domains
Since 2022, I teach on sustainability and climate change in nursing, midwifery, and business innovation programmes. I successfully designed the new Support and Assisting Learning and Teaching (SALT) and Introduction to Learning and Teaching programmes, accredited by AdvanceHE. Within these programmes, I deliver sessions on identities and inclusive practices in higher education, as well as Education for Sustainable Development.
Previously, from 2017 to 2022, I taught Educational Technologies at the master's level (2017-2021) and Project-based Learning at the foundation level (2018-2019). I also led the Introduction to Learning and Teaching Programme.
I deliver CPD workshops on sustainability, inclusive teaching practices, and educational innovation (e.g., problem and project-based learning, role-playing, and educational technologies).
Qualifications
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2021)
- Education for Sustainable Development
- Action Learning Set Facilitator (2021)
- Anti-Racist Pedagogies Trainer (2021)
- Qualified Teacher Status (2016)
My research focuses on how educational institutions foster students' civic agency and democratic practices regarding social-scientific issues. I have focused on how institutions empower youth and the community to participate in social, environmental, and scientific decision-making. Positionality, inclusion, and diversity are central to my research, particularly in addressing social inequalities related to climate change.
PhD supervision
Andre Lamont (2025-2029). Investigating the impact of Education for Sustainability (ES) approaches used to enhance Business students’ ability to foster the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in higher education, First Supervisor, Kingston University.
EdD Supervision
Farrukh Akhtar (2022-2025). Exploring the potential of Focusing Partnerships on cultivating a sense of belonging in HEI students, Second Supervisor, Kingston University.
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, 25 and the INU's Intercultural Learning Conference 23
- Reviewer, Scientific Journals in Education and Educational Technologies, Frontiers.
- Review Committee, European Conference on Education, 2018-2022
Qualifications
- Education for Sustainable Development
- Curriculum Design
- Inclusive teaching practices
- Planning and Education
Specialisms
- Education for Sustainable Development
- 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)
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 Government. Adviser and an accredited instructor for schoolteachers with the Portugal. Since 2020, I have delivered CPD course Portugal teaching 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)
Leading Strand 1 of the Sustainability Plan – Sustainability in Learning, Teaching, Research, and Knowledge Exchange. I work with the Senior Leadership team, academics, and the community to drive cultural and institutional change regarding sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the curriculum, the student experience, and Kingston's research and civic contributions.
University responsibilities
- Member of the Net Zero Steering Group
- Member of the Sustainability Communication and Engagement Institutional Steering Group
- Member of the Athena Swan Institutional Steering Group
- Member of the Race Equality Charter Institutional Steering Group
Public and Civic roles
- Member of the Kingston Green Business Community.
Publications
'Lightbulb' moments in higher education : peer-to-peer support in engineering education
Maccabe, Rebecca and Dias Fonseca, Tania, 2021, (29), 4, pp 453-470
The internet as a global playground : young citizens and informal spaces of agency, a Portuguese case study
Dias Fonseca, Tania, 2019, Mind, Culture, and Activity (26), 4, pp 353-370
Media education as a strategy for online civic participation in Portuguese schools
Dias-Fonseca, Tania and Potter, John, 2016, Comunicar : Media Education Research Journal (24), 49, pp 9-17
Uma Visão sobre a Terra : proposta de aplicação de uma wiki [A View from Earth : the application of a wiki]
Vieira, Carlos Jorge C., Rijo, Catarina Isabel, Fonseca, Tania and Delgado, Vanda (2008). In: Carvalho, Carlos Vas de, (eds.), Nistal, Martin Llamas, (eds.) 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
Exploring transformative learning and teaching to enhance awareness of the UN Sustainable Goals with an EDI lens
Thatti, Baljit, Dias Almeida Fonseca, Tania and Mulrooney, Hilda(2023). In: Festival of Learning 2023, 22 Jun 2023 :Kingston upon Thames, U.K.
TEL communities : bridging the gap between the theory and practice in using virtual learning environments in higher education
Orwell, Suzan, Dias Fonseca, Tania and Casanova, Diogo(2018). 03-05 Jul 2018 : Birmingham, U.K.
Putting technology in the frame : multiple lenses on evidenced based practice in a university wide roll out
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). In: HEA Annual Conference 2017 - Generation TEF : Teaching in the spotlight, 04 - 06 Jul 2017 :Manchester, U.K.
e-Literacy, schools and municipalities towards a common goal : e-citizenship
Fonseca, Tania Marisa Dias Almeida (2014), PhD thesis, University of Lisbon, University of Aveiro, New University of Lisbon