Dr Mario Moya

Mario is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the MA in Education and leads the suite of Master’s programmes within the Department of Education, School of Childhood and Social Care. He holds two doctoral degrees, one in Education from the University of Bedfordshire and another in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology from the Institute of Education, University College London.

A Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he has contributed significantly to the development of teaching and learning in the sector nationally and internationally. He is an experienced Director of Studies and research supervisor, supporting students across a range of interdisciplinary and international doctoral projects.

Mario’s academic work is grounded in a commitment to compassion, collaboration and educational equity. He approaches teaching as a reflective and relational practice, attentive to rigour and care. Working with learners from a wide range of linguistic, cultural and professional backgrounds, he fosters inclusive academic environments where students are supported to engage critically and ethically with complex knowledge. His teaching draws on contemplative and creative approaches and remains closely informed by the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

His research sits at the intersection of education, psychology, and society and language, with a focus on academic bi- and multiliteracies, identity and the emotional dimensions of higher education. He investigates how language mediates access to academic life, how institutions can respond to learner diversity, and how pedagogic relationships shape experiences of belonging and well-being. His current work examines the affective and cultural labour of educators and the role of creative methodologies in educational development.

He welcomes doctoral proposals related to language education, literacies, academic identity and belonging, inclusive pedagogies, and the use of contemplative or arts-based research in education. He currently supervises doctoral researchers in the UK and internationally, and mentors early-career colleagues engaged in practice-based inquiry and academic development.

His academic leadership and research are closely aligned with global efforts to advance inclusive, equitable and sustainable education. This includes longstanding collaborations with the British Council and the Department of Trade and Industry on widening access, multilingual education and international capacity building. He has held visiting academic roles in Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Argentina, and supervises doctoral students at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.

Through his teaching, research and international engagement, Mario’s work actively contributes to the aims of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those focused on quality education, reduced inequalities, well-being and global partnership.