María Barba Núñez
I am a teacher and researcher at the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of A Coruña.
My previous career combines research and teaching, with work as a social educator in the non-profit sector, as well as participation in and activism with collectives, always centred on three lines of interest:
environmental education and education for global citizenship, as critical and transformative pedagogies that address the main challenges of our time, in terms of social and environmental justice;
social pedagogy and, very particularly, the work with vulnerable groups, from an educational approach aimed at guaranteeing rights and empowering citizens in the transformation of their realities;
and participation, sociocultural animation and community development, which I consider key to building fairer societies centred on the care of life, of people and of nature.
I currently carry out my research within the ECIGAL Group, from which I delve into and contribute to the promotion of critical and transformative pedagogies.
About me
I am a social educator, educational psychologist and Doctor of Education from the University of Santiago de Compostela. I developed my doctoral thesis in the field of environmental education, a socio-biographical study that explored the trajectory of environmental education in Galicia, taking a sociological approach based on Bourdieu’s theories.
The beginnings of my research journey were within the Grupo de investigación SEPA-interea of USC, with which I continue to collaborate actively. I have linked my research work to the theme of climate change, within the project Resclima, and to the culture of sustainability and education for development and global citizenship, in transnational projects with the Dominican Republic. I have provided training for primary and secondary school teachers in these subjects through the NGO InteRed Galicia, with which I also collaborated for years on the design and implementation of ESD initiatives and as a volunteer coordinator. I was a member of the Education Commission of the Galician Coordinator for Development Education from 2012 to 2015 and president of the Galician Society for Environmental Education from 2016 to 2019.
I worked for six years as a social educator at the association Aliad Ultreia, an organisation of which I am currently president. This brought me into educational work in the prison system, with people struggling with drug dependency, and with women who are victims of gender-based violence, particularly trafficking and sexual exploitation, a cause for which I also campaign with various groups. My professional work with the association has focused primarily on the prison system and on promoting social participation and volunteering. From Aliad Ultreia, together with the SEPA-interea research group from the USC, we promoted an action-participatory research project at the Monterroso prison centre, which resulted in a social and cultural animation plan that is now in its tenth year. It was awarded for its innovative character at the La Caixa Social Innovation Awards, and it led to the publication of the book “Animación Sociocultural en prisión. Una experiencia en el centro penitenciario de Monterroso” (Barba, Morán e Cruz, 2017).
Since 2018 I have been a lecturer in the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of A Coruña, in the Department of Pedagogy and Didactics, specialising in the Theory and History of Education. I spent the first two years as an associate professor and am currently serving as a locum.
In the Bachelor’s degree in Social Education I have been involved as a lecturer in the modules Social Pedagogy, Leisure Time and Environmental Education, and in supervising practicums and final-year projects. In the Early Childhood Education programme I teach the module Theory of Education. I am currently the coordinator of the Bachelor’s degree in Social Education.
In the research sphere, I am currently a member of the ECIGAL Research Group (Research Group on Education for Global Citizenship), working on global citizenship education and other critical and participatory pedagogies; I also maintain my affiliation as an external collaborator with the SEPA-interea Group at the University of Santiago de Compostela, particularly in the area of climate change and sustainability culture; and I am a member of the research team of the inter-university project
In the research sphere, I am currently a member of the ECIGAL research group (Research Group on Education for Global Citizenship), working on topics of education for global citizenship and other critical and participatory pedagogies; I also maintain my affiliation as an external collaborator with the SEPA-interea Group at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), particularly in the area of climate change and the culture of sustainability; and I am a member of the research team for the inter-university project “Childhood and Participation. Diagnosis and Proposals for Active and Inclusive Citizenship in the Community, Institutions and Governance “Infancia y participación. Diagnóstico y propuestas para una ciudadanía activa e inclusiva en la comunidad, las instituciones y la gobernanza”.
Contact
Faculdade de Ciencias da Educación
Universidade da Coruña
Campus de Elviña, s/n
15071 A Coruña
881014684