Dr Debra Williams-Gualandi

where she also serves  as the Head of the University Consortium for International Teacher Education. Debra’s research focuses on evolving - and troubled - definitions of global citizenship, multilingual educational spaces, dialogic teaching strategies for controversial issues and pre-service teacher education.  She sits on the Multilingual Learning Research Center advisory board and the editorial committee of The Bridge: Journal of Educational Research and Theory. She has also served on the Governing Boards of Hockerill Anglo-European College, an IBDP state school in the UK, and the Albanian Colleges. Debra taught IBDP English, French and TOK in international schools in France and Italy, while running IB training workshops for in-service teachers globally, before serving as Director of the International School of Florence. 

Born in the UK, Debra earned a BA in English Literature from Columbia University, a Maitrise in Comparative Literature at the Universite’ de Paris IV - ‘La Sorbonne’ and a Master’s in Social Sciences at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales before completing a doctorate in international education at the University of Bath. The belief that learning opens minds, transforms lives, builds communities and is a source of joy, drives her commitment to international education.