Dr Gabriel’s research interests are interdisciplinary and broadly focused on education and social justice, inclusive teaching strategies and transformative pedagogies. She explores these areas through the lens of intersectionality, examining the relationships between race and gender. She specializes in critical and emancipatory paradigms, applying mixed methods to qualitative-interpretative research. Areas of expertise include Black feminisms, critical race theory, social justice pedagogy, student centred learning, problem-based learning and education for sustainable development. She has used innovative modes of enquiry including critical ethnography, autoethnography, virtual ethnography, cyberethnography, experiential learning, conversational learning and participatory witnessing, alongside traditional methods such as focus groups, interviews, and case studies.
Inclusive Teaching Strategies
Dr Gabriel has applied her expertise in inclusive teaching practice to the development of new undergraduate modules while serving on revalidation teams. To extend inclusive teaching beyond her own practice, Dr Gabriel developed the 3D Pedagogy Framework to decolonise, democratise and diversify the higher education curriculum. The funded project involved developing a workshop for lecturers, teaching and programme staff and organising pilots at three institutions across a range of disciplines. This included delivering a workshop at the Canada International Conference on Education at the University of Toronto in June 2018.
Dr Gabriel developed the journalism project People With Voices (2008-2013)‘ to increase participation in the news industry among the most under-represented groups, funded by UnLtd and London Metropolitan University. The website has been archived by the British Library.
Journalism
Dr Gabriel’s journalism is focused on giving voice to the perspectives and experiences of marginalised groups and articulating issues around social justice. She has written for several publications including Times Higher Education, Guardian and Independent .
Social Commentary
Dr Gabriel has frequently been called upon as a media commentator to provide clarity and analysis of historic and contemporary issues and events. She has been interviewed across television, radio, print and online in the UK and US for a range of media outlets including BBC, Guardian, Independent, Times Higher Education and Huff Post.