Prior to moving into academia, Angela taught in numerous schools with a variety of age groups in Scotland, England and Spain. During her time in school, Angela led successful European projects, established links abroad, mentored Language Assistants, and took part in teacher exchanges and educational visits to Barcelona, Cyprus, Finland, France and Lithuania. Awarded 'Advanced Skills Teacher' status in 2007, she then became a Local Authority advisory teacher for languages and later led the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service.

Before joining the University of Strathclyde, Angela worked as a lecturer in primary education at the University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth where she was also responsible for the early career development of NQTs. Angela completed her Masters research which focused on how primary teachers and senior leaders can successfully embed best practice in modern languages. 

Angela's PhD research investigated the experiences of bilingual children and their families in Scotland. It revealed the importance of bilingualism and biculturalism in their lives and the impact of this on their social, emotional and communcative development, especially for non-European families. Angela speaks Spanish at home and raises her children bilingually. 

Angela leads the MEd Education Studies course and teaches on a variety of modules across undergraduate, PGDE and postgraduate courses. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is interested in supervising postgraduate students (Masters & PhD/EdD) in the fields of bilingualism, languages, literacy, culture and the teaching & learning of English.