Maria Natalia is a PhD student in Education at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, where she conducts research on the impact of gratitude on learning processes. She holds a BA in History from the Universidad de los Andes and a Master's degree in Education with an emphasis on Children's Literature from the University of Cambridge, UK. She is certified as a leader in reading and writing by the University of Exeter and the National Literacy Trust UK. She has over 20 years of teaching experience. Her research interests focus on gratitude, agency, children's and young adult literature in bilingual contexts, dialogic teaching, and the reconstruction of learning narratives.