I have completed my school education and M.A (Ed.) degree in Finland, and PhD (Ed.) degree at the Canterbury Christ Church University College / University of Kent, UK, in 2005.

I have been working as a teacher at all levels of education, and as a special teacher in year grades 1-9. I have extensive working experience in teacher education (in-service and pre-service, on-the-job training), school development work and policy development for inclusive education.

Since 1995, I have been involved in working in the field of inclusive education. Between 1995-2001 I worked at UNESCO (Harare, Zimbabwe, and Paris, France) as a Programme Specialist responsible for the conceptual and practical development of Inclusive Education. This work involved policy advice to the Member States, mainly in Africa, as well as developing teacher education. 2002-2009 I have worked in South Africa and Tanzania in long term assignments in strategic development of Inclusive Education. During that period I have also been involved in developing inclusive education policies and strategies in Namibia and Eritrea. In Finland, I have worked in education cite development activities and in-service teacher education in the field of inclusive education.

2009 - 2015, I was responsible for the 60 ECTS studies in special needs education at the University of Lapland, Finland. I came to University of Helsinki, Open University, in August 2015 to teach special needs education at B.Ed. level. In 11/2017 - 10/2020 I was on leave-on-absence as I was appointed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as Counsellor in education at the Embassy of Finland in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My duties included development co-operation in the education sector, and co-chairing the Education Sectot Technical Working Group - the coordination mechanism between the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and the development partners. I am currently leading the development of Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL), a national higher education institutions' network for a greater global impact, at the UoH Faculty of Education.

My research interests are school development for inclusion, learners’ voices and inclusive pedagogy, as well as collaborative professional development for inclusion.