Sai Väyrynen is an Adjunct Professor (of Inclusive education and global education issues, at University of Jyväskylä) and the director of the GINTL network. She has a PhD in education.
Sai has a versatile career in education, having worked as teacher, special needs education teacher, teacher educator and researcher in Finland. Internationally, she has also worked as programme specialist at UNESCO in Zimbabwe and UNESCO headquarters in France, focusing on the development of inclusive education policies and practices. Sai has worked as senior adviser in inclusive education at the Department of Education in South Africa, and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Tanzania. In Ethiopia, she worked as counsellor in education at the Embassy of Finland, co-chairing the Education Sector Technical Working Group. Sai has provided consultancy services to number of development co-operation actors in countries such as Namibia, Benin, Eritrea and Ethiopia. In the African continent, she has visited 20 countries in work-related trips. Sai’s research interest in education are related to education policies, inclusion and social justice, inclusive pedagogy, teacher development, and understanding the phenomenon of education realities from multiple perspectives.