Our research team

Olivia is a Lecturer Special and Inclusive Education at The University of Sydney, School of Education and Social Work. She was Adjunct Professor of Early Childhood Education at Santa Monica College and part of the Early Start Interdisciplinary Assessment team for the California Department of Disability and Social Services. Olivia holds a master’s degree in special education and a degree in acting, with 20 years of experience teaching drama to children and young people with disabilities.

In 2008, she started and managed the UCPlay Project with United Cerebral Palsy in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties, to bring creative arts classes to hundreds of students with disabilities in underserved urban schools and preschools in Los Angeles. Her PhD thesis explored drama as a pedagogy for inclusion and won the Teachers Guild Award for Research. Her current research is focused on joyful pedagogy in early childhood education and puppetry as an inclusive practice.