Yaa has long been involved in devising curriculum resources for schools, supporting teachers and students to explore cultural diversity through imaginative and connected ways.

She was a lecturer at the University of Brighton in the School of Applied Social Studies, the School of Education and at the International Summer School at Sussex University. 

Since joining the University of Brighton in 2004, she has developed her interest in diversity by devising filmed resources for use in schools and universities, named Unfolding Identities. These resources aim to give a voice to those young people who may be perceived as being ‘different’ and are intended to encourage the dismantling of myths and stereotypes, and encourage an appreciation in the classroom of what contributes to making each of us who we are.

She has been a Director of Diversity Resource International since its inception and has used her knowledge to comprise and deliver courses to support organisational objectives and to enable people to maximise their personal and employment potential.

Yaa’s research interests are now developing to global exploration of how young people construct their identities, particularly in conjunction with issues of nationhood, race and ethnicity. Her doctoral thesis (2010) explored how teachers in ‘white majority’ schools understand and teach about the ‘Other’, how cultural diversity is perceived and delivered, and how effective the cultural diversity curriculum is.

Yaa has carried out action research in Eritrea (2016) and before this in Ghana (2012), exploring how pupils perceive their own national identity and their perceptions of the West in comparison.

She is committed to action research, both in implementation and in the use that the research is put to. She hopes that the research carried out with Eritrean young people may be used in dialogue with the Department of Education in Eritrea to influence the curriculum and the myths that may be perpetuated about life in the West.