Noof Al Harrasi is an English Lecturer at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Oman. She has been teaching English in tertiary education for 12 years, with extensive experience in supporting EFL learners in higher education contexts.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Teaching from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, and a Master’s degree in TESOL from the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Noof is currently in her fourth year as a PhD candidate in TESOL and Applied Linguistics at the University of Leicester, where her research focuses on grammar instruction and form-focused input.

She is an Assistant Professor at the Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal. She is an integrated researcher at IJP–IPLeiria and a collaborating researcher at CI&DEI. She serves as the Scientific-Pedagogical Coordinator of the OPSA 2.0 Project. Her research focuses on legal studies, citizenship, human rights, and higher education.

Dr Mbali Mabaso Tsibuli is a lecturer in Curriculum Studies in the School of Professional Studies in Education at North-West University, Mahikeng Campus. Her teaching and supervision focus on social justice, critical thinking and research in education, particularly within the South African higher education context. Her core research interests centre on self-directed learning among African education students, lecturer behaviours and institutional support, as well as gender, curriculum and public policy. She is actively involved in research projects, postgraduate supervision and conference dissemination, contributing to debates on how universities can better cultivate autonomous, socially responsive and ethically grounded graduates.

Dr. Stephanie Liu, from the Chinese Language Centre, the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong. With nearly a decade of experience in tertiary-level Chinese education, Dr. Liu’s research interests span AI in language education, Chinese literature, and language studies.

Dr. Susan M. Tyrrell is a clinical associate professor at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX with a background in teacher preparation, English language study, and educational psychology. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, and has spent many years looking at issues of diversity in learning and teaching. As a teacher, professor, consultant, and global citizen, she comes to the table with experience, as well as knowledge.

William Jeynes is a Senior Fellow at Princeton’s Witherspoon Institute and a Professor of Education at California State University in Long Beach, California. He graduated first in his class from Harvard University and also graduated from the University of Chicago, where he received the Rosenberger Award for most outstanding student. Jeynes has spoken regularly and written for the White House, various government departments, and for three U.S. presidential administrations, as well as for former members of a fourth administration. He specializes in conducting meta-analyses. He has been an advisor/consultant for the E.U., the U.N., and several G20 foreign governments. His 4-point plan presented to the Acting President of South Korea passed the Korean Parliament and became the core of the nation’s 1998 economic stimulus legislation. This 4-point plan helped South Korea emerge from the greatest economic crisis since World War II faster than any other Asian nation (22% over two years). He has 195 publications to his credit, including 18 books. He received the “Distinguished Scholar Award” from the California Senate and the California State Assembly. He received the “Distinguished Achievement Award” from an arm of the American Educational Research Association.

Professor Martin Hagan is Head of Education Studies and a Principal Teacher Educator at St Mary’s University College, Belfast, Northern Ireland. He provides academic and professional leadership across undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education, with expertise in curriculum design, quality assurance, and professional accreditation. His research focuses on teacher professional learning, leadership development, professional identity, and collaborative school–university partnerships. Professor Hagan also makes significant contributions to education policy development, through his work with the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (Northern Ireland), of which he was a former Vice-Chair and Chair, and his work supporting the Department of Education for Northern Ireland to develop new pathways into teaching and professional leadership qualifications. Professor Hagan is also engaged in international research and knowledge-exchange collaborations across the UK, Europe, and the United States, to develop professional learning initiatives for teachers and aspiring leaders.

Linxi Zhao is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Learning and Leadership at the Institute of Education (IOE) in University College London. She holds an MA in Primary Education (4–12) from the IOE and a BEd in Early Childhood Education from Central China Normal University. Her research interests include effective learning and teaching, family education, and AI education in early childhood and primary education. Her current research focuses on the new concepts and relationship between self-regulated learning (SRL) and parental involvement (PI) in the AI era, aiming to explore how teachers and parents can collaboratively support primary students’ SRL skills within AI-accessible learning environments.