Biographical note

Professor Heidi Harju-Luukkainen is a vice director at the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and leads the Ph.D. program and teacher education programs on campus. She has published more than 270 scholarly papers and worked on more than 40 projects globally. She has previously edited volumes for Springer Nature, Routledge, and Palgrave, among others. Heidi has worked in multiple countries in research universities, as well as in many Nordic research universities. She has also developed education programs for universities and had been a principal investigator for PISA sub-assessments in Finland.

Professor Susanne Garvis is the international co-ordinator within the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University, Australia. She is also the program convenor of the Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care. Susanne has been involved in numerous international projects across the world, and lived and worked within higher education in Sweden and Australia. She is currently a member of the AITSL Teacher Education Expert Standing Committee in Australia, and involved with numerous organisations to support higher education internationalisation strategies.

Associate Professor Jonna Kangas is Docent and Ph.D. of Education, and works as a director of the Blended Teacher Training program and joint research member in Playful Learning Center, Faculty of Education Science, University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research focuses on play-based learning and pedagogy in early childhood education and teacher education. She is also an expert on policy document analysis concerning teacher educational question globally. She aims to understand learning processes through joy and participation, both in children's learning, and in teachers’ professional development. She uses her findings to design innovative teacher training and mentoring programmes in Finland and developing countries.

Professor João Marôco is a full professor of statistics and research methods at ISPA—Instituto Universitário, Lisboa, Portugal, and invited professor at FLU Pedagogy at Nord University, Bodø, Norway. Previously, he served on the board of directors of the Portuguese National Assessment Agency (IAVE, I.P.), where he coordinated International Large Scale Assessments (PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS, ICILS) and e-assessment projects. He is also an international consultant in educational statistics for the World Bank. João's research interests are in the areas of reading and math literacy, student engagement and burnout, and statistical modelling. He has published several books and more than 350 research papers in the areas of Statistics, Psychometrics, Modelling, and Education.

Associate Professor Minna Maunula (Ph.D.) is university lecturer and operative director and works in the University of Jyväskylä, Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius, in Finland. Her research and developing interests focus on the life course of adults, the relevance and sustainable future of education in a global era, and the development of web-based and multi-modal education in adult academic education.

Minna Maunumäki (Ph.D.) is a university teacher in Education, Adult Education, and Early Childhood Education at the University of Jyväskylä Open University and Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius in Finland. Her areas of interest include learning and learning assessment, education policy, and the development of web-based and multi-modal education in adult education.