Ismail Hussein Amzat, PhD is a visiting senior lecturer at the School of Education and Modern Languages (SEML), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Kedah Malaysia. He was also a visiting Assistant Professor at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman. He has extensive experience teaching at Malaysian public universities, international colleges and schools. His research interests include educational leadership, management, planning and policy. Dr Amzat was the editor-in-chief of the Springer book “Fast forwarding Higher Education Institutions for Global Challenges: Perspectives and Approaches” (2016) and the Routledge book “Teacher Professional Knowledge and Development for Reflective and Inclusive Practices” (2017). Nena Padilla-Valdez is currently a visiting faculty professor at the Faculties of Humanities and Business Management and Junior High School Consultant at President University, Cikarang, Indonesia. For six years, she was a visiting professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia in the area of educational psychology. She has been a master trainer in area of teaching and learning at the Higher Education Leadership Academy, the training arm of the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and a continuing education provider for working professionals in Hong Kong, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam, among others. Prior to this, she was the Academic Affairs Vice President at Saint Mary’s University, an ETEEAP technical panel and a book editor-reviewer in the Philippine Commission of Higher Education and Department of Education, respectively. She obtained her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila. Her main research interests and publications are in the areas of learner diversity and engagement, teacher development, pedagogy, cultural preservation and diversity, early childhood care and development, and school counseling.
