Dr Nicola Rolls, Head, School of Academic Language and Learning, Charles Darwin University, Australia: editor and major contributor.Dr Rolls' PhD entitled Academic Discourses and the 21st Century examines the climate of diversity, the academic challenges faced by students and approaches to overcoming these from a systematic functional and socio-cultural perspective, with reference to current widely utilised learning theories. She is the principal author of a textbook on Academic Language and Learning, and has developed numerous courses for students and staff relating to successful first-year teaching and learning. As a chief investigator/project leader, she has led two successful national teaching and learning awards for excellence in first-year pedagogy and support. Her recent research focus has been on understanding patterns of student engagement, retention and success in higher education, especially for non-traditional students.Professor Andrew Northedge, Emeritus Professor of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, The Open University, UK: editor and major contributor.Prof. Northedge was an educational innovator and author for nearly 40 years at The Open University, UK, researching its radical new teaching methods and playing an influential role in developing them. He specialised in the challenges of providing effective entry routes for unqualified and inexperienced adults – heading the development of the OU Widening Participation programme, chairing key foundation courses and writing The Good Study Guide (sales of over a million), as well as co-writing the Arts Good Study Guide and the Sciences Good Study Guide. In addition to his external publications, he has written extensively on pedagogy for staff of The Open University, as well as authoring many OU audio, video and textual course materials. Amongst his work beyond the OU, he was adviser to a key Adult Basic Education and Training programme in post-apartheid South Africa and has run workshops for HE teachers in various parts of the world. He was also a regular consultant and tutor for The Centre for Higher Education Studies at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK. In 2005, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the UK Higher Education Academy.Professor Ellie Chambers, Emeritus Professor of Humanities, The Open University, UK: editor and contributor.Prof. Chambers has contributed to the production of some 40 Open University undergraduate courses during her 34 years of employment there. On behalf of the university she was also engaged as a consultant in around 15 universities world-wide – in particular she helped to train academic staff at Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi, in the early 90s. She was founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal ‘Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice’ (Sage), from 2001-2008. She also co-authored the book Teaching and Learning English Literature (Sage, 2006), in the book Series ‘Teaching and Learning the Humanities in Higher Education’ of which she was a Series Editor. She has published two other books (including the co-authored Arts Good Study Guide, OU), has edited four books, and has produced over 20 papers and book chapters since 2000. She is an experienced teacher, researcher, author and editor.Dr Peter Wignell is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education, Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University, Australia. His current research interests are in Systemic Functional Linguistics, especially in its application to the analysis of multimodal texts, with a recent focus on discourses of violent extremism. His research has also focused on the role of language in the construction of specialised knowledge. Prior to his current position Peter worked in the field of academic literacy for many years applying his theoretical knowledge to managing, developing teaching and learning materials and teaching on academic literacy programs.Dr David Rose is Director of Reading to Learn, an international literacy program that trains teachers across school and university sectors, in Australia, Africa, Asia and Western Europe. He is an Honorary Associate of the University of Sydney, Australia. His research includes analysis and design of classroom discourse, effective practices for beginning literacy, techniques for embedding reading and writing skills in curriculum learning, professional learning for teachers about pedagogy and language, language typology, language evolution and social semiotic theory. His work has been particularly concerned with Indigenous Australian communities, languages and education programs, with whom he has worked for over 30 years.Frances Tolhurst is a Lecturer at Charles Darwin University in the north of Australia and currently teaches academic literacy skills to students preparing for university and those enrolled in first year university studies. Throughout her teaching career, she has been involved in teaching language and literacy across the education sector to a diverse range of students, many of whom speak English as an additional language. She has also spent many years establishing teacher education programs internationally. These have included early learning programs for children in the rural areas of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kenya and Uganda, and adult literacy programs for women across northern and central Afghanistan.Kerin Bolton is an Academic Literacy Lecturer at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Northern Territory, Australia, teaching in CDU’s Tertiary Enabling Program. She has worked in the adult education sector for 20 years, including delivery of community education programs, teaching English as an additional language (EAL) in Vietnam, Laos and in the Northern Territory, and teaching academic literacy and learning in enabling and first year higher education programs. Her teaching practice has been informed and shaped by working with learners in these contexts, particularly in providing effective teaching and learning to an increasingly diverse student group in the higher education sector. Dr Linda Hodson currently works as a Lecturer in Academic Language and Learning Programs at Charles Darwin University in Sydney. Throughout her career she has developed and taught numerous Media Analysis and Humanities preparation courses to both local and international students as well as courses in academic language and learning. Her research and particular expertise lie in understanding the qualities in tertiary teachers that help to engender and sustain a commitment to an empowering pedagogy to enhance students’ sense of agency and confidence in themselves and their relationships with each other. Professional experiences that challenge or enable the development of such pedagogy are a part of her enquiry, as well as the role of creativity in learning and research.
