Barend Vlaardingerbroek was educated at four Australasian universities. He was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut in 2004. Prior to this, he was a senior lecturer at the University of Botswana and a lecturer at the Goroka Campus of the University of Papua New Guinea. He also holds ten years of secondary school teaching experience across three countries. His principal research interests revolve around the external efficiency of schooling, including secondary school assessment and certification systems. He has published numerous papers in international and regional academic journals.

About Neil Taylor

Neil Taylor holds a PhD from Queensland University of Technology and is senior lecturer in science and technology education at the University of New England, Australia. He had been a secondary school teacher of science and geography in Jamaica and the United Kingdom before moving into tertiary education in 1990. Since then, he has worked at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. In his present position, he coordinates research degrees for the School of Education. His research interests include science, as well as environmental and vocational education; he has published widely in international journals on these topics.