Naomi Barnes is a researcher interested in how political actors perform and respond to crises. With a specific focus on moral panics, she has focussed on education politics in Australia, the US and the UK. Naomi is regularly asked to comment on how Australian teachers should respond to perceived threats to Australian nationalism, identity and democracy.

Stewart Riddle is Professor in the School of Education and Creative Arts at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His research examines the democratisation of schooling systems, increasing access and equity in education and how schooling can respond to critical social issues in complex contemporary times.

Bridget Hughes is an Australian Indigenous woman and educator who has worked across various educational settings for over 20 years. Her research explores the concepts of collective and social impact in relation to programmes and services affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She now applies these concepts to examine how they are operationalised in both education and health contexts.

Joanne Hughes is Head of the Department of Education and Director of the Centre for Shared Education at the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. She holds UNESCO Chair in Shared Education for Peacebuilding and Social Justice in Education, and her main research interest is in the role of education in divided societies.

Brian Beabout is the author of 16 peer-reviewed journal articles, 9 book chapters and 2 edited books. Much of his work tracks the last two decades of school reform in Post-Katrina New Orleans. His research focusses on community engagement in contexts of school choice, the unintended consequences of educational reform and urban school leadership.