Osama Al Mahdi is an assistant professor in Bahrain Teachers College [BTC] at the University of Bahrain. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy [FHEA] in the United Kingdom, upon completing the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice [PCAP] Program in York St. John University in 2012. Dr Al Mahdi received his master’s degree in Primary Education from the University of Bahrain in 2001, and his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Bristol, UK in 2009. His areas of expertise include, primary education, teacher training and professional development, educational leadership, home-school relationships, social foundations of education, sociocultural theory, and research methodologies.
Ted Purinton is Senior Education Advisor for the Economic Development Board of Bahrain with special secondment as the Dean of the Bahrain Teachers College (BTC). Previously, he served as Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the American University in Cairo (AUC), as well as Associate Provost for the University (AUC’s senior internationalization officer, also responsible for academic administration and strategic initiatives). Prior, he served as Chair of the Department of Educational Administration at National Louis University in Chicago; Associate at the Center for Literacy, North Central Regional Educational Laboratory; programs administrator at the Paramount Unified School District in Los Angeles; and a high school/intermediate school English teacher in Los Angeles. He holds a doctorate in educational policy, planning, and administration from the University of Southern California. Purinton has served on multiple boards for various schools and other educational institutions and has consulted for a wide range of educational organizations and governments on issues ranging from organizational restructuring to teacher professional development, university budget allocation to tertiary system redesign, and more.