Accelerating Change Mark Steed, Principal/CEO at Kellett School Hong Kong, reflects on leadership, teaching and learning innovation and the importance of putting wellbeing at the centre of his school’s response to the pandemic.
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ovid has provided a supreme test for everyone involved in education across the world. In Hong Kong we were well prepared for this test because we had already closed for a week in November due to the Hong Kong protests, forcing us to move to online learning. The school had used that time to shift quickly and easily into online learning with a stripped back curriculum based on live online teaching using the Zoom platform. This move required putting in place a lot of work to create protocols and policies for online learning. For example, the creation of a permission and a parental guide to online learning was really important because our staff were beaming directly into a child’s home. When we returned to school after the protest shutdown we had three weeks to the Chinese New Year and then we were off for 17 weeks straight for the
covid lockdown. It wasn’t the enormous teaching and learning challenge it could have been because we had already done the groundwork and knew that our approach worked. The fact that we were at the vanguard of things also meant that we could support other schools with our knowledge and experience and we shared our processes and protocols with schools in Dubai and the UK as well as with the Independent Schools Council. Covid has pushed most schools to upskill and adopt the technology. For many international schools this is possible not just because of investment but it’s also about the willingness of staff to throw themselves into this and do the training. Necessity is the mother of invention and it has spurred people, including the technological laggards, to adopt these new ways of working. That upskilling has had to happen here. The average age of our staff is 35 so they are
already open to the adoption of new technology solutions. You need enthusiasts within your staff body but you also need a clear vision from the leadership. This combination of the enthusiasm and innovation from staff and the leadership has worked well for us.
“ I believe schools are heading towards a digital future anyway... Covid has just accelerated that change rather than change our directions ” I believe that schools are heading towards a digital future anyway, based on a blended learning model. Teaching and learning, qualifications and assessment and recruitment - all of these areas were moving towards digital before the pandemic struck. Covid has just accelerated that change rather than change our directions.
THE FOBISIAN: September 2020, Term 1, Issue 34
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