GELC 2015 - SPEAKERS
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SPEAKERS' PROFILE

 Dr Robyn Jackson

 

Dr. Robyn R. Jackson is passionate about the profession of teaching. She helps teachers and administrators understand the principles of mastery teaching and shows them how to apply these principles in order to help every student succeed. As a former high school English teacher and middle school administrator, she refined these principles on her own journey to become a master teacher. And, now as a best-selling author, internationally recognized keynote speaker, and professional developer, she provides step-by-step advice on how to use these same principles to become or help others become master teachers. Because she believes that every child deserves a master teacher and that any teacher can become a master teacher with the right kind of support and practice, and she started Mindsteps™ Inc., a professional development firm located in Washington, DC to provide the right kind of practice for teachers and the administrators who lead them. She doesn’t just want to change how we teach; Dr. Jackson wants to change the way that we think about teaching.

Dr. Jackson is the author of nine books including Never Work Harder Than Your Students and the Mastering the Principles of Great Teaching series. Through her speaking and training she inspires audiences world-wide to become master teachers, implement more rigorous instruction, support struggling students, and provide effective instructional leadership.

 


 

Professor Peter Earley

 

Professor Peter Earley holds the Chair of Education Leadership and Management and is Director of Academic Affairs  at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning at the Institute of Education, University College London. His central research interests are leadership, school improvement, professional development, inspection, self-evaluation and school governance. Recent externally-funded research and evaluation projects include: effective head teacher performance management (2013); the changing landscape of educational leadership in England (2012); the experiences of new headteachers (2011); an evaluation of the NPQH programme (2010); and a review of fast-track or accelerated leadership development programmes (2009). His most recent books are: Exploring the School Leadership Landscape: Changing demands, changing realities (Bloomsbury, 2013), Accelerated Leadership Development: fast-tracking school leaders, (IOE, 2010 with Jeff Jones) and Helping Staff Develop in Schools(Sage, 2010 with Sara Bubb).

 


 

 Professor Zhang Minxuan

 

Born in 1953, Professor Zhang Minxuan obtained his bachelor’s degree at Anhui Normal University in 1982, his master’s degree at Hangzhou University in 1986 and his doctorate at the University of Hong Kong in 2001.  His major area of research lies in comparative education. In 2004, Professor Zhang was one of the consultants for Singapore Ministry of Education’s Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review.  In March 2014, he hosted the Global Cities Education Network (GCEN) Working Group Meeting in Shanghai.

 

 

Before his retirement in 2014, Professor Zhang held many key appointments, including:

  • President of Shanghai Normal University;
  • Vice-Director General of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission;
  • Director of Centre of International Education Study and Consultation, Ministry of Education, China;
  • Director of Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences;
  • National Project Manager of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for Shanghai;
  • Member of the United Nations International Institute of Educational Planning; and
  • Member of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

 

Prof Zhang was also involved in various national and international projects, such as:

  • Cambodia’s Fiscal Policy Advice Issues of Higher Education (World Bank);
  • Cambodia’s Economic Development Assistance for Primary Education, Evaluation and Investment (UNICEF);
  • Comparative Study on International Students Policies and Practices in Education Exporting Countries (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation);
  • Study on Administration System for International Education Services in China (Ministry of Education, China); and
  • Open-Door Policy Framework Design for Chinese International Education in Future (Ministry of Education, China).

 


 

 Dr Noeleen Heyzer

 

Dr Noeleen Heyzer is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. She is currently the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Timor-Leste, working to support peace-building, state-building, and sustainable development

She was the first woman to serve as the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific since its founding in 1947. Under her leadership (Aug 2007-Jan 2014), the commission focused on regional co-operation for a more resilient Asia-Pacific, founded on shared prosperity, social equity, and sustainable development. She was at the forefront of many innovations including for regional disaster preparedness, inclusive socio-economic policies, sustainable agriculture and urbanization, energy security and regional connectivity.

As the first Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women from the South, she was widely recognized for the formulation and implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.

She was a founding member of numerous international women's networks and has published extensively on gender and development issues, especially economic globalization, international migration and trafficking, women, peace and security.

She was a New Millennium Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, member of the UNDP Eminent Persons Group on Trade and Sustainable Development, and chairperson of the Consortium Advisory Group of the Research Programme on Women's Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out. She has also successfully mobilized private sector partners such as Macy's, CISCO, Citigroup and the Calvert Investment Fund to provide high value employment and market access to women and youth in conflict and tsunami affected areas, and to the Arab States, as well as to set new standards for ethical investment.

She has received several awards for leadership including the UNA-Harvard Leadership Award, the Woman of Distinction Award from the UN-NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NCRW "Women Who Make a Difference" Award in 2005 and the Dag Hammarskjöld medal in 2004 given to "a person who has promoted, in action and spirit, the values that inspired Dag Hammarskjöld as Secretary-General of the United Nations and generally in his life: compassion, humanism and commitment to international solidarity and cooperation".

 


 

Dr Gunnar Lee-Miller

 

Dr. Gunnar Lee-Miller is the founder and president of Telos Investment, a private equity firm headquartered in Singapore. Having performed his studies at Harvard University, Occidental College and holding a doctorate in Philosophy, he was a 3x All-American Track & Field athlete, NCAA Scholar-Athlete, former Collegiate record
holder in the Pole Vault, Hall of Fame inductee at Occidental College. Dr. Lee-Miller is a well-respected business leader in Asia with such clients as: Singapore Airlines, National Commercial Bank Saudi Arabia, Far East Organization, Linde Gas, Singapore Ministry of Education and the InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore.

In addition to leading Telos Investment, Dr. Lee-Miller has a particular interest in leadership development and has worked with the Academy of Principals for several years. Dr. Lee-Miller firmly believes that Singapore is a world-leader in education and he is grateful for the privilege of working with the country’s top educators.

 


 

Professor Helen Wildy

 

Dr Helen Wildy is Winthrop Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of Western Australia. Her background as a student in a very small rural primary school in Western Australia underpins her commitment to education, particularly the leadership of small schools. As a student in the Faculty of Education of UWA, she completed a Masters degree in Education in 1990 and Ph D in 1998.

She currently conducts research and supervises doctoral and Masters students in a range of leadership and school improvement topics, particularly related to the use of assessment data by school leaders. She has been chief investigator or co-chief investigator in research projects worth more than $7m since 2000. For the past decade she has worked with school sectors in Western Australia on projects to present national assessment data in formats that are accessible to school leaders and teachers.

She is Director of Performance Indicators for Primary Schools (PIPS) Australia, a literacy and numeracy assessment program for students entering school, used by over 600 schools in all Australian states and territories. Her most recent ARC funded research projects involved the development of instruments to measure performance: one related to the selection of school principals, another to measure the outcomes of treatment for young adolescents in residential rehabilitation programs. She is a founding member of the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP) project.

 


 

Professor James Berry

 

Dr. Berry is a professor in the Department of Leadership & Counseling at Eastern Michigan University. He also serves as the Executive Director of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration.  In this capacity he represents members of NCPEA on the National Policy Board for Educational Administration and manages the affairs of the organization. He has worked to expand NCPEA as a professional academic organization through its publications and online presence. NCPEA Publications has become a recognized publisher of professional books in the field of educational administration.

Dr. Berry served as K-12 school or higher education administrator for sixteen of his thirty-five years in education. It is a career balanced by serving as a high school English teacher and faculty member in educational administration as well as a K-12 and higher education administrator within the realm of K-16 education.  He has served as an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, department head and associate dean. He was an American Council on Education fellow in 2001.

Dr. Berry’s has conducted research and written in the area of K-12 school reform with a focus on change leadership and the use of technology.  The book chapter “The Expanding Wireless World of Schooling” is a just published (February, 2015) publication in the Guide to Educational Leadership and Management edited by Fenwick English and Rosemary Papa.