TISSL Conference for Head of Schools to focus on ‘Managing Change in Schools’
The International Schools of Sri Lanka ( TISSL), the Association of the P rem ie r International Schools of Sri Lanka is organising their annual International Conference from 7thto the 9th of November 2014 at the Earl’s Regency, Kandy. This is a unique event which will include presentations from esteemed educationists from around the world and will also provide networking opportunities to the Heads of Schools.
The theme of the Conference – Managing Change in Schools– was selected as a timely topic with the many challenges faced by leaders of education due to the rapid changes that have taken place in teaching and learning over the past decade. The speakers will provide insightful presen- tations to introduce best international education practices in order to promote dialogue on how best these practices can be implemented locally.
The Chief Guest at this high- profile event will be Mr. L a l i t h We e r a t h u n g a , Secretary to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka. Mr. Anura Dissanayake, Secre t a r y, Minister of Education will officiate at the opening of the Conference Sessions on Day Two.
The Conference will be open to Heads of State Schools, Private Schools and non-member International schools too. The Principal Sponsors of the event are Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge International Examinations and Austrade ( Australian Government). The co- sponsors are British Council, University of Nottingham Malaysia and Monash University Malaysia. About the speakers D r. Ganakumaran Subramaniam holds a B. Ed. f rom Unive r s i t i P u t r a Malaysia. He read for his Masters of Arts and Ph. D. in the University of Nottingham, UK. He is a Fulbright Scholar. Currently he is the Head of S ch o o l a n d A s s o c i at e Professor at the School of Education, University of Nottingham, Malaysia campus.
Dr. Subramaniam’s presentation will reason that in the face of 21st century challeng- es and demands, schools and school leaders need to move beyond the traditional modes of leadership and manage- ment, to engage change management with greater emotional and social orientations
Mr. Peter Hall Jones is a leadership and culture change specialist. He is a co-founder of the Curriculum Foundation and has worked extensively on helping teachers, head teachers and government officials develop world class curriculum experiences for all learners. Mr. Jones’ presentation on Managing or Leading Change,will explore how to motivate, inspire and sell change to others as a way of meeting their needs and achieving shared challenging visions. He will look at a range of psychological tools, techniques and strategies and will entertain, challenge, provoke, equip and motivate those in attendance to return to work more confident, renewed and informed about a range of tools and processes to engage others in transformational change.
Dr. Benson Soong is the Managing Director of iAcademy, an educational social entrepreneurship who brings affordable, internationally recognized tertiary education to developing nations void of such qualifications. Concurrently, he is also the Chief Academic Officer at Islington College (Nepal) and is a Visiting Scholar at London Metropolitan University (UK). Dr. Soong is also an Editor for the Journal of Information Technology Education, and serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Interactive Learning Research.
Dr. Soong holds a PhD from Cambridge University, an MSc from the National University of Singapore, and conjoint BSc/BCom degrees from the University of Auckland.
Dr. Soong’s will share his experience in transforming a Nepalese Vocational Training Institute into a comprehensive higher education college offering the GCE ‘A’ Levels, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from a public UK University within a time span of four years. He will discuss the key challenges that he and this team had to overcome when managing massive change within.
Professor Helen Bartlett is the President and Chief Executive of Monash University Malaysia. She started her career in community health and subsequently moved to the higher education sector where she has worked for over 25 years, holding senior leadership roles at all organizational levels in universities in UK, Hong Kong and Australia. Professor Bartlett has been awarded numerous national competitive research grants and government consultancies and continues to serve on various research advisory boards in Australia and Malaysia.
Professor Bartlett will discuss the challenges of transitioning from high school to university where students expect university.