eNews Issue 28

Last weekend, Hong Kong Academy was privileged to host the Thinking Collaborative Conference. Over 150 educators from over 40 international schools attended, including 25 of our own faculty. The Thinking Collaborative is a leading global organisation that is committed to the idea of being “self-directed”. Students - and adults too! - who are “self-directed” are able to think deeply, reflect wisely, and engage empathetically with their peers. At HKA, we have been using many Thinking Collaborative strategies across the entire school community to develop our dynamic community of learners. If you’d like to read more, please see my recent article in hkaVoices on parents and partners and how we use the seven norms of collaboration at HKA.

It’s exciting to see how much HKA has grown in its approach to professional development for our teachers. One of the key foci of our strategic plan is the recruiting, development and retention of quality faculty and staff. Essential to that strategy is providing meaningful and challenging professional development opportunities. With this conference, as with NFI last autumn, HKA both hosted a conference and led aspects of it, and it was exciting to be able to offer this sort of leadership to our colleagues.

Thanks to everyone who attended Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences this week. Conferences are just one way in which the school fosters communication with parents, and it was great to see so many families on campus. Conferences are only one avenue of communication, though, and please know that our doors are always open.