EdFest 2022 | Introducing our keynote speakers!

Huan Song is a doctoral supervisor and the Deputy Director at the Centre for Teacher Education Research at Beijing Normal University. He is also the Deputy Secretary-General of the Teacher Education Branch of the China Association of Higher Education. His research fields include teachers' professional development, curriculum reform, and qualitative research methods. He has presided over 20 national and provincial departmental projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China and has published more than 50 SSCI and CSSCI papers, submitted dozens of advisory reports and published several monographs.

In his keynote address entitled 'Education for Sustainable Development and PBLs: International Experience and China’s Exploration', Professor Song will discuss problem-based learning, place-based learning and project-based learning and how it can be applied in educating young children about sustainability. 

Dr Lizhong Yu was the founding Chancellor of NYU Shanghai, serving from 2012 to 2020. He has also served as President of East China Normal University and Shanghai Normal University and has over 24 years of university administrative experience. His research interests include Environmental Magnetism, Environmental Changing and Sustainable Development. He has received seven awards from the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal Government. He has also published over 180 papers in both national and international journals. 

Dr Yu's talk, 'Opportunities and Challenges of International Cooperation in Education in the New Era', will explore the significance of international cooperation in education and how it improves quality and efficiency in opening up Shanghai’s education system to the outside world.

Ben Fennell is the founder of The Growth House, which works with senior teams at companies such as Virgin Media, Costa, LinkedIn, AstraZeneca and Fuji Film, helping them to create high performance behaviours and to accelerate growth. Prior to this, Ben spent 16 years as the CEO of BBH in Singapore and then London, helping businesses and brands like Audi, Barclays, British Airways and Tesco grow.  

Will Greenwood is a celebrated rugby player who played for Harlequin F.C. and Leicester Tigers before being selected for England's World Cup-winning squad in 2003, Greenwood finished the tournament joint top try scorer with five to his name. In 2005, in the culmination of an outstanding career, he picked up his first Test caps for the British and Irish Lions in the 2005 tour of New Zealand. In total, he toured three times with the Lions, in 1997, 2001 and 2005. After retiring, he served as a match presenter for 16 years and is currently a columnist for the Saturday Telegraph. He also drove the hugely popular ‘School of Hard Knocks’, a programme that gives at-risk youths the opportunity to train, grow and shine through sport. Greenwood is currently the Chief Customer Officer at Afiniti, an artificial intelligence company that helps organisations use data and AI to have better interactions with their customers. 

Ben and Will are both Wellington parents and co-authors of World Class, a book about leadership, teamwork and growth. In their talk, they will discuss the importance of celebrating differences, forging togetherness and accelerating growth.

Mandy Hickson has over 30 years‘ experience in aviation. She joined the Royal Air Force in 1994 and flew the Tornado GR4 on the front line, where she operated in hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No-Fly’ zone over Iraq. She now works as a facilitator and coach in human performance factors. Drawing on her experience of calculated risk-taking, decision-making under pressure and the critical role of the human in the process, she transfers lessons from the cockpit to other management and leadership contexts. She has been invited to share her insights with some of the most successful organisations across the world where she describes the strategies & behaviours that can be adopted when the stakes are at their highest. She is also the author of the best-selling book An Officer, Not a Gentleman. 

In her talk, Hickson will share her experiences of overcoming obstacles and developing the skills to succeed in demanding career.  

John Gwyn Jones is the CEO of FOBISIA, where he supports nearly 90 premier British international schools in 17 countries throughout Asia. His career in education spans 45 years, and he has held teaching leadership post in places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Laos. Mr Jones was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in her 2020 New Year’s Honours List for his services to British education overseas. He has received a Leadership award from Julia Gillard, the first female Prime Minister of Australia, for his dedicated leadership service in international education. He has also been invited to numerous global and regional educational conferences as a guest and keynote speaker and is a member of the advisory Board of BETT Asia.  

In his talk entitled 'The Challenges of Developing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Culture in International Schools', Mr Jones will ask how schools should address these issues in the future to ensure balance, without compromising what is best for a school and its community.