2022 Yidan Prize Summit

Please find the biographies of our speakers in this PDF file.

SPEAKERS’ BIOGRAPHIES

Welcome

Dr Charles CHEN Yidan
Founder, Yidan Prize

Dr Charles CHEN Yidan founded the Yidan Prize in 2016, with a mission to create a better world through education. The prize recognizes and supports changemakers with the potential to shape tomorrow’s education landscape, in the hope that research and development can work closely together, constantly reinforcing each other and revealing new paths to explore. Dr Chen co-founded Tencent in 1998 and led the launch of the Tencent Charity Foundation in 2007. Dr Chen has dedicated himself to education philanthropy and set up Wuhan College, a pioneer of non-profit private universities in China. In 2018, Dr Chen donated his Tencent shares to further focus on advancing education globally.

Opening Keynote: rethinking the future of professional development for teachers in Asia-Pacific

Jeffrey Jian Xu
Senior Education Specialist (Education Technology), Asian Development Bank

Jeffrey serves in the ADB education sector group and covers ADB’s engagement in education related projects with various developing member countries across K-12 school education, higher education, and TVET, particularly using ICT and education technology to promote education equity, improve efficiency and efficacy in teaching and learning. Jeffrey is an information technology professional with over 25 years of experience enabling business transformation strategies through effective digital innovations, across multiple industries including education, financial services, bio-pharmaceutical, and telecom. Prior to joining ADB, Jeffrey was the CTO of New Oriental Education and Technology Group transforming the education industry using digital technology and led several educational support projects to rural provinces to solve educational inequity in China. Jeffrey also worked in the US for 12 years as IT Director with Freddie Mac, CIO Greater China Region with Novartis, and CIO CapitaLand China.

Reshaping teacher preparation in light of the pandemic

Moderator: Dr Maria Hyler
Director, Learning Policy Institute (Washington, DC Office)
Director, EdPrepLab

Maria E. Hyler serves as the Director of the Learning Policy Institute (LPI)’s Washington, DC office. She directs the Educator Preparation Laboratory (EdPrepLab) in partnership with Bank Street Graduate School of Education. EdPrepLab is a center on teacher and leader preparation for deeper learning and equity working to transform educator preparation through the alignment of research, practice, and policy.

Prior to taking her position at LPI, Hyler served as an Assistant Professor of Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. She began her career teaching 10th and 11th graders in Belmont, CA where she achieved National Board Certification in Adolescent Young Adult English Language Arts in 2000. That same year she left her classroom to pursue her doctoral studies.

Hyler received a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Stanford University, an MEd with a teaching credential from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a dual degree in English and Africana Studies from Wellesley College.

Dr Linda Darling-Hammond
2022 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate
President and CEO, Learning Policy Institute
Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus, Stanford University

Linda Darling-Hammond is Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University and founding president of the Learning Policy Institute, created to provide high-quality research to inform policies enabling equitable and empowering education for each and every child. Her research, which has been widely carried into policy and practice, has focused on fostering strong teaching and powerful learning by developing systems that ensure teachers and leaders are well-prepared, curriculum and assessment focus on meaningful learning, and schools are equitably and adequately resourced.
Darling-Hammond is past president of the American Educational Research Association and a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education. She has worked extensively with policymakers and educators, and led the education policy transition teams in 2008 and 2020. She currently serves as president of the California State Board of Education.

Darling-Hammond began her career as a public school teacher, and co-founded both a preschool and a public high school. Among her more than 600 publications are a number of award-winning books, including The Right to Learn, Teaching as the Learning Profession, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World, and The Flat World and Education.

Professor A. Lin Goodwin
Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College

A. Lin Goodwin (葛文林) is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College. Prior to joining Boston College, she was Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong (2017–2022) and Vice Dean at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York (2011–2017), where she also held the Edward Evenden Chair in Education. Professor Goodwin served as Vice President of the American Educational Research Association (AERA)—Division K: Teaching and Teacher Education (2013–2016), and is currently a Senior Research Fellow of the Learning Policy Institute. Her research focuses on teacher/teacher educator beliefs, identities and development; equitable education and powerful teaching for immigrant and minoritized youth; international comparisons of teacher education practice and policy; and the experiences of Asian/Americans in US schools. She has been recognized as a Distinguished Researcher by the AERA SIG: Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans, and Distinguished Scholar by AERA’s Committee on Scholars of Color. Professor Goodwin recently received a Spencer Foundation Mentor Award honoring her work with emerging academics and doctoral students; she began her career as a special education teacher in secondary school.

Professor LOW Ee Ling
Dean, Academic & Faculty Affairs, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University

Professor LOW Ee Ling is Dean, Academic and Faculty Affairs, the immediate past Dean, Teacher Education and a Professor of Education (Applied Linguistics and Teacher Education) at the English Language & Literature Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She obtained her PhD in Linguistics (Acoustic Phonetics) from the University of Cambridge, UK under the NTU-NIE Overseas Graduate Scholarship. She won the Fulbright Advanced Research Scholarship which she spent at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College.

She is an internationally renowned expert in Teacher Education and World Englishes. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the AILA Review, series editor of the Routledge Studies in World Englishes, a co-series editor of Springer’s Empowering Teaching and Learning through Policies and Practice: Singapore and International Perspectives and Walter de Gruyter’s Handbooks of Applied Linguistics. She is a member of the OECD Education 2030 Scientific Committee and the Forum for World Education Steering Committee. In 2021, she was recognized for her exemplary scholarship by the Academy for Leadership in Teacher Education, University of Hong Kong, and appointed as a member of the Board of Governors for the International Baccalaureate Organization. Recently, she was elected as a Fellow of the prestigious International Academy of Education based in Belgium.

Professor Mistilina Sato
Head, School of Teacher Education, University of Canterbury

Mistilina Sato is a Professor of Education at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand and currently serves as the Head of the School of Teacher Education. Prior to her move to the University of Canterbury, Sato held the Carmen Starkson Campbell Chair for Innovation in Teacher Development at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she led the Teacher Education Redesign Initiative and chaired the Network for Excellence in Teaching university consortium. Sato’s research focuses on teacher development across the career continuum, including studies in the development of equity-based dispositions for teaching in pre-service teacher education, consequential validity of performance assessments in pre-service teacher education, epistemological underpinnings of teacher education curriculum, transitions from teacher education into career teaching, and teacher leadership development. Her recent international research has focused on policy systems in China and Japan that support teaching quality. She has won research awards from the National Staff Development Council AERA Division on Teaching and Teacher Education. Sato began her career in teaching as a middle school science teacher. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Sciences from Princeton University and a PhD in Curriculum and Teacher Education from Stanford University.

Thinking like scientists: transforming STEM teaching and learning

Moderator: Dr Christopher Thomas
Director of Partnerships, Yidan Prize Foundation

Christopher Thomas is Director of Partnerships at the Yidan Prize Foundation and Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. Before joining the Yidan Prize Foundation and Stanford University, he was the Advisor to the Education Global Practice at the World Bank. He has served in a range of corporate strategy and management roles at the World Bank Group, including Lead Strategy Officer, Advisor to the Managing Director, and Manager of human development programs in Asia and Africa. Dr Thomas played a key role in forging the World Bank’s contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations agreements on Financing for Development, and partnerships with the IMF and multilateral development banks. Dr Thomas holds an MA in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Education from Stanford University.

Professor Carl Wieman
2020 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate
Founder, PhET Interactive Simulations
Professor of Physics & Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

Carl Wieman is a Professor of Physics and Education at Stanford University. He is the author of the book Improving How Universities Teach Science and the recipient of the 2020 Yidan Prize in Education Research and the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.

Carl studies how students learn and the effectiveness of teaching interventions. He founded the PhET Interactive Simulations at University of Colorado Boulder. Since 2002, PhET Interactive Simulations has delivered over 1 billion STEM simulations in 93 languages. The PhET Interactive Simulations model has had a significant influence in transforming undergraduate education.

He served as founding chair of the Board of Science Education of the National Academy of Sciences, and Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2010–2012.

Setegn Ayalew Bogale
PhET Fellow
Lecturer, Ambo University

Setegn Ayalew is a lecturer of Physics at Ambo University in Ethiopia. He has double MSc degrees: MSc in Physics and MSc in advanced optical technologies. He has worked at the university for over 10 years, and is one of the 15 African PhET fellows selected in 2022. He was selected for his expertise in the use of PhET’s digital tools and effective pedagogies. After the fellowship, he hopes to be one of the best STEM digital educational leaders across Africa.

Zachariah Mbasu
Africa PhET Ambassador

Zach leads PhET Interactive Simulations Africa’s strategy and regional activities. He has spent most of his career in classroom teaching and learning with young people 5–18+, the majority of that time working in teacher education, school improvement, and learning resource development in parallel. In his previous role as an Education Advisor, he assisted over 3,000 teachers in improving the standard of math teaching and learning in Africa. He is passionate about every learner’s potential to engage in STEM subjects in meaningful, exciting, and satisfying ways.

Joseph Nsengimana
Director, Mastercard Foundation’s African Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning

Joseph is the Director of the Mastercard Foundation African Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning. The Centre seeks to establish a growing and impactful African EdTech ecosystem that will catalyze innovation and advance promising practices in the use of ICT in learning and teaching to benefit African learners, educators, and policymakers. This will be created through a blended learning approach and a network of local EdTech companies to support learners at all levels across the continent.

Prior to joining the Mastercard Foundation, Joseph had a long career at Intel Corporation. His last role at Intel was Executive Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, focusing on Policy, Strategy and External Partnerships. He also served as the Director of programs at the Intel Foundation and expanded its programs outside the US, including joining the Partnership to strengthen innovation and practice in secondary education (PSIPSE) in Africa and India, and the launching of the Women in Science (WiSci) in partnership with the US State Department and others.

Joseph also served as Intel’s Director of Public and Corporate Affairs in Africa. He led the team responsible for public and government affairs, education, ICT, and broadband policies in Sub Sahara Africa. He worked closely with Ministries of Education in the use of ICT to transform education systems, as well as Ministries of ICT and regulators in expanding broadband access.

Dr Kathy Perkins
Director, PhET Interactive Simulations
Professor, Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder

Dr Kathy Perkins directs PhET Interactive Simulations at University of Colorado Boulder, and is a professor of Physics Education Research in the Department of Physics. Her work focuses on advancing the design and classroom use of interactive simulations to increase engagement and learning in STEM, and on scaling impact with open educational resources. Her work and research in STEM education also include sustainable course reform, students’ beliefs about science, and institutional change. Dr Perkins holds a BA in physics (1992), MA in chemistry (2000), and PhD in atmospheric science (2000), all from Harvard University. In 2003, she joined Carl Wieman and the PhET project, serving as co-Director (2008–2010) and Director (2010–). She served as Associate Director (2006–2010) and Director (2010–2016) of CU Boulder’s Science Education Initiative. She has authored over 60 articles on STEM education. Under her leadership, PhET has received international recognition, including being named a 2017 WISE Awards Winner, a 2011 Tech Award Laureate, and winner of the 2014 Reimagine Education Award, and has grown to over 250 million simulation uses/year worldwide. She oversees the PhET project activities for 2020 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate Carl Wieman’s Yidan Prize project fund.

Lemi Lechisa Sirnessa
MSc Candidate in Statistical Physics, Ambo University

Lemi Lechisa Sirnessa is a Graduate Assistant of Physics at Ambo University in Ethiopia, and is currently an MSc Candidate in Statistical Physics at Ambo University. He has worked at the physics laboratory at the university for over seven years.

Senior Consultant, World Bank’s Education Global Practice
MSc Candidate in Statistical Physics, Ambo University

Jee-Peng Tan is a Senior Consultant to the World Bank’s Education Global Practice, following her retirement from the Bank as education advisor. Her recent work covers skills for growth, innovations in mathematics and science education, teacher development, and capacity building. She has collaborated on high-level policy dialogue with officials from many countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, and with counterparts at international organizations, including the Global Partnership for Education, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. She is an author of numerous publications, the most recent among them Western and Central Africa Education Strategy: From School to Jobs; Facing Forward: Schooling for Learning in Africa, and Workforce Development in Emerging Economies. She holds a PhD in Economics from Princeton University.

What it means to be a teacher: identity, motivation, and skills

Moderator: Professor Kai-ming Cheng
Convenor, Advisory Committee, Yidan Prize
Emeritus Professor, University of Hong Kong

Cheng Kai-ming is Emeritus Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He was Chair Professor of Education, Dean of Education, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Senior Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor of the University. Kai-ming is now Director of Education Policy Unit at the Faculty of Education. Kai-ming has been a consultant with the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the Asian Development Bank. Recently, he has also been involved in discussions about education reforms in the US. Currently, he is a member of the National Advisory Committee on Curriculum Reform in China. In Hong Kong, he is a member of the Education Commission and was instrumental in the comprehensive reform which began in 1999.

Professor Yongxin Zhu
2022 Yidan Prize for Education Development Laureate
Founder, New Education Initiative (NEI)
Professor, School of Education, Soochow University

Yongxin Zhu works as a professor and PhD supervisor in Soochow University, and he is Co-founder of China Education 30 Forum and 21th Century Education Development Academy. Yongxin founded the New Education Initiative (NEI) in 2000 and has led its development ever since. NEI puts reading, writing, and communication at the center of a collaborative approach to education that empowers teachers and transforms how students and families live and learn.

As an education thought leader, Yongxin’s concepts and methods have had a profound and far-reaching impact on education innovation in China and the world. He has published over 600 papers and over 40 books in Chinese and English. More than 20 of his monographs—such as Future Schools and To Teachers—have been translated into more than 20 languages and published in over 40 countries and regions.

Dr Xiaodong Hao
Executive Director, NEI Online Teacher Learning Center

Xiaodong has a Doctor’s Degree in higher education at Soochow University. He is a member of Tao Xingzhi Research Association and serves as the Executive Director of the NEI Online Teacher Learning Center. He is among the top ten figures encouraging reading in 2017 selected by China Education News. He is a columnist of China Teachers’ News, and a contracted author of Teacher expo.

Xiaodong published several books including 40 Letters to Young Teachers, Twelve Key Words that Change Education, Future Teachers, and Teachers Growth. He has published over 60 articles in newspapers and journals such as Journal of the National Academy of Education Administration, People’s Education, and China Education News.

Professor John Chi-kin Lee
Chair Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, The Education University of Hong Kong

Professor John Chi-kin Lee, Provost and Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, joined the Education University of Hong Kong (the then Hong Kong Institute of Education) in 2010.

Professor Lee is also the UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning, The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Research Fellow, Director of the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education, Co-Director (Research) of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Co-Director of the Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development at EdUHK. He has also held many visiting/guest/adjunct professorships at universities overseas and in mainland China. He has served as the Changjiang Chair Professor conferred by the Ministry of Education, the People’s Republic of China.

He has served as the Editor of International Journal of Children’s Spirituality (IJCS), Executive Editor of Teaching and Teacher Education, and Executive Editor of Teachers and Teaching. He has also served as an editorial board member or advisory editor of many local, regional, and international journals. He is also a prolific writer who has edited and written more than 25 books, and published over 100 journal articles and book chapters.

Huifen Zhuang
General Principal, Xinghe Experimental Primary School Group, Changzhou city, Jiangsu province

Huifen Zhuang is the General Principal of Xinghe Experimental Primary School Group, Changzhou city, Jiangsu province and a certified senior teacher. She is devoted to teaching mathematics in a positive learning atmosphere and developing children’s curiosity and creativity. Throughout her professional career, she supports education in rural area under multiple NEI schemes. She has been awarded multiple honors and titles, including National Excellent Educator, Model Worker of Jiangsu Province, Excellent Principal in Changzhou, and she has published five books on education.

A collaborative future: partnerships driving change in the classroom

Moderator: Dr Tong Choi Wai
Education Committee Member, Bei Shan Tang Foundation
Director, The D. H. Chen Foundation Institute of Education Excellence
Former Director, Quality School Improvement Project, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dr Tong Choi Wai, with nearly 40-year of experience in teacher training and school improvement projects, was the Assistant Professor & Professional Consultant of the Faculty of Education and the Director of the Quality School Improvement Project (QSIP) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). After retiring from CUHK in 2019, he served as the Professional Consultant of the Bei Shan Tang Foundation and the Director of Institute of Education Excellence of The D. H. Chen Foundation.

Lillian Kiang
Chief Executive Officer, Bei Shan Tang Foundation

Lillian devoted the first two decades of her career to the traditional world of finance—starting out in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in the US and in asset management at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, then as Director of Investment at Temasek Holdings, and later as Deputy Chief Manager of Corporate Business Development at CK Asset Holdings. Grateful for the opportunities to learn from many leading investors, she aspires to apply her investment and business development experiences to generate a different kind of return—social impact that will enable a more flourishing community for our next generation.

Bei Shan Tang Foundation was founded in 1985 by Dr J. S. Lee. Along with its original mission to promote Chinese art and culture understanding globally through advancing scholarship in the field, the Foundation has also dedicated significant resources to support educational initiatives for Hong Kong. In 2014, the Foundation established Positive Education Hong Kong, a platform to co-learn and collaborate with educators to ‘Learn-Live-Teach-and-Embed’ positive psychology (PERMA+H) infused teaching best practices in schools, to better equip our students to feel good, function well, and contribute positively to the community.

Peter Poon
Chief Program Officer, The D. H. Chen Foundation

Mr Peter POON is currently the Chief Program Officer of The D. H. Chen Foundation and the Adjunct Associate Professor of the Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to his work in the Foundation, he was the Executive Director of the Kwai Ching District Health Centre and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation. Peter is a health care professional by training and has devoted his professional life in community health, empowerment, and compassionate care development both in program, organizational, and system levels.

To Yue Man, Stephanie
Head of English and Religious Studies Department, HKSKH Bishop Hall Secondary School
Positive Education Fellow, Bei Shan Tang Foundation

Stephanie To has been teaching English and Religious Studies at HKSKH Bishop Hall Secondary School for nearly 20 years. In the hope of strengthening the well-being and developing the learning motivation of the students, she started to explore Positive Education with her colleagues in 2017. Their Positive Education journey began with the implementation of a character-building programme for Form 4 students and a Form 1 Value Education Curriculum applying Positive Education principles. Seeing the positive impact of the two programs, the team has been trying to thoroughly embed Positive Education into the whole school.

Brian Wong Hok Shing
Vice-Principal, Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School

Mr Brian Wong has served as the Vice-Principal of Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School since 2022. Since 2019, as Director, he has been leading Aurora Academy of the School, an initiative which aims to equip students with knowledge, skills, and a good attitude—qualities which will allow them to become future pillars of our society. The initiative also places an equal emphasis on learning through real-life experiences, aiming to cultivate upstanding future citizens with a sense of responsibility, self-discipline, perseverance, and creativity.

Mr Wong was seconded to the Curriculum Development Institute in the Education Bureau for three years. In 2016, amidst the age of information technology, he began the promotion of digital learning and self-directed learning. His other undertakings in this role included offering teacher capacity-building training on topics to improve students’ learning.

Mr Wong graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006, where he majored in Journalism and Communication. Through education, he hopes to help youth growing into a generation of adults who are resilient, future-ready, and values-driven.

Closing Keynote

Dr Choi Yuk-lin, JP
Secretary for Education, Hong Kong SAR

Dr Choi has been Under Secretary for Education since 2017, before assuming the post of Secretary for Education in 2022.

Prior to joining the Government, Dr Choi had worked in the education field for nearly 30 years. She taught in secondary schools for more than a decade since 1988, before joining the Education Bureau where she was responsible for school-based curriculum development and language teaching support. In 2013, she took up the principalship of a secondary school. During the period, she took part in social and educational work, including the setting up of the Hong Kong Teachers Dream Fund. She also served on the Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee, the Fight Crime Committee, and the Commission on Youth.