International
MI Education forum 2022

Mr. Chris Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA. The Science Leadership Academy is an inquiry-driven, project-based, 1:1 laptop school that is considered to be one of the pioneers of the School 2.0 movement nationally and internationally. Science Leadership Academy is the Dell Center of Excellence in Education. In September 2013, Mr Lehmann opened the Science Leadership Academy at Beeber campus, the second campus in the SLA model, and in September 2016, he opened Science Leadership Academy Middle School, SLA’s first middle school. Mr Lehmann is co-founder and Chair of the Board of Inquiry Schools, an organization dedicated to helping more schools transform into a more inquiry-driven model. He is a 2016 member of Scholastic’s National Advisory Council.

Dr. Tom Hoerr led schools for 37 years and is currently a Scholar In Residence at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where he teaches in the educational leadership program. He led the ISACS New Heads Network, founded and directed the Non-Profit Management Program at Washington University, and holds a Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. Hoerr has received honorary doctorates from two universities and is the Emeritus Head of School of the New City School. 

Dr. Hoerr’s newest book is The Principal As Chief Empathy Officer: Creating A Culture Where Everyone Grows. He previously wrote Taking Social Emotional Learning Schoolwide: The Formative Five Success Skills for Students and Staff and The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs, set out the skills that students need. Hoerr is also the author of four other books:  Fostering Grit; The Art of School Leadership; Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School; and School Leadership for the Future. He has written more than 170 articles, and his “Principal Connection” column was published in Educational Leadership 2004-2018. He currently writes a leadership blog for ASCD. Hoerr has presented at conferences around the world on empathy, grit, leadership, multiple intelligences, faculty collegiality, instructional leadership, and the Formative Five.  

Mr. Charles Fadel is a global education thought leader and author, futurist and inventor. Through his 25-year high-tech career, he has witnessed firsthand the disruptive effects of exponential change, which gives him a unique perspective he brings to the world of Education. With the experience of working with different education systems and institutions in more than 30 countries, Mr. Fadel founded and chaired the Center for Curriculum Redesign, mainly focusing on “Making Education More Relevant” and answering the question: “What should students learn for the 21st century? In an age of Artificial Intelligence”

Mrs Van Beales is Headteacher of Invicta Grammar School and Executive Headteacher of School of Science and Technology Maidstone. Both schools are over-subscribed secondary school in Kent and parts of the Valley Invicta Academies Trust. Mrs Beales achieved her Masters of Business Administration in London in 2003 but fell in love with education and making a difference to young people after acquiring the Qualified Teacher Status in the UK in 2005. She loves teaching Mathematics and enjoys a game of cards with students.

Mrs Beales was voted Teacher of the Year by the Kent Messenger group in 2010. She opened the School of Science and Technology Maidstone (SST) in 2020 in the middle of the COVID pandemic. The school has since become the most popular high school in Kent and is known for its highest quality of education and a caring and family like community. Mrs Beales believes in developing students as whole people as her curriculum enables students to draw links between subjects and apply their knowledge in problem solving. The SST and Invicta students also enjoy the endless opportunities for personal development with a plethora of extra-curricular and super curricular activities on offer.

King L. Chow, Professor of Life Science, Chem. & Biol Eng. and Public Policy at HKUST, has a background of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics.  He served as the Academic Director of the Common Core Program, Directors of the Molecular Biomedical Sciences Program, Bioengineering Program, and International Research Experience Program. He was the Director of Interdisciplinary Programs Office overseeing the development of Environment and Sustainability, Public Policy, Risk Management and Business Intelligence, Technology Management and Innovation Programs, emphasizing on problem solving at all levels. He holds the position of Dean of Students covering all student support activities and heads the Center for Development of the Gifted and Talented that nurtures gifted students of diverse traits. His own research focuses on genetics, neural development, synthetic and evolutionary biology.  He actively advises on academic programs at HKUST and other institutions, and serves on advisory boards of different Foundations and Universities.  He has taught a broad range of subjects on science and technology, history, and ethics with a focus on issues but not tools. He delivers classes with a wide range of pedagogy at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and was recognized by different teaching awards at HKUST.    

Dr Thanit is working as the Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry of Silpakorn University, Thailand. He enjoys teaching and working to support schools, universities, and academic institutions. He has been taking care of the DPST Program at Silpakorn University since the first cohort of students. Thanit has been an advisor to Mahidol Wittayanusorn School (MWIT), Princess Chulabhorn Science High Schools (PCSHSs) and Kamnoetvidya Science Academy (KVIS) on Chemistry and Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Thanit did research at University of Toronto, and Australian National University where he was appointed as a visiting fellow. He is currently a member of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Society of Thailand, American Chemical Society (ACS), and Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). He has long been interested in teaching and research on enzymes, peptides, and protein biochemistry, particularly neuropeptides of the invertebrates using immunocytochemistry and mass spectrometry. He is also working on endrocrine disrupting chemicals of estrogenic nature, affecting aquatic organisms of the early food chain. On biochemistry of plants, Thanit has been interested in how plants accumulate silicon in their bodies, paying attention to the role of silicon in the form of silica in plant development. He is a firm believer of “Good Education is Fundamental to National Development”.

This is your Team Member description. Use this space to write a brief description of this person’s role and responsibilities, or add a short bio.

Professor Rex LI is a psychologist as well as a pioneering educator of the gifted in Hong Kong. Being the founder of the Gifted Education Council, G.T. College, the Hong Kong Mathematical Olympiad School and G.T. Education Foundation, he serves as a consultant and advisor to many local and overseas institutions.

Professor Li received a Doctor of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He was appointed Visiting Professor in the Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (1997) and Fudan University, Shanghai (2016). He is Chief Editor of John Dewey’s Selected Works (2017) and author of many scholarly works, the latest being Rediscovering John Dewey: How his psychology transforms our education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). More information can be found in his academic webpage (profrexli.com)

Professor Hiroshi Tanaka is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Professional Teacher Education at the Ritsumeikan University in Japan. He has published papers on a variety of topics ranging from teaching methods and curriculum development to school reform for nurturing global citizens. 

​

Ritsumeikan High School has beeen designated as a Super Science High School as part of the national Super Science High School (SSH) program since the inception of the program in 2002.  Since that time, Professor Tanaka has been involved in the SSH program for many years as th SSH departmeent head, the school principal, and as part of the governing body, and is currentlyconducting researchon science education though SSH using a JSPS KAKNHJ grant.  The ara of his research in insternational science education.  His graduate school subjcts include internatinal education, curriculum design, and mathematics education.