To contain the coronavirus, the Education Department in Hong Kong ordered all schools to remain closed after the Chinese New Year. Instead of returning 3 February, schools were to remain closed an additional four weeks. That was extended again – and again. As of writing, schools are scheduled to return on 20 April – a full 87 days after the last school day before Chinese New Year.

With very little warning, schools across the country had to find effective ways to continue educating students using a wide range of remote learning tools.

Stephen Dare is head of school at Hong Kong Academy, a private, independent school located in Sai Kung – a quiet fishing village in the northeast of the country. With just over 600 students, the school has students from pre-kindergarten through high school.

Responding to exceptional circumstances stretched everyone in the community. Teachers had to adjust and rewrite curriculum to engage students joining via videoconference. Parents needed to support children at home for extended periods. Students needed to adjust to new formats for learning. And staff had to work across the board to manage the fast-changing situation.

As schools around the world prepare their contingency plans for remote learning, listen to how one leader responded to the challenges. Hear the pain points, lessons, and observations – and learn how a school can adapt quickly to exceptional circumstances.

Biography

Stephen Dare, Hard of School, Hong Kong Academy

Stephen is entering his 10th year as Head of School. He is passionate about creating opportunities to democratise learning and elevate student voice within schools. He believes that everyone in an organisation has the capacity to contribute to the co-construction of learning experiences that both elevate thinking and promote action in support of broader educational initiatives.

Stephen began his career as a preschool teacher in Southeast England, and has worked as an administrator in North and South America as well as Southeast Asia. He is the treasurer of the ACAMIS Board and supports the Next Frontier: Inclusion Design Team in an advisory role. Stephen is an Agency Trainer for the Thinking Collaborative and has embedded the work of Cognitive Coaching and Adaptive Schools into the professional learning culture of HKA, helping to implement the school's mission and identity. He regularly presents courses on coaching and building institutional trust at international schools and conferences.

Stephen initially left his home town for a two-year adventure overseas, and over thirty years later he continues to embrace the opportunities of working in a global culture.

Our world faces significant troubles. Climate change, species extinction, social unrest, political upheaval, new virus strains - it feels insurmountable.

We keep waiting for "them" to fix things. Yet what if we were part of the solution?

Welcome to "Be the Hero" - a new initiative to encourage a small effort on behalf of each individual. The goal is to motivate more to volunteer and address a problem that matters personally.

The crises our world faces demands an army of united people - people who care.

Listen and learn - YOU can "Be the Hero."

How does a CEO make their mark on the company they're leading? In this podcast Gemma Greaves discusses her challenge when taking the leadership of The Marketing Society, a 60-year-old membership association with headquarters in London.

In order to be understood, it's imperative to be authentic. "Be your true self," is what Gemma Greaves implores. "The more you talk about the things that affect us the better you'll be at marketing."

This was the start of a multi-year series of meetings under the headline of bravery. "It gives us a narrative that gives us a unique point of view," said Gemma.

Listen to this interview on how a CEO sets strategy for their global organisation.

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) consists of the mega cities in Southern China's Pearl River Delta region including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Huizhou, Zhaoqing, Hong Kong and Macau.

In total, the population is more than 70 million, produces 37% of China's exports, and 12% of its GDP.

Understand the opportunity for your business. After all, we all live in the Greater Bay Area. Join the dialogue on Hong Kong's integration, and its chances against #ChinaTech rival Shenzhen.

Tony Verb is a serial entrepreneur, urban innovator, venture capitalist and film producer, based in Hong Kong.

He's the founder of GreaterBay Ventures & Advisors, an integrated investment and consulting firm, specialised on cross-border innovation and smart cities.

Tony is committed to accelerate the growth of technology companies that positively impact urbanisation under the thesis he coins as "Urban Tech with Impact". The Greater Bay Area of South China, Hong Kong and Macau is the the biggest megacity on the planet and he sees the region as the best place to facilitate and scale the adaptation of urban tech best practices globally.

In Paid to Think, international consultant David Goldsmith presents his groundbreaking approach to leadership and management, based on research revealing the 12 specific activities that all leaders perform on a daily basis, and he provides you with each activity's accompanying tools and instructions proven to boost your performance and that of your entire organisation.

Companies operating in emerging markets are susceptible to security crises that may have devastating impacts on their assets, finances or reputation.

Blackpanda provides bespoke services and solutions that enable their clients to successfully prevent and navigate special risks. They help clients with significant security concerns around their operational risk for their oil, mining, and agricultural investments in conflict zones.

Blackpanda's approach to risk management involves the appreciation that there are various aspects – digital, physical and social/human; these are different "terrains" of a single battlefield,

Gene Yu is CEO of Blackpanda Group. His experience in military special forces environment is useful in understanding the inter-dependencies and the necessary joint approach required. Gene will draw on the convergence of his experiences from the military, finance, and tech industries to explain Blackpanda's approach to risk management in Asia.

Our focus is Hong Kong and our podcast features Antony Dapiran, author of "City of Protest: A Recent History of Dissent in Hong Kong."

"Hong Kong is a city with a long history of civil disobedience."

So begins the book blurb on Amazon.com for a now-sold-out book published in July 2017. It was a timeless observation on the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's Handover. It is a timely observation today with most in Hong Kong wondering what's next.

"We are on the cusp of what could be a general breakdown of law and order. It hasn't gotten there yet, but the government hasn't done anything to stop it," said Antony Dapiran in The New York Times on 5 August 2019, "City of Protest is a compelling look at the often-fraught relationship between politics and belonging, and a city's struggle to assert itself."

Listen to Antony as we discuss the changes and challenges facing Hong Kong today. You can follow him on Twitter @AntD.

Addressing income inequality is an issue close to the heart of Emma Dale, co-founder of Prospect Resourcing (www.prospectresourcing.com). She's a specialist recruiter in the communications and public relations industry. Each year together with Public Affairs Asia they publish the State of the Industry Report (access here: www.prospectresourcing.com/blog/soi2019/).

This year the salary report shows men continue to out-earn women for the same or similar roles. In today's podcast Emma dives into the subject and provides useful advice for negotiating more equitable compensation. She also talks about major trends disrupting the industry – from consolidation to "always on" professionals.

Listen and learn about how one professional is out to redress imbalances in pay – and empower female (and male) professionals to better understand their true potential.

DES is one of the largest technology conferences in Europe (visit their website here). Held annually in Madrid each May, the convention covers all aspects of technology and attracts wide-ranging industries.

By taking a holistic approach to digital transformation, DES is designed to cater to the business professional no matter which profession they're in. From smart cities to FinTech, cloud computing to education, marketing or professional services - DES has content for everyone.

This past May some 26,000 attended with over 500 presentations given during the conference's three-day run.

Listen to the show's leader Lluis Altes as he discusses the highlights of their most recent event - and what this means for #DES2020.

WeChat is a wildly successful "everything" App in China. It combines the best of Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, WhatsApp, FaceTime and more. It's a complete ecosphere that few need to exit.

It makes China unique. Users want to do business within the WeChat App - and newcomers can't get consumers to download new Apps. To do business in China, you need to master WeChat.

In Hong Kong, David Ketchum and his team pulled together all their insights and recommendations into "The Ultimate WeChat Guide."

You can sign up and download the guide here: https://mailchi.mp/currentasia/wechatguide

On today's episode of Influencers Today, David Ketchum walks us through the exciting world of WeChat. Thanks for listening!