SkyGems Academy

We are pleased to introduce you to our distinguished guest speaker for SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 Episode 11 – Ashley Penny.

Here’s some key highlights of Ashley’s amazing track records:

Ashley Penny has over 30 years of experience as a teacher, leader and education consultant. With nearly 20 years within an Australian context and 12 years of international experience in China, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Nauru Island.

As the Principal of an IB World School which offers continuous education from Early Years to Year 13, Ashley is no stranger to China. He has spent 8 years working in Shanghai where he was the Assistant Principal of YK Pao School and the Founding Principal of the Shanghai HD Bilingual School. Ashley is a passionate and committed educator.

Ashley strongly believes that a school community should embrace change and support all members.

We quote and unquote Ashley Penny:

“As things developed across the world, it is important to stay calm and remember, like everything else, this would pass."

Now, let’s tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 11 for Ashley Penny’s Podcast.

SkyGems Academy Podcast 11 speaker is Ashley Penny from Suzhou, China.

Ashley joined Eton House International School early January 2020. When the coronavirus hit Wuhan in the end of January 2020, Ashley was literally 13 school days in the Principal’s chair.

Ashley went from the situation where he was just getting used to the school, to being confronted by a crisis. During the Chinese New Year holidays period, it certainly started to unfold much more rapidly. Ashley travelled back to Suzhou from Melbourne after the end the Chinese New Year holidays and stayed in Suzhou during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I’m a strong, strong believer in the education world where it’s like a triangle – the teachers, the students and the parents all working together to achieve the same purpose " said Ashley Penny.

Now we are pleased to present to you … Ashley Penny.

We are pleased to introduce you to our charismatic and distinguished guest speaker for SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 Episode 10 – Marika Toivola.

Here’s some key highlights of Marika’s outstanding track records:

Marika Toivola, MA, is the most well-known Finnish pioneering flipped learning teacher. Marika is engaged in ground breaking and award-winning work to enhance mathematics teaching. She has been awarded the Mathematics Teacher of the Year in Finland Award in 2019. 2013, the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation gave Marika an incentive scholarship and recognized her efforts in promoting open access learning materials.

Today, Marika is one of the most sought-after Finnish trainers of flipped learning and formative assessment. Her books Flipped Learning in Finland and Flipped Assessment – A Leap towards Assessment for Learning have encouraged thousands of teachers to join her in the long-term development of their own role as teachers. In addition to her teaching work at the lower secondary school in Teacher Trainer school a Turku University, Marika is pursuing a PhD in educational science at the University of Helsinki. Her doctoral thesis focus on teacher’s agency and identity in Flipped learning and it contributes to existing research knowledge in two ways. On the one hand, it helps understand the process of conceptualization of the phenomenon of Flipped Learning particularly from math teacher perspective. On the other, the study is contributing in particular to efforts at promoting a change in the teaching of mathematics. Marika has started her doctoral dissertation to become a better teacher. In her books, she justifies theoretically that which she has brought into practice, and not the other way around.

Marika is a mother of four school-aged children, and she is passionate about ending the homogenisation of both students and teachers. She does not give praise to the current, performance-oriented focus in schools, where there is no room for failure. According to Marika, children should be educated to meet the needs of tomorrow. The future requires courage and creativity that will differentiate people from machine intelligence.

We quote and unquote Marika Toivola:

“In flipped learning teachers, we act like a coach of learning. So, for me, online learning is offering every opportunity to do much more than in normal education."

Now, let’s tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 10 for Marika Toivola’s Podcast. Let’s go!

SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 – How Covid-19 Transformed the Education Industry. We’ve interviewed 40 exclusive educators and leaders in the education industry worldwide starting with China where the pandemic initially started.

Our 10th distinguished speaker in SkyGems Academy Podcast is Marika Toivola from Helsinki, Finland.

Marika Toivola, MA, is the most well-known Finnish pioneering flipped learning teacher. Marika is one of the most sought-after Finnish trainers of flipped learning and formative assessment. Her books Flipped Learning in Finland and Flipped Assessment – A Leap towards Assessment for Learning have encouraged thousands of teachers to join her in the long-term development of their own role as teachers.

“It is more important to learn how to learn than what to learn" said Marika

Tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 10 for more interesting insights and sharing from our very special, honorable and distinguished speaker.

I am pleased to presenting to you… Marika Toivola!

We are pleased to introduce you to our charismatic and distinguished guest speaker for SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 Episode 9 – JS Goyette.

Here’s some key highlights of JS’s amazing track records:

JS Goyette is the international principal at Junhwa International School, a recently founded K-12 Chinese & Western curriculum school in Jinhua City, China. He has two decades of experience in teaching and management in K-12 and young adult programmes, as well as in the educational software field.

JS believes in the role of schools to not only guide students in their intellectual and physical development but also prepare them for an increasingly important global future. Local and international teachers must work together to both support and challenge students.

JS also loves learning languages. He is currently preparing to take the HSK Mandarin Chinese test later this year.

We quote and unquote JS Goyette:

“Nobody could have predicted that this would hit so hard. However, we can teach them the right mindset to quickly react, and to ask the right questions, and this is something we need our kids to do more in the future. "

Now, let’s tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 9 for JS Goyette’s Podcast. Let’s jump straight to it.

SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 – How Covid-19 Transformed the Education Industry. We’ve interviewed 40 exclusive educators and leaders in the education industry worldwide starting with China where the pandemic initially started.

Our 9th distinguished speaker in SkyGems Academy Podcast is JS Goyette from Jinhua City, Zhejiang, China.

JS Goyette is the international principal at Junhwa International School, a recently founded K-12 Chinese & Western curriculum school in Jinhua City, China. He has two decades of experience in teaching and management in K-12 and young adult programmes, as well as in the educational software field.

“Covid-19 has really changed the way we behave everyday, the way we travel, but also, just, the way we run our school, " said JS.

Tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 9 for more interesting insights and sharing from our honorable, charismatic and amazing speaker.

We are pleased to present … JS Goyette!

We are pleased to introduce you to our charismatic and distinguished guest speaker for SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 Episode 8 – Dan Marrone.

Here’s some key highlights of Dan’s amazing track records:

Dan Marrone is an experienced Australian educator, Chartered Manager and an MBA candidate with a dual Bachelor in Education and Arts with specializations in leadership, human resource management, public policy and teacher development.

Dan is currently the Head of School Australian International School at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Dan has over a decade of experience in teaching and administrative roles in Australian and international schools and is a passionate advocate of supporting students and staff to achieve their potential.

Drawing from experience in both public and private enterprise, Dan's practice is informed by contemporary educational management and business theory and his professional achievements are underpinned by a strong focus on building and sustaining productive relationships with clients, associates and thecommunity.

We quote and unquote Dan Marrone:

“I’m probably going to say this word over and over again, is that sense of agility that idea that we need to always be ready to change direction and have some key systems in place that allow us to do that. It’s about being responsive to the environment. "

Now, let’s tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 8 for Dan Marrone’s Podcast. Let’s jump straight to it.

SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 – How Covid-19 Transformed the Education Industry. We’ve interviewed 40 exclusive educators and leaders in the education industry worldwide starting with China where the pandemic initially started.

Our 8th distinguished speaker in SkyGems Academy Podcast is Dan Marrone from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Dan is currently the Head of School Australian International School at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Dan has over a decade of experience in teaching and administrative roles in Australian and international schools and is a passionate advocate of supporting students and staff to achieve their potential.

“We talked about 21st century life skills, soft skills, emotional intelligence and things like that for a number of years now. This is really the first time it has been called to the forefront in such an emergent situation. " said Dan.

Tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 8 for more interesting insights and sharing from our honorable, charismatic and amazing speaker.

I am pleased to presenting to you… Dan Marrone!

We are pleased to introduce you to our charismatic and passionate guest speaker for SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 Episode 7 – Silas Pillay.

Here’s some key highlights of Silas’s outstanding track records:

Silas Pillay is a passionate educationist who’s been in the profession for the past 25 years and currently holds the portfolio of Director of Academics at The Love Trust Johannesburg, South Africa.

His field of interest and expertise is in Management & Leadership and he holds a Higher Diploma in Education, Further Diploma in Education, BA (Education), Bachelor of Education and a Master’s Degree in Education (Educational Management & Leadership) from WITS University.

He views his profession as his calling in life and his personal mission statement stems from a deep conviction to “work for a cause not an applause; live life to express, not to impress.

Silas was a nominee for the National Teacher Award category of Excellence in School Leadership in both 2013 and 2014 consecutively. In 2014, Silas was blessed to go on to scoop the Gold Award as the national winner in the category of Excellence in Primary School Leadership with coverage on both radio and national TV.

Outside of the school domain, Silas is actively engaged with several community programmes and activities e.g.

We quote and unquote Silas :

“We realised that we are all interconnected. We cannot be in our own ivory tower and expect that life will be as normal if we don’t reach out to our fellow men. So, the Ubuntu principle is pretty much in short, ‘I exist because you exist, and we are connected in this whole sphere of life, " Silas Pillay.

Now, let’s tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 7 for Silas Pillay’s Podcast. Let’s jump straight to it.

SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 – How Covid-19 Transformed the Education Industry. We’ve interviewed 40 exclusive educators and leaders in the education industry worldwide starting with China where the pandemic initially started.

Our 7th distinguished speaker in SkyGems Academy Podcast is Silas Pillay from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Silas is a true leader with passion to serve others, help the less fortunate and close the disparity gap. Silas is indeed a rare gem.

“As leaders, we are dealers of hope. As educationist, we really need to challenge why we do what we do – the greater purpose in the passion in what we called to do, is highlighted in a time like this." said Silas.

Tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 7 for more interesting insights and sharing from our charismatic and amazing speaker with a heart of gold.

Presenting… Silas Pillay!