President's Awards

The Team contributes to the internationalisation of the University by giving both aspiring and experienced leaders the capacity to operate successfully in an international leadership environment, and to lead educational change in the East Asian context. The Executive Master of Arts in International Educational Leadership and Change (IELC) was launched as EdUHK’s first fully online programme in January 2011. The asynchronistic e-learning design of the programme fits into the busy work and life schedules of in-service school leaders working in different time zones and allows them to have greater control over when and where they study.

Starting from the first cohort, the IELC programme has attracted highly diverse, international participants. As of January 2017, IELC participants come from 19 nations and reside in Hong Kong, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand and the United States. This is the first programme in the University to be recognised by the International Baccalaureate Organization and the Ontario Principals Council as a postgraduate pathway for leadership certification, which has enhanced participants’ professional opportunity.

The Team provides learners with culturally, theoretically and practically relevant learning content and helps them to relate the learning to their own ‘life-worlds’ or professional contexts. The Team facilitates connections that stimulate creative international professional learning networks among the participants. As a result, IELC is a ‘value-added’ programme for participants. According to a focus group study of its 2014 graduates, more than half of the programme’s graduates have received promotions following completion of the programme. The graduates appreciate that the programme prepares them for key areas of their work, namely working with people, leading change, leading across cultures and strategic planning.

The work of the Team has made EdUHK the local and regional leader in innovative web-based and electronically portable learning in the area of educational leadership and beyond.