HKIEd - Joy of Learning

On 28 November 2006, two prominent educators, Fr Peter Newbery, MH and Dr Linda Darling-Hammond received Honorary Doctorates at the HKIEd's 12th Graduation Ceremony.

Dr Darling-Hammond, currently the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education and Co-Director of the School Redesign Network at Stanford University's School of Education, has made an immense contribution to scholarly debates on issues of education and teacher education policy and practice. Her research, teaching and policy work focus on issues of school restructuring, teacher education and educational equity.

Between 1994 and 2001, Dr Darling-Hammond served as executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, a blue-ribbon panel whose 1996 report, "What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future," provided a blueprint for transforming education to guarantee all children access to high quality teaching. The Commission's work led to sweeping policy changes affecting teaching and schooling at all levels and to ongoing reforms in the preparation of professional teachers.

In addition to her significant academic contributions to the field of teacher education, Dr Darling-Hammond also has an enviable record of public service. As Chair of New York State's Council on Curriculum and Assessment, she helped to fashion a comprehensive school reform plan for the state. The reform plan developed learning standards and curriculum frameworks for more challenging learning goals linked to professional development for teachers and greater equity for students. As Chair of the Model Standards Committee of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), she helped to develop licensing standards for beginning teachers, which reflected changing landscapes and led to new thinking about the necessary attributes of new teachers.

Dr Darling-Hammond has made a major and enduring contribution to the field of critical and analytical research in teacher education, public services and efforts in redesigning chools. Educators in Hong Kong benefit from her insights, her values and her commitment to the highest standards and equity for all.

Fr Peter Newbery, Founder and Executive Director of Youth Outreach, has been in the forefront of youth counselling and outreach activities in Hong Kong, spending almost 40 years of his life serving, helping and educating marginalised youths in the territory.

Focusing his attention on troubled youth, he has gained considerable experience in school counselling and correctional services work since his arrival in Hong Kong from England in 1967. In 1990, Fr Newbery was appointed by the Salesian Order to initiate and run a youth crisis centre. In 1991, he founded the non-government crisis intervention centre for boys, Youth Outreach, providing hostel services for truants and school dropouts. In 1992, he opened a similar centre for girls. His goal is to help young people at risk re-enter the education system together with a more regular and non-deviant life-style.

In addition to becoming a member of the Education and Manpower Bureau's Task Force on Continuing Development and Employment-related Training for Youth in 2006, he teaches at local universities and has published widely on a number of topics related to education and counselling for delinquent students.

Fr Newbery is being commended for his pivotal role in the establishment and operation of Youth Outreach. His significant and exemplary contributions to Hong Kong's youth as well as his work in education have earned him both global and local recognition.

His work is a powerful reminder that education is not limited to schools and classrooms, while his creation of Youth Outreach is a timely reminder to everyone of the value and dignity of all human beings.