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Heading to Hong Kong a few months from now, Elizabeth Elizardi is clearly excited by the prospect of a new challenge and the turn her career has taken.
As from August 1, she will be Lower Primary principal at Hong Kong International School (HKIS), with overall responsibility for the section’s 700-plus pupils and close involvement in the launch of an eagerly anticipated dual-language immersion programme in English and Mandarin.
“What first attracted me was HKIS’s play-based Reggio Emilia inspired model of early childhood and elementary education,” says Elizardi, who is currently interim head of school at The Country Day School in McLean, Virginia. “This is an area I am passionate about and, over the last 10 years as a leader in independent schools in the US, I have built a level of expertise working with this model and this age group.”
For teachers, using the Reggio approach can be testing. In particular, it requires an understanding of the complexity at the intersection of play and academic excellence, and that the two are not mutually exclusive.
However, during an initial visit to HKIS for a series of interviews, Elizardi was greatly impressed by the evident dedication of her future colleagues to creating this kind of learning environment and developing the unique potential of every child.
“Everything I had read about the school was aligned with my philosophy of education and what I believe in,” she says. “And the chance to be somewhere that is so well-resourced and has state-of-the-art facilities convinced me this was the place to be.”
Other determining factors were HKIS’s essentially American curriculum plus the fact that, at this point in her life, Elizardi simply felt the time was right to do something a bit more adventurous.
Back in the day, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, she had considered a spell overseas with the Peace Corps. Instead, she opted to go into teaching and…
