GLOBALIZATION OF EDUCATION: International Schools

International School

I believe that international school is a school that promotes international educational in and international environment where students and educators from different countries see themselves as group of learners and teachers. I work in a school that has her mission statement as “Learning and Leading in a Collaborative culture. This mission state has really save a lot of misconceptions about international schools and what it should be. International schools  adopt a curriculum such as that of the International Baccalaureate, or Cambridge International Examinations, I will like to say that what makes a school international is  based on the criteria of  IASL.

IASL Criteria for International Schools 

1. Transfer ability of students’ education across international schools 

2. A moving population (higher than in national public schools) 

3. Multinational and multilingual student body 

4. An international curriculum (i.e. IB - DP, MYP, PYP) 

5. International accreditation (e.g. CIS, IBO, North Eastern ASC, Western Ass. of Schools and colleges, etc.) 

6. A transient and multinational teacher population 

7. Non-selective student enrollment 

8. Usually English or bi-lingual as the language of instruction 

Early international schools were set up for families who traveled, like children of personnel of international companies, international organisations non-governmental organisations (NGO), and embassy staff. The schools were established with the people and organisations having large interests in the hosting nation: for instance, American diplomats and missionaries often set up schools to educate their children; children of American military and army families often attended Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS); French diplomats and business families founded similar schools based on the French curriculum.

Over time globalisation has created a market for international education. "In a global economy, it is no longer improvement by national standards alone. The best performing education systems internationally provide the benchmark for success," said Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General José Ángel Gurría when launching the annual Education at a Glance report in Paris. Increased movement of people around the globe has created a generation of children growing up and residing in foreign countries, creating and expanding this market for international schools that can cater for their educational needs.

In April 2007 there were 4,179 English-speaking international schools, which was expected to set to rise with globalization. In New Delhi worldwide entries for the University of Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) June 2009 examination session are up by almost 20% on the same session last year. The strong growth confirms the status of Cambridge IGCSE as the world's, and India's, most popular international curriculum for 14- to 16-year-old, indicating that despite the global financial crises education is still a valued investment. International schooling allows children to become global citizens by providing a rigorous and comprehensive education with full immersion into multiple languages and cultures.This is what an international school should be.

The ISC (international school consultancy) definition 'For the purposes of market intelligence, analysis and data collection, ISC Research includes an international school if the school delivers a curriculum to any combination of pre-school, primary or secondary students, wholly or partly in English outside an English-speaking country, or, if a school is in a country where English is one of the official languages, it offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country’s national curriculum and the school is international in its orientation.'

I am wondering why ISC refers to international school as one that offers English medium curriculum. I believe that the host country of these international schools have to accredit the school and I wonder if the host country will be left out. I work in an international school that is bilingual in their practice. My school adopted the International Baccalaureate and still offers French as a second language from KG through 12th grade. My final say will be that international school is one which considers English or other languages as second language.

Kurt Hahn regarded education’s role as to insure the survival of curiosity, spirit, tenacity in pursuit, create a readiness for sensible self denial, and compassion. He was obviously a trail blazer with regards to educational philosophy). He was very outspoken with his objection to institutionalized educational system at the time (teach to the test philosophy). His ideals and beliefs are only recently coming to fruition in the mainstream (both national and international systems) nearly half a century after his first proposals.

Hayden and Thompson attempted to shed some light on the differences in their article 'International School and international Education: A relationship reviewed' published in 1995. they outlined that 'International education' is a poorly defined term but is used in high frequency when discussing the topic of education (people are effectively using poorly qualified terms) they also attempted to address the fact 'international education' and 'international schools' are not one and the same, for instance an international school can merely be an exported curriculum relocated into a place anew, making no attempt to adapt or cultivate internationally minded students.

They categorized schools as such:

• A – ‘traditional’, market driven for children of expats, non-profit…
• B – ‘ideological’, mission driven, to promote international understanding and peace….
• C – ‘non-traditional’, market driven for the local elite, for profit. Ian Hill (2016) will take this idea further with the notion that an international school should be defined its curriculum content rather than its geographical location, he specifically sights the IB as being a leader in this area of education. Hahn obviously critiques curriculum more than the idea of an 'international' school. But after Kurt Hahn, fresh debate began as how to differentiate international curriculum from international schools. Does an 'international curriculum' equal to 'international school' or visa versa. How can we distinguish them? I think this is an open question for everyone to think about. Kurt was was an advocate for the belief that only true integration of the worlds citizens under one roof would prevent future conflicts. Kurt Hahn in his paper 'education and peace: The Foundations of modern society' written in 1938 he points out that good international relations are built on interactions and a common sense of compassion to a fellow man and that cultural Diversity within nations leads to more well rounded societies and less conflict. to steal an extract of particular interest "A German boy would realize what sea power meant for your sense of security; and a British. boy would taste some of the German anxiety, when the Russian bear and French cock are beginning to growl and crow in unison round our unprotected frontiers. Patriotism does not become diluted; on the contrary, it grows up stronger and nobler by including the love of humanity. I have no respect for the tribal fervor which extols one's own virtues and blinds one to the virtues of one's neighbors." he wrote this one year prior the outbreak of the second world war.

Here is a link to inforgrahic on different models of International Education.

I would also want to say that international schools are ones that work together to develop a common goal. It does not matter what language is used for instruction, what matters most is the content and the curriculum.

References 

Cynthia Nagrath.,  August 26, 2011. What Makes a School International?

https://www.tieonline.com/article/87/what-makes-a-school-international-

Hayden Mary et al., September 1995. " International schools and International education: A relationship reviewed."
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgYlY1O2AV2dFNNOERaMl9lQUk/view

Kurt Hahn., "The Legacy of Kurt Hahn."
http://www.kurthahn.org/

Kurt Hahn., March 24, 1936. " Education and peace: The foundation of modern society.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgYlY1O2AV2VERSQVVpZFNVOFE/view


ISC: Independent, unrivalled market intelligence on the world’s international schools.

https://iscresearchcom.finalsite.com/about-us/about-us-clone

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: Secretary General's report to Ministers., 2018.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/sg_report-2018-en.pdf?expires=1538389266&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=C16FC1DC369CF317D412574791B5C0AB