With the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, school buildings across the globe closed, leading educators, students and families to transition rapidly to online education. It is clear that schools will in the future continue to employ online learning, even as students and educators return to school buildings. While the education community has over a number of years generated a range of practical tips

Globalisation has become increasingly important in education, and national systems are no longer defined only by the nation-state. The role of intergovernmental organisations such as the OECD has also become increasingly important, particularly through the development of the PISA tests and the publication of international comparison tables. With a growing recognition of educating for an international

This article highlights the need to understand mainstream international secondary school teachers’ attitudes to and experiences of accommodating English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners, and what current collaborative relationships there are between mainstream and EAL teachers in terms of co-teaching and co-planning. The article draws on data collected from a questionnaire sent to secondary

This article reports on a small-scale study which explored the perceptions of learning support assistants (LSAs) about how they facilitate learner agency and wellbeing, two key facets of the capability approach. Interviews were conducted with ten LSAs working in an international school to investigate whether LSAs support aspects of this theoretical framework within their role, where their efficacy

The teaching profession in England and Wales has been experiencing a steady decline in its workforce, with a significant number of teachers making the decision to move abroad and teach in international schools. Teachers cite working conditions, institutional pressures and pay and conditions at home as reasons to seek employment elsewhere. Meanwhile, exploring teachers’ experiences of teaching abroad

Despite the rapid growth in international schooling worldwide, little attention has been paid to understanding why parents choose this kind of schooling and what they believe their choice has meant for their child. Most saliently, the extant literature has not considered the views of Arab parents, although a number of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries are seen as hubs of international schooling

The number of international schools is growing rapidly and existing data points to great diversity of their governance structure. The nature of hybrid governance, in which a board comprises both elected and appointed governors, was investigated through a case study of an international school in western Europe and triangulated with interviews with nine experts in international schooling. Hybrid governance

Growth in the international school sector continues, with significant expansion of the sector in Asia. Whilst substantial research has been conducted on the adjustment experience of tertiary-aged students, limited research attention has been given to school-aged students in international schools. The environment, conditions and challenges experienced by school-aged international students can differ

As I opened the pages of this book for the first time, I was tempted to reflect on how many works on teacher education published in 2019 might already be out of date. If it is true that the Covid-19 experience will be a watershed in our perception of schooling (a proposition that I am not entirely convinced by, although I’d like to be!), then we need a more profound rethinking of professional training

Levy J R and Fox R (2015) Pre-service teacher preparation for international settings. In Hayden M, Levy J and Thompson J (eds). The SAGE Handbook of Research in International Education, 2nd ed. London: SAGE, pp. 275–297. NCATE (2011) InTASC: Model Core Teaching Standards: a Resource for State Dialogue. Available at: http://www.ncate.org/~/media/Files/caep/accreditation-resources/intasc-teacher-standards

The fact that the research and focus is from a US perspective does not reduce in value or importance the core message of the book to all multicultural societies – that the world needs more interculturally aware teachers and students, and that there are effective ways of building these competencies. The book would be valuable for educators at both school and college levels, preparing students in any

While the International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme (MYP) is growing in popularity in Australia and across the globe, few studies have examined the benefits and challenges of this IB programme for supporting student learning. Using a qualitative case study design of three Australian schools that formerly offered the MYP, we investigated teacher and school leader perceptions of the MYP for

This paper suggests a revised framework for explaining, developing and assessing international mindedness (IM). A review of the literature – that presents initiatives, challenges, and debates regarding IM – concludes with an overview of selected conceptual frameworks that have been used to develop a shared understanding of IM. When the authors applied one of these frameworks in a previous empirical

The Saudi Ministry of Education has recently begun to allow all Saudi families to enroll their children in international schools. The international curriculum offered by such schools represents a notably different choice compared with Saudi traditional public and private schools, both of which teach the same state-mandated curriculum. As a result of the change, there has been a surge in demand for

Learning about one’s own cultures as well as other cultures is a central aspect of the cognitive dimension of intercultural understanding, focusing the individual on cultural group affiliations, belonging and questions of ‘who one is’. Using a social identity lens, with a particular focus on self-categorisation theory to explore how individuals view themselves in relation to the groups to which they

Volume 2 of this journal included an article (Canterford, 2003) which discussed ‘segmented labour markets’ in ‘international schools’. Using an economics lens, that paper investigated the predominance of British and American educators, concluding that a form of discrimination existed which was driven by demand-side factors. In particular, Canterford identified a labour market dominated by British and

(Research Informed Teaching), LTN (Learning Through Networks), LTC (Learning Through Cases), LTI (Learning Through Immersion) and MICS (Motivation for Internationalization Curriculum Scale) distract from the book’s main purpose. And a worthwhile purpose it is: to explore and examine effective education. Today, the COVID-19 crisis presents us with alternative (technological) ways of teaching internationally

consideration of how racial and ethnic identity, culture, class, sexuality and gender intersect with power and privilege. Though no single road map exists, with practice we can navigate through the discomfort of losing our bearings towards a stance of open listening and being present. The idea of breathing into the moment as a powerful tool for transformation may appear overly simplistic, but Taranath

Despite being long-standing practice among schools across the world, most studies on international school partnerships focus on its benefits and challenges as perceived by teachers and students. Little emphasis has been given to parental perspectives and support, particularly among low-income families. With the increase of community involvement in education, how this partnership program may benefit

The purpose of this paper is to examine how students inhabiting distinctive social spaces and experiencing considerably different material realities define, value and problematize the concept of international mindedness. Drawing on a larger multi-sited ethnographic study of two International Baccalaureate schools in Ecuador, the study found that while students from distinct social backgrounds provided

Teacher leadership development receives considerable attention in many educational reforms across the globe. This article reports on a unique partnership in Jerusalem that brings Israeli and Palestinian educators together to cultivate teacher leaders who facilitate professional communities and support continual improvement in teaching and learning. The research design involves participatory action

This paper presents findings from a recent study on choice-making among teachers, school leaders and parents in a for-profit British international school in Kuwait. Using a Bourdieusian field analysis, the choice-making of the various stakeholders is investigated to reveal their positionality within the school’s social space, to examine the resources they hold and the capitals in which they are willing

It is clear that if international school teachers are to be able to properly prepare students for a 21st century globalized workplace, they must first develop the global competence and intercultural skills needed to implement their students’ development of global knowledge, skills and attitudes. Unfortunately, in many public schools and international schools, teachers do not possess the global competency

Education holds promise as a vehicle for sustainable global development and human capacity development, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. International education has become a prominent feature in contemporary times on the educational landscape as students become increasingly mobile in pursuit of their right to education. This study investigates the key factors

There are two sides to every door. This research investigated the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad at a university in south west England through a sequential exploratory mixed methods design. Except for slight differences in ranking of the perceived top study abroad benefits, interview and survey findings regarding advantages were mostly consistent, suggesting that study abroad issues

This study reports on the impact of international visiting faculty’s teaching experiences in the United States on their personal, professional, and intercultural development. It is based on the principles of qualitative research and can be described as a case study. Data collection involved a questionnaire, a written narrative, and a semi-structured interview with each of a number of teachers. Participants

Numerous institutions list hosting and recruiting international students as an important aspect of their internationalization mission. Reasons include the financial benefit to the institution and the local economy; job creation; recruitment of high-quality graduate assistants; increased diversity in the classroom and on campus; and creating international partnerships. However, new changes to immigration

To understand how K-12 students in the USA are impacted by their interactions with international teachers (ie teachers visiting the USA from other countries), this study asked ‘Does contact with an international teacher correlate with increased geo-cultural knowledge and/or receptiveness to non-USA countries, peoples and/or cultures?’. To address this question, the study drew on pre- and post-contact

in terms of identity and geographically, and underscored reports of ‘imposter syndrome’ – where first generation students felt as though they were ‘frauds’ and did not ‘deserve’ to be at university. The studies involving countries with legacies of colonisation included insightful narratives from students who were both first generation and Indigenous. The book provided an in-depth examination of the

United Arab Emirates nationals (‘Emiratis’) constitute less than 10% of the resident population of Dubai. Despite having access to free education in the public sector, where Arabic is the medium of instruction, more Emirati families in Dubai choose to enrol their children in private schools (specifically English-medium schools) than public ones, believing that they offer better teaching and learning

The study on which this article is based aimed to discover the meanings of international education at the high school level from the perspective of students and parents in Japan and Indonesia. Two research questions are addressed: How do Indonesia and Japan balance their international education policy in relation to the need to foster globally competent workers, global citizenship, and nation-building

Debates surrounding national and international identity are becoming increasingly prevalent with the rise of nationalist and populist rhetoric in the public sphere. International schools, which are growing in number, serve as valuable sites for conducting research on national and international identity as they can be viewed as a representation of the increasing diversification of many schools around

communities. This chapter offers a particularly useful discussion for international educators and academics. The final chapter focuses on voice in society and the need for all to feel that they have a voice. The stress on inclusivity through democracy is useful and relevant, and the need to be pragmatic about organisations and systems develops this focus. As with the preceding chapter, McDowell sees

It is now generally accepted that the teaching of cultural understanding is central to international education, exemplified in globally directed curricula such as those of the International Baccalaureate. However, research in this area has tended to focus on student outcomes of cultural education, even though globalisation and the nature of modern society has heightened the need for teachers who have

cited by different political interests supporting opposing educational policies. Interestingly it is noted that praise is mostly rhetorical and most policy-borrowing is from the US. In the book’s conclusion Gita Steiner–Khamsi makes a number of important points. As PISA uses a decontextualised measure, it is possible for participating governments to project their own idiosyncratic explanations for

Whereas growth in international school numbers is widely reported, less attention has been given to how these schools have developed as organisations. Drawing on organisational life-cycle models (Greiner, 1972) and the work of DiMaggio and Powell (1983), this paper addresses that gap. As international schools grow individually, and as the field expands collectively, processes of institutionalism are

This small-scale study was carried out in the elementary department of an international school considered successful in removing barriers to learning for a wide diversity of learners. A qualitative approach sought to gather data in order to understand the organisational context through a case study of how the school had removed barriers to learning for three students in different levels of learning

As a part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students participate in the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course. This research used a mixed methods design to investigate the perspective of TOK teachers in IB schools worldwide. To address the research questions, quantitative survey data were analyzed from 1,534 participants, and focus groups with 33 TOK teachers were conducted

The concept and theory of ‘international-mindedness’ has been much discussed and debated in recent years. The conceptualising of the character of ‘international-mindedness’ as practised by schools has begun to attract some scholarly attention, but one especially under-theorised aspect involves the often-derided ‘Several Fs’, or sometimes ‘Five Fs’ (flags, festivals, food etc.). This paper aims to give

This paper explores the identity of teachers in international schools who are embarking on postgraduate studies in education. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers starting an international qualification, it establishes key aspects of their identity and notes that they feel distinct from teaching professionals in their passport countries. From this discussion, a tool-box of concepts

The term ‘Third Culture Kid’ (TCK) is commonly used to denote children living in a host culture other than their passport culture during their developmental years. However, its meaning in relation to other terminology referring to a similar concept is a source of interest for many stakeholders. This paper opens up opportunities for further exploring and critiquing the definition of TCK, and opening

The study described in this article highlights the complexity of service-learning efforts and community engagement pursuits. It is based on 6.5 months of qualitative fieldwork in International Baccalaureate international schools in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa. The article unpacks the understandings and skills involved in service-learning efforts through a framework developed by the research.

In this study, tasks measuring digital media literacy developed by Stanford University were administered at a school in Finland to consider the efficacy and transfer of critical thinking (CT) skills of a ‘pre-IB’ cohort preparing to enter the two year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and a graduating ‘IB2’ cohort. While the IB2 cohort outperformed the pre-IB cohort, both outperformed

Practitioner inquiry is an ethical process that begins from a stance of caring. When one cares about the principles of democratic participation and social justice, one wants to advocate for them through modelling them in practice. When teachers engage in practice-based research that is democratic and radical in its intent and process, they act as ethical role models. The aims of this inquiry were to

International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes are growing rapidly worldwide, driven in part by their global reputation and concept-driven, inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning. This thematic review of a range of literature sources examines the impact of IB programmes on teaching and learning, highlighting trends, challenges, and benefits. Findings of the review revealed that most of the studies

This article is a study of one aspect of the character education offered by schools following the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate – students’ pro-social development. Set against a background in which the development of inter-personal qualities is being marginalised by conservative governments across many national systems of education (Keddie, 2015), the International Baccalaureate seems

This study aimed to involve International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers in formative assessment and summative evaluation of a continuing professional development (CPD) programme designed to facilitate a student-centred, process-focused approach in which the ‘Approaches to Learning’ (ATL) element of the IB curriculum takes a central role. Given its emphasis on participants’ collective perspectives, focus

Historically, much of the research on acculturation and adjustment was conducted on migrant and refugee populations. The start of the twenty first century has seen a surprising surge in a new immigrant class, mobile students, their characteristics differing from the social, political and economic refugees of the twentieth century. This article provides an overview of the literature related to the salient

This paper uses part of the data from a larger qualitative inquiry in two International Baccalaureate schools, one in Australia and one in an Indian Ocean Island Nation (a pseudonym), to identify the factors and forces that contribute to the sense of self and understanding of and engagement with the notion of international mindedness in two ‘third culture kids’. Socio-cultural theory is used as a conceptual

programme, including its Centre for Latin American Studies. The same applies to Stanford University at Palo Alto, thanks to its strong comparative education programme. Indeed the struggle to render programmes more ethnically and geographically inclusive is ongoing, and one that is central to promoting sound and transparent GCE. This exercise exemplifies the significance of the Activities sections in

This thesis examines the transition experience of 34 Turkish early adolescents, leaving families and hometowns, and moving to a highly competitive, bilingual, boarding school. While they are all academic high-achievers, the pupils come from a range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, with different levels of English. For the first eight weeks of the transition, and again in the last week of

Global citizenship education (GCE) is an essential element of twenty-first-century teaching and learning. For some, GCE signifies an attitude of cosmopolitan purpose, placing humanity ahead of self. For others, GCE embodies a fractured sense of both learner and educator identity. For a third group, GCE is a critical interrogation of pervasive norms. How schools practise GCE, despite globalised rhetoric

The purpose of this article is to contribute to discussion as to whether the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB) meets the needs of early childhood (3-5 years old) learners. The research underpinning the article adopted a mixed method approach comprising both a qualitative and a quantitative framework located in six private Spanish schools across three autonomous communities

recipe models of effective and efficient behaviours and languages for appointed leaders ... and the accounts given in this book, rooted in values and experiences that show negotiation with and sometimes resistance to such models’, she concedes that ‘our co-authors demonstrate the validity of stories as a key way in which we understand ourselves and others and how our assumptions are open to the type

At present international schools continue to experience unprecedented growth. Offering elite, bluechip education these schools, which were once the domains of elite expatriates, are now predominantly occupied by locals, many of whom seek access to western universities and the global knowledge economy. Shifting demographics coupled with delivering a curriculum rooted in a western tradition may suggest

This article provides a systematic review of research on leadership in international schools, though not focusing on International Baccalaureate schools which are the focus of a separate paper. International schools are autonomous, private bodies that cater to the globally advantaged. Accordingly, this literature review views them and their leadership through the Bourdieusian concept of distinction

This article examines the developing discourse of international-mindedness and the problematic nature of its theoretical foundation alongside its actual manifestation in international school settings. In particular, it explores the discord between international-mindedness as a benevolent form of character development compared to international-mindedness as an opportunistic form of social and global

Sklair’s ‘transnational capitalist class’ (Sklair, 2001), and this is what most families are seeking. It is not explicit in the rhetoric, but it is the felt reality for students. This finding may be uncomfortable for us researchers from the dominant global community, but if we find the analysis convincing – and I for one do – then it opens our eyes to an exciting field of research. Though the method

A significant corpus of research now consistently confirms that school leadership is the second most important in-school variable to impact on student outcomes. Investing in leaders and aspiring leaders is therefore an imperative for schools and school systems. However, much of the educational leadership research emerges from national systems of education, with a largely Western set of norms and assumptions

With the increasing mobility of international students to UK universities, the appropriate facilitation of their transition remains a critical issue in terms of higher education practice and research. Much existing research and practice is characterised by assimilationist approaches to transition where international students are seen to ‘adapt to’ and ‘fit in’ seemingly uniform host environments. This