What Would I Like to Research?

Looking into my topic for the MEd action research project.

Research Question/Topic

For the purposes of this project I would like to focus on the concept of international mindedness at my school.  The question I would like to investigate is:

To what extend is international mindedness present in the day-to-day experiences of students in our school?

Rational for the Question/Topic

From the above question I would like to unpack not only if it is present, but in want ways is it present, and how can it become a centrepiece for our school's learning experience for everyone.  

As someone who has worked at this school for almost 9 years and has two young boys in the school it is important to me that the education we offer is one that will prepare our (my) kids for the world that awaits them.  In a world where the International Baccalaureate (IB) seems to be growing in popularity resulting in an increased awareness of international mindedness I have become more and more concerned with how were are educating our kids in an ever-shrinking world.  Research has shown that there is an increasing need for global competence & intercultural awareness.  The IB asserts that this came be achieved through the teaching and learning experiences anchored in the concept of international mindedness.  If this is true, which I believe it is, then the importance of investigating the extend at which we are achieving this goal is of great importance.  It is also important that we find new and innovative ways to grow the educational experiences of our students in order to further achieve the goal of developing internationally minded citizens in our school. 

The Context for the Research

Gyeonggi Suwon International School is a JK-12 international school located in Suwon, South Korea that offers the IB Primary Years Program (IBPYP), IB Middle Years Program (IBMYP), and IB Diploma Program (IBDP).  GSIS is a not-for-profit school that has approximately 425 students from 24 different countries.  By Korean law, only 30% of students enrolled in each grade can be Korean passport holders.  This means that while a walk through the school might appear to show a high percentage of local students, they come from different countries and have diverse cultural backgrounds.

International Mindedness, Intercultural Literacy, & Global Compentence

Cross-Cultural Terminology

International Mindedness

The concept of international mindedness is one that not too many outside of the International Baccalaureate world would have heard of until very recently when the number of research articles began to grow.  Even the IB, while having a position paper on international mindedness, has not done, in the opinion of many, a very good job defining what international mindedness really is in a succinct way.  Quite often students and teachers are left trying to figure out for themselves what teaching & learning for international mindedness looks like.  Parents, for the most part seem completely lost.  

In the 2013 IB Conference of the Americas, Bhavnani (2013) broke down international mindedness as:

• the ability to be better prepared for the 21st century global challenges;
• understanding ourselves to connect with others;
• awareness that the world is much larger than the community in which we live;
• respect and understanding for other perspectives, cultures and language;
• the ability to see oneself as a responsible member of the community and a global citizen.

While this, to many of us in the educational field seems reasonable understandable it is still not more clear to parents and students.  Nor does it shed any light on how to teach for international mindedness.  The IB, which has a foothold on the term international mindedness, believes that it is through inquiry using the global context as a lens to develop the IB learner profile attributes that students will develop into internationally minded, global citizens.  So, in a sense, it is meant to be more organic than most people would like, particular parents who grapple with the teaching & learning styles of the 21st century classroom.

Intercultural Literacy

Heyward (2002) defines intercultural literacy as "the competencies, understandings, attitudes, language proficiencies, participation and identities necessary for effective cross-cultural engagement."  The issues with intercultural literacy by definition is that there is an innate need for intercultural interactions.  For this reason, many students who have been educated in international schools display many of the characteristics, while those who have been educated in more monocultural schools do not.  While this may be true for the majority, it is not true for all.  With that caution should be taken to ensure that generalizations are not made.  However, it does shed light on the need for greater planning in curriculum so that everyone has the opportunity to experience other cultures, hence developing their intercultural literacy.

Global Competence

In a recent NEA policy brief calling for an increased focus on global competence, global competence was defined as "the acquisition of in-depth knowledge and understanding of international issues, an appreciation of and ability to learn and work with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, proficiency in a foreign language, and skills to function."  The current issue stands with not so much the desire, but the ability to implement the necessary strategies to meet this ever increasing educational goal.  In a recent article on Getting Smart's website, it was articulated that while 80% of teachers agreed with the need for an increase in student learning about other countries and cultures, only 30% said that they were actually doing it.  The reason cited for almost 6 out of 10 of those teachers was a lack of resources and/or administrative support.

References:

Bhavnani, Jaya. (2013, July 18-21).  Enhancing International Mindedness.  Retrieved November 24, 2017 from http://www.ibo.org/contentassets/dd8041e9f17042ea87db944c136129d1/jaya-bhavnani-enhancing-international-mindedness.pdf

Getting Smart. (2016, February 23). What do Globally Competent Student Look Like? Retrieved November 24, 2017 from http://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/02/what-do-globally-competent-students-look-like/

Heyward, Mark. (2002). From international to intercultural – Redefining the international school for a globalized world.  Retrieved November 21, 2017 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzLwFwwvm0oNU0EweTJ2eDhLakU/view

NEA Policy Brief. (n.d.). Global Competence Is a 21st Century Imperative.  Retrieved November 24, 2017 from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/PB28A_Global_Competence11.pdf

Action Research - Planning for the Final Project

Planning for The Final Project

Requirements & Timeline for the Final Project

The final project for the Educatore School of Education's Masters in Education degree is an action research project, where, by completing the project, students are able to increase their knowledge of an educational topic of their choosing while improving their teaching, and developing skills they can use for future activities. The final product may take many forms, but it must:

• be original work that requires critical analysis;
• include an analysis of previous research done in the field;
• require some application that involves the collection and/or analysis of data;
• include an analysis of findings;
• focus on some aspect of globalization or international mindedness relevant to education in general or your specific situation;
• be in the form of a written report (in Word format).

While there is no limits on the length of the report, it must be comprehensive enough to meet the above and generally runs between 20 and 30 double spaced pages and broken down into the following sections:

• Introduction & Statement of Problem/Question;
• Literature Review;
• Proposed Methodology;
• Analysis of Results;
• Summary & Consideration of Next Steps/Action Plan;
• References;
• Appendices (if necessary)

This will be done throughout the months of November, December, and January, with completion expected by no later than the end of January.

Action Research - A Summary

According to Sagor (2001) action research is "a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action.  The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the “actor” in improving and/or refining his or her actions".  Rigsby (2005) makes it even simpler by stating that "action research is a fancy way of saying let's what's happening at our school and decide how to make it a better place".  

While much of the details of action research have been highlighted in the above section covering the requirements for Educator's MEd program, Padak & Padak (2017) unpack the four stages of action research by asking researchers to think about the following questions/ideas for each section:

1. Identifying questions to guide the research.  Think about what makes a good research question (Is it important?  Is is directly related to the issue/problem?  Is it answerable?);
2. Collecting information to answer the questions.  The key thing to remember here is that any information that can help answer your question is data and can be treated as such.
3. Analyzing the information that has been collected.  Think about this section like this:  when the data no longer brings surprises, you know that you have collected enough.
4. Sharing results with others.  Research can lead to more research and therefore it is key to share so that others learn and you get feedback for perhaps further study.

Ideas for Action Research

The first ideas that come to mind for my topics would be:

1. The impacts on monocultural settings on non-national student socioemotional development.
2. An exploration of the teaching of international mindedness and measurement of understanding, application, and attainment of true international mindedness.

More might come to mind, but for now these are the ones that jump out for me and my context.

Potential Challenges & Successes

Obviously, as a father of 2 who has a full time job and it currently looking for a new school to work at in the 2018-2019 school year the greatest challenge I can see is finding the time to get this done.  In addition to time, as I am living in a foreign country, finding the research for Korea in English will also present a sizable challenge.  As for the successes that I see in this process, or at least the things that I think will make it easier for me.  Since I currently work at an International school and wish to focus either on cultural impacts on education or how we can better promote international mindedness in an IB school, I would think that I have fairly easy access to the base for data.  Additionally, since my school is an IB World School I would like to think that there would be a sense of cultural diversity and understanding at the school as well as a basic understanding and practice of international mindedness.

References:

Guidelines and Rubric: Final Project. (n.d.). Retrieved on November 19, 2017 from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HENDXgi7azEuAJiwYTWzdhE07p9jRnYHL6nDwg5N_Oo/edit

Padak, Nancy & Padak, Gary. (2017, September 28).  Research to Practice: Guidelines for Planning Action Research Projects. Retrieved November 19, 2017 from http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-08.htm

Sagor, Richard. (2001). What is Action Research. Retrieved November 19, 2017 from http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-08.htm

Rigsby, Leo. (2005, March). How is Action Research Defined? Retrieved November 19, 2017 from http://gse.gmu.edu/assets/media/tr/ARRigsbyppt.htm

International Schools. What the heck are they?

International Schools.  What the heck are they?

The one thing that we can all agree on about the definition of international schools, is that there is no one clear, accepted definition of international schools.  There have been many attempts to narrow down what is an international education and those definitions have evolved over time.  Hill (2016) in how he describes that there needs to be an understanding that there is a difference between international education and international school, a view of which I am in complete agreement.  In that same article he presents criteria and descriptors that allow one to kind of rank or put a numerical value on how international school is, however this, to me, and many other researchers seems far to simplistic and not truly reflective of what an international school is.  According to ISC Research (2017), "an international 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...[a school] 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".  This one idea or definition offered by ISC seems most fitting to me in my experience (as a 16 year veteran of international teaching). It offers the least limiting definition and is the one that fits what I have seen thus far.  That does not, however, diminish the continual confusion of what is an international school.  Take the three below.  Is a DoDEA not an international school?  How about State Department Schools?  And, what makes the Council of International Schools so special?  

International schools have had a long history in global education.  

According to Wikipedia (2017), international schools have been around since the 19th century serving school aged children of families who had to travel for business, government work, and missionary work to name a few.  The number of international schools has grown as a result of globalization to the point where currently there are more than 8,000 international schools worldwide serving over 4.5 million students with over  420,000 teachers (Wechsler, 2017).  Most researchers do not see the demand for international schools slowing down any time soon and predict that the number of schools to double in the next 10 years.  According to ISC Research (n.d.) the most rapid growth for the 2015-2016 school year was in East Asia, mostly due to the growing demand in China for English language medium education.

International education could not be adequately discussed without mentioning the contributions of Kurt Hahn (1886-1974).  Hahn's 1936 paper was well ahead of the times in what one would describe as learning for students.  Hahn's examples of boys in Salem-Gordonstoun conduct and experiences might well be the first documented examples of international mindedness, experiential learning, and the teaching of affective skills.  His legacy is cemented in the founding of United World Colleges and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.  His work inspired many others, most notably Round Square and Outward Bound International.  HIs early schools has a holistic approach that many schools struggle to achieve today, hence why he is still so fondly remembered as a pioneer in international education.

References:

Hahn, Kurt. (1936, March 24). Education and Peace: The Foundations of Modern Society. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgYlY1O2AV2VERSQVVpZFNVOFE/view

Hayden, Mary C., & Thompson, Jeff J. (1995, September).  International Schools and International Education: A Relationship Reviewed.  Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgYlY1O2AV2dFNNOERaMl9lQUk/view

Hill, Ian. (2015, November). What is an ‘international school’? Part 1. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgYlY1O2AV2UHhHa25ta1JvakE/view

Hill, Ian. (2016, April). What is an ‘international school’? Part 2. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgYlY1O2AV2ODAxbGQxRl83dWs/view

ISC Research. (n.d.). Demand for international education continues to expand globally. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from http://www.iscresearch.com/news/isc-news/isc-news-details/~post/demand-for-international-school-education-continues-to-expand-globally-20170427

ISC Research. (2017). What does ISC consider to be an international school?. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://www.iscresearch.com/about-us/the-market

KurtHahn.org (2017).  Retrieved on November 3, 2017 from www.kurthahn.org/

Wechsler, Alan. (2017, June 5).  The International School Surge.  Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/06/the-international-school-surge/528792/

Wikipedia. (2017). International School. Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_school