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
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
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