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Welcome to this seventh edition of International Schools. In a world that seems to be growing smaller, where national borders no longer present themselves as boundaries to commerce, international schools are committed to creating a global sense of community. International schools seek to meet the challenges of a changing world by offering contemporary curricula supported by contemporary resources and technology, educating students for whom global relocation is often the norm rather than the exception.
Within international schools, there is a strong emphasis on helping and teaching students to cope with change and, in turn, to help others with whom they share the world.
Choosing an international school is one of the many options available to parents and children planning relocation (others include choosing a local school in the new country or finding a boarding school in the child's home country). Because of the complexity of these choices, it is especially helpful for parents and children to have an understanding of what international schools are, where they are and the kind of education they offer.
International Schools 2005 is a unique guide to more than 1900 international schools in 155 countries. Designed to provide as much helpful information as possible for prospective pupils, it includes details of international schools, boarding schools in the UK offering places to overseas pupils, educational associations, and the range of international curriculum options available (including the IB, IGCSE/IGCE, CIE examinations and US programmes).
On page x of this section you will find an article entitled 'How to use this guide', which explains how the book is structured and where to locate the information you need.
On page viii the article 'Coming in from the Cold' offers advice on easing the transition process for expatriate children.
We hope that, by providing you with the information you need about international schools, we can help you make this important decision about your child's education.
Global and local: how an international education makes a difference
Caroline Ellwood outlines the evolution of international education as a concept and explains its importance in the 21st century.
Whilst not all the schools in this guide have 'international' in their title, it takes only a brief study to realise that they are linked by common aspects of provision and philosophy. Here are schools which welcome students from many different countries and provide an educational service of particular relevance to the needs of a rapidly-changing world.
The special qualities and values which go to make up international education have developed alongside and because of the history of the last half century. Global conflict has brought a yearning for peace; global cultural homogenisation has brought an appreciation of cultural diversity; rapid global communication with English as the dominant language has led to the preservation of mother tongue languages and the promotion of bilingualism; an endangered planet has produced a growing regard for the environment.
Of course, such concerns are not the exclusive domain of international schools - indeed they can be found in the mission statements and philosophy of many national schools. However, being geographically scattered across the world and having a multilingual and multinational clientele provided an opportunity for a number of pioneer educational innovators to explore how international awareness and intercultural understanding could become a necessary part of learning to live together and lead to a shared humanity.
So over the last 50 years a concept of 'international education' has grown in strength, developed its own pedagogy, curricula, methodology and research base. George Walker, Director General of the International Baccalaureate Organization, believes that so important is its message that 'international education has the potential to change the world'1.
The foundation of international schools was originally a very practical solution to a specific need. A rapidly-expanding and mobile work force of diplomats, civil servants, government and international business employees needed schools for their children. A market was created and international schools proliferated across the world. However, this market did not just spawn institutions; it also provided the seed bed for the growth of a diverse but recognisable philosophy.
International education is diverse, for it has many different starting points: the World Colleges, the International Baccalaureate Organization, The International Schools Association, The European Council of International Schools, The Council of International Schools - all have made a contribution as have many individual practitioners.
A number of these early pioneers were influenced by the theories of Kurt Hahn who in pre-war Germany had opposed the ideas of Hitler and as a refugee been one of the founders of Gordonstoun School. Hahn saw international schools as the hope for the future in a torn world - a place where students from different countries working and learning together could eradicate national, racial and religious prejudice, where the ideals of world peace could be embedded and young people be encouraged to action in the service of others. Indeed these ideas formed the basis of the foundation of the World Colleges Movement and the International Baccalaureate Organization and still influence the mission statements and values of many schools.
If again we refer to the listings of schools in this guide and look carefully at what they provide it is clear that international education is much more than a statement of values and vision. It is a practical expression through a comprehensive curriculum of how the educational aims of a school will provide for the needs of a child of the 21st century, a child growing up in a complex world of war, poverty, famine, environmental destruction, prejudice and constant change.
Whether the curriculum is provided by the International Baccalaureate Organization (Primary and Middle Years and Diploma Programmes), the International General Certificate of Education, the International Primary Curriculum, the National Curriculum of England and Wales, or is focussed towards US qualifications or other national systems there will be certain common features. Ian Hill has listed these as:
- 'course content which provides an international perspective...;
- 'recognition that the world is increasingly interdependent...;
- 'provision of activities which bring students into contact with ... other cultures...;
- 'creation of a context for world peace by provision of opportunities for many cultures to live together in mutual understanding and respect.'2
All schools will aim to give their students a balanced and rigorous education and the skills necessary for their future and to develop the potential and talents of every individual student so that each one has a sense of identity, confidence and a willingness to participate. Indeed international schools expect their students to be actively involved not just in the day-to-day learning process but in community action.
To return to Kurt Hahn: Peterson3 describes how Hahn saw what he called 'spectatoritis' as the great danger to society. He wanted students not just to think but also to act - to feel that if the world needs changing, then they can do it. And so a vital component of international education developed - community service. Across the continents more than a thousand schools are involved in large and small initiatives: a major force for good is, as George Walker hoped, changing the world.
Fundraising may often be the basis, but what is so remarkable is the action. Students help in refugee camps, travel hundreds of miles to build classrooms, sink wells, teach in schools in poor villages, fight their way through jungles to help reclaim land by planting crops, do volunteer work in hospitals and old people's homes, take provisions and toys to orphan children, create a scheme to help the blind have cataract operations: the endeavour is endless. Globally and locally young people are taking responsibility; are making a difference.
Perhaps 'making a difference' is at the heart of the international-minded student, teacher and school. Whether there is international in the title is of no importance - what matters is that awareness of difference produces not conflict but an appreciation of a common humanity. In celebrating our own special difference and our own particular rights we must never forget to respect the rights of others.
Dr Caroline Ellwood is Editor of is magazine and
of the International Schools Journal.
References
- Greg Crafter, in George Walker: To Educate the Nations (John Catt Educational Ltd, 2002), p7
- Ian Hill: 'Internationally-minded schools' in International Schools Journal, Vol XX, No. 1, November 2000 (European Council of International Schools, 2000), pp28-29
- A D C Peterson: Schools Across Frontiers: The Story of the International Baccalaureate and the United World Colleges (Open Court Publishing, 1987), p2
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