Although the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic in terms of school closure and the sudden shift to online learning has started to be explored, little has so far been written about the impact on teachers. This paper addresses this gap by drawing on the first author's autoethnographic experiences of working in the growing body of…

Leadership in 'International Schools' is a very underreported and under-theorized area of education. Even relatively recently, it was being asserted (Hayden & Thompson, 2013, p. 4) that most people are 'completely unaware of their existence.' In particular, the area of leadership of these schools have been neglected by research investigation,…

The under-theorized arena of "English-speaking International Schooling" continues to grow and morph. The continuous growth seems paradoxical in light of the well-established view that the arena is an insecure and precarious working environment characterized by short-term contracts and subsequent high rates of annual turnover per school.…

A major development in recent years concerning the growth of 'private English-speaking international schooling' has been the transition from a 'traditional' mode of activity towards a 'non-traditional' context. This is especially the case in Asia, where the majority of international schools now reside. Moreover, we find that in Mainland China…

This paper is a response to a recently published article in this journal entitled 'Precarious privilege: personal debt, lifestyle aspirations and mobility among international school teachers' by Rey, Bolay, and Gez (2020. "Precarious Privilege: Personal Debt, Lifestyle Aspirations and Mobility Among International School Teachers."…

There has been reference in literature to the concepts of a Transnational Capitalist Class and a Global Middle Class, but there has been little discussion of how education may form any sense of class solidarity for these groups. In national contexts, ruling class socialisation has been achieved through elite private schooling. But the notion of…

The recent growth in the number and diversity of schools around the world classified as "International Schools" raises questions about what makes a school's claim to be an International School legitimate. From the analysis we report here, the provision of an international curriculum emerges as what a school must do to be legitimate as an…

The diverse arena of International Schooling concerned with schools delivering a non-local curriculum in English largely outside an English-speaking nation, has grown enormously during the current wave of globalisation. Traditionally, the arena of "International Schools" played an intended ideological and pragmatic role, albeit in a…

The diverse body of international schools continues to grow and develop. Yet, the realities of being a leader in such a school continue to be neglected by discussion and research. It is acknowledged that international schools are complex organizations to lead and manage, with numerous boundaries, transient stakeholders, and opposing priorities.…

Our paper reveals a significant under-reported emergent phenomenon: the graduates of the well-established 'Elite Traditional International Schools' worldwide are beginning to cluster in certain universities, in certain 'global cities'. As one might expect, New York and London are central to this clustering, alongside Boston, Toronto and Vancouver.…

The well-established yet under-theorised body of 'Traditional International Schools' warrant much greater sociological analysis and inquiry as 'elite' educational institutions. This paper uses Basil Bernstein's "Sociology of the School" to discuss the 'expressive culture' of such schools, representing an idealised model of conduct,…

In recent years, the number of International Schools around the world has increased rapidly largely as a result of growth of new forms of International Schools, which differ markedly from the traditional forms. These new forms: are often operated on a for-profit commercial basis; are usually for children from the local (indigenous), wealthy…

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,…

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'…

In this paper, we use institutionalisation theory to analyse the legitimacy of schools identifying themselves or being identified by others as 'international'; identify aspects of institutionalisation theory that could be developed; and argue that an institutionalisation perspective should be more central in educational organisation theory.…