Responding to the observation that there has been limited policy research in the field of international education (Hayden and Thompson 2008; Lehman 2018), the current article presents a theoretically grounded discussion regarding how British policy actors in Council of International School (CIS)-accredited British international schools may be…

Initial teacher education in England is characterised by lesson observation and assessment of teaching evidence against criterion-referenced teachers' standards. In UK-based international teacher training, these situated practices are more challenging because of staff and trainees working in different time zones. In 2020, COVID-19 travel…

This paper investigates the experiences of six British-trained teachers who moved from teaching GCSE in state-funded schools in England to teach in two separate English-speaking well-established traditional international schools in Northern Europe where they began to teach the International Baccalaureate's Middle Years Programme (IBMYP). The…

A growing portion of international schools are franchised branches of schools originally founded in other countries. The first of such schools opened in 1996 and there are now almost 100 globally. Expansionist schools are primarily elite, English private schools, with concentrations of their franchises developing in the Middle East, Southeast…

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.…

This paper discusses the use of Burnett, Merchant, Pahl and Rowsell's (im)materiality literacy analysis framework to explore online and offline literacies in the lives of globally mobile children. The voices of these children have been little explored in New Literacies research. Globally mobile 'third culture' children who attend International…

The world of international schools is expanding, fuelled in part by globalisation and the ease with which employees can relocate across the globe as they seek new employment opportunities. As these mobile families relocate overseas, international schools provide an education for their children which may offer a curriculum based on a common and…

The study upon which this article is based investigates teachers' literacy development methods used in nursery and reception classrooms of a British international school, and focuses specifically on children having English as an additional language (EAL). Findings from teaching observations and from interviews with teachers present the techniques…

Transient populations, cultural diversity, language barriers, competing loyalties, and geographic separation are just some of the challenges international schools face in communicating and connecting with their alumni. And these issues are not going to get any easier as the sector grows. Communicating effectively with large, diverse groups of…

One area in which the impact of globalisation can be seen is that of education. This article suggests that there are currently two main aspects of the growing internationalisation of education at school level: the internationalisation of national systems of education and the growth in numbers of international schools worldwide. It is the latter…

In this article the development of educational provision for second-language speakers in various English-speaking countries is traced. Conclusions are then drawn as to which are the best educational models for international schools, and an argument is made for the central positioning of ESL-and-mother-tongue departments as one entity in…

The impact of family mobility from domestic or international moves can be challenging for families. Some families adjust and other families experience crisis. For some families, relocation may be due to a job promotion and transfer, while for other families moving may be due to divorce, loss of employment or other stressful circumstances.…

This paper examines education for cultural awareness in a Japanese school abroad from the perspective of the teachers. An attempt is made to identify the difficulties which might be encountered by teachers when teaching about the host society and its culture. The paper also examines how this particular school modified its existing approach to…

In a global society, internationally mobile (IM) families experience challenges as well as benefits while living a transient lifestyle. Considering the human costs of relocation and transience for IM families, it is important to understand their survival strategies. A qualitative research approach was used to study 45 IM families who had children…

Respective English governments have placed considerable faith, political weight and not inconsiderable sums of money in a system of school inspection organised and led by the Office for Standards in Education (OfStEd). This article considers a so-called foundation subject, design and technology, and the extent to which we might meaningfully use…