How and what schools report as grades is important. Academics argue that traditional grading reduces teaching effectiveness and the accuracy of reporting (Marzano & Heflebower, 2011). Many education experts advocate for standards-based grading (SBG) as a research-based response (Link & Guskey, 2022; O'Connor, 2018; Townsley et al., 2019).…

Across the world, the international school sector is changing at a rapid pace, having an impact on all facets of international schools, from curriculum to clientele. This article describes an emerging concept from this sector that I have termed the internationally-national school, borne from the nationally affiliated schools that currently exist…

Studies on migration and education have examined homeland returns as part of family strategies around acquiring desired cultural capital. However, the impact of return migration and transnational mobility on homeland educational landscapes remains under-researched. Using ethnographic data from Ghana, Senegal, the UK and the US, this paper shows…

In an environment where effective leadership is crucial for inclusive education, this self-study investigated my leadership strategies at an international school in Europe. Grounded in Michael Fullan's (2011) change leadership framework, the research involved semi-structured interviews with educators and school leaders. The central question…

This article investigates how the International Baccalaureate's 'global dream' for education interacts with the national priorities of governments. In mainland China, a thriving international school market has been met with tightened government control. We draw on the analytical lens of 'cosmopolitan nationalism' to demonstrate how a cosmopolitan…

Recent policy changes to the regulation of international schooling for Chinese nationals in China have seen restrictions on curriculum, admissions and ownership. While there is evidence of the impact of these changes at the institutional level, it is not clear how recent regulation has impacted the actors at the phenomenological level. In order to…

This empirical study explores how international school directors find novel ways to develop and lead through ambiguity. The research examines whether and how international school leaders' abilities to perceive, experience, and navigate ambiguity are linked to their stage of ego development. It investigates what kinds of internal and external…

Demand for elite English private schools overseas is increasing and their numbers have risen rapidly in the first two decades of this century. With little research focussed on this type of international school, Bunnell (2008) discusses their first ten years, and the reasoning behind their initial appearance in Thailand. In this paper I examine…

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 article reports on an ethnographically-informed case study of a Canadian university that is experiencing growth and systems change through three initiatives: internationalization, intercultural education, and Indigenization. The article describes the goals of internationalization and "interculturalization" (a term coined at the…

There is a growing literature studying the 'non-traditional' type of international schools. However, a less explored and under-theorised area is the changing dynamics of the global-local interactions in the way these international schools are being redefined and shaped by local processes, regimes of control, and mechanisms. Drawing on empirical…

The COVID-19 global pandemic was an unanticipated educational crisis (Reyes-Guerra et al., 2021) that forced international schools to close and leaders to contend with extreme volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) (Kaiser, 2020; Singhal, 2021). COVID-19 created opportunities to "re-focus, re-energize, and try new…

Many educators and leaders in international schools around the globe recognize the value and urgency of global citizenship education (GCE) and the need to empower PreK-12 students to engage in authentic community engagement and active local and global citizenship. To this end, many educators use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals…

In this qualitative ethnographic and autoethnographic study, I examined a co-teaching partnership between a general education teacher and special education teacher in an international school. The school inclusion policy, which resulted from a shift in student demographics by admission of students with significant learning needs, supported the…

This longitudinal, quantitative study utilised 2019-2022 survey data from teachers at one Chinese internationalised high school in Jiangsu Province, China to examine teachers' immediate professional plans through the lens of teacher working conditions (TWCs). The relationship between teacher perceptions of working conditions and their immediate…