| Consultancy Services for ¨Internationalism in Schools – a Self-Study Guide¨ |
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Page 1 of 5 A new, additional service offered by the ISA is Consultancy on the ¨Guide¨ itself and on how to make best use of it. The Introduction to the ¨Guide¨ is designed to suggest a number of ways in which it can be employed in a School and for number of different purposes. The aim of the new service is to extend and develop this Introduction and to offer expert advice on where and how to begin, and on how to progress with the Self-Study.
IntroductionIf internationalism can be defined as a positive relationship between two or more countries leading to mutual respect, cultural tolerance and inter-dependence, it is evident that the past fifty years at least have seen an expansion of internationalism.As such a mind-set pervades societies, bringing with it increasing benefits, opportunities and advantages so, inevitably, educational ideology and theory begin to reflect the mind-set. This reflection is less obvious in national education systems than it is in what has become known as International Education. Since the 1960s this form of education has become both an important and influential academic force, and a competitive and market -driven business opportunity. Many are the definitions and descriptions of International Education and many its varied emanations. However, some of its generally accepted characteristics appear to be that it is offered more by private than by national schools, that it is very often linked both to the curricular programs of the International Baccalaureate Organisation and to the accreditation processes of the Council of International Schools, and that it is particularly interested in the values of internationalism. In a School in which internationalism purports to be a significant element there may be a number of essential aspects of School life which express this mind-set both ideologically and pragmatically. Such aspects could include the statement of the School ethos, curricular, pedagogic and assessment policies, the nature of the School administration and the roles of the Head or Director and of the Board. A challenge thus faces each established School which believes that it is instilling internationalism in its students. The challenge is to know whether this is taking place and, if it is, to what extent. Most importantly, a School needs to be able to understand those aspects of its life in which more should be done to develop student’s internationalism. For new internationally-minded Schools the challenge is how to begin to introduce internationalism. |
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