The crypto-growth of “International Schooling”: emergent issues and implications

Abstract

The diverse arena of International Schooling concerned with schools delivering a non-local curriculum in English largely outside an Englishspeaking 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 rather discrete and peripheral manner which in practice facilitated an exclusive schooling experience for a limited and already privileged transnational elite clientele. Its growing appeal and access to a wider, localised clientele is now a key source of tension. A period of fast-paced, reactionary policy-making in areas such as China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Qatar, has quickly and rather quietly ushered in a new, diverse provision of private international schooling, supported by a complex global package of commercially-driven support-agencies and backed by private equity. Further, a body of state-backed "Public International Schools" are discretely beginning to appear, offering an entirely new arena of activity. Moreover, there is evidence that much of this is occurring without national debate or awareness, creating a newer and more complex form of "crypto-growth". The arena of International Schools now competes directly within the national sphere of education, raising both their political profile and critical discussion about their emergent purpose and intentions. The role now seems much more blurred and problematic, and tensions are beginning to appear at a local and national level adding to the sense of insecurity and precarity.

Diluting, decoupling, and dovetailing: Considering new metaphors for understanding the changing international school landscape in China

“…From a postcolonial perspective (Said, 1978), this shift in focus might be viewed as part of an inevitable decolonising process. This power dynamic has been recently described (Bunnell 2021: 4–5) as follows:On the one hand, one can easily identify a process of neo-colonial exploitation occurring, as investors and commercial agencies (in the Global North) take advantage of the emerging thirst for a seemingly quality-assured model of private schooling that can meet both parental demand and facilitate economic growth (in the Global South). In this respect, the growth is ethically suspect.…”

“…Do these two types of school exist in parallel landscapes or are they interconnected? Clearly the overall landscape, certainly as seen in contemporary mainland China, is now a ‘complex scene requiring differing viewpoints and standpoints’ (Bunnell, 2021: 4). It should be said that there were signs in 2021 that the Covid-19 global pandemic was having an effect on teacher vacancies, with data revealing an 11% decline in ‘private English international schooling’ job vacancies globally, although China was seemingly bucking the trend (Jacoutet, 2021).…”

International Schools in China in the Post covid-19 Pandemic Era: Survive or Thrive?

“…News articles reported stress, increased workload, and a sense that teachers were being asked to teach using a medium in which they were untrained (Brackett & Cipriano, 2020). Whilst the turbulent events of 2020 may act as a damper on growth in the short term, it looks set to double again in the next decade (Bunnell, 2022). Unprecedented changes in teachers' daily time use were evidenced (Kraft et al, 2021) and overall well-being with increases in stress, anxiety, and burnout (Reich et al, 2020) was introduced.…”

Industrialisation and internationalisation of education in the context of Economy 4.0: A case study of Penang

“…In 2011, there were believed to be around 5,000 international schools worldwide with the most rapid growth of such schools being in Asia (largely China), Europe and Africa, indicating the importance of this emerging industry in recent times (Bates, 2011). Large clusters of schools existed in 2019 in the United Arab Emirates and China (Bunnell, 2022) as a result of the 'Great Asian Gold-Rush' (Machin, 2017). The number of schools had increased from 2,500 in the year 2000 to 12,000 schools in 2019, with the number expected to increase in the next few years (Stacey, 2020in Bunnell, 2022.…”