Conversations that are shaping the future of international education

Our friends in the corporate world woke up to this idea a few years ago.  Communication, they told us, is all about a new kind of ‘conversation’ in which everyone is talking to one another in language that is open, natural, open, honest, direct, funny, and often shocking.’[i]  Hardly could they have imagined how far we would have come.  Hardly could they have imagined a world, not even ten years later, in which almost every aspect of what we do is caught up in conversations mediated by the growing authority of Social Media.

David Perkins summed it up perfectly: ‘Organizations,’ he says, ‘are made of conversations.’[ii]  Today, it seems, there is simply no doubting the truth and relevance of this statement.

So surely, at some point, we have to ask ourselves about the quality of the conversations we are having, who we are having them with and where on earth they are leading us.  We also have to think about a key aspect of any truly authentic conversation, namely, who we are listening to. 

Schools are complex organizations.  It is hardly surprising that they tend to be dominated by numerous overlapping conversations. 

So if you want to eavesdrop, here are a number of conversations that we are having right now.

Listening to our students: we are talking with students about their learning; inviting them to rate this learning against commonly agreed standards. 

Listening to our parents: we are leveraging the power of web 2.0 technology to listen-in to what people are saying about us. We are also spending a lot of time in more traditional face-to-face meetings with parents.  We want to better understand the hopes, fears, expectations and concerns of families arriving from every corner of the world. 

Listening to companies: we are preparing our students for life beyond school, recognizing that many of them will pursue careers in the world of business and enterprise.  We cannot afford simply to assume that our programmes of learning are adequate in their preparation of these students; so we are talking to companies, listening to their present challenges and future predictions. Only in this way, it seems, do we stand any chance of equipping our students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions they will need in the future. 

Listening to other schools: no school knows it all! Not surprisingly, then, by some distance, the most utilized forms of learning for school leaders are the well-established global networks of ‘schools talking to schools’.  On any given day, schools leaders from across the globe are talking to one another, gathering best practice and finding new solutions on any number of practical or pedagogical issues.  Social Media is undoubtedly making these conversations more effective and more immediate. 

So where is it all going?
How we finally engage people, listen for understanding, problem-solve and reach collaborative solutions will vary. In some cases, we will focus on the promise of Social Media.  In others, we will do better to stick to traditional face-to-face meetings.  In the end, however, it is clear that the emerging future of international schools will never depend on smart business plans or even the most promising educational manuals.  On the contrary, we will discover a future for ourselves by engaging in better, more collaborative, more thoughtful, more honest conversations with the people who really matter.   

This article was co-authored with Kevin Bartlett, ISB Director.  It is due for publication in Newsweek (Europe and Asia) on 28 September 2009.  The ISB Let's Talk Campaign will also begin on this date.  Click here for details.

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[i] Levine et al, The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business As Usual.  Pearson Education, 2000.

[ii] Perkins, King Arthur’s Round Table: How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations. John Wiley, 2003.

A brochure without words

ISB Impressions

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There is simply too much information these days; too many words and not enough time to read them.

T.S. Eliot seemed to understand this when he asked: ‘Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?’

As a society, one could almost argue that we have become overwhelmed - so I will keep this blog post short.

The task: About a year ago, a few of us at the International School of Brussels set upon the task of writing a new school brochure.

The working principle: Convinced that the web already provided access to huge quantities of information about our school and that there was simply no need to repeat this information on paper, we decided to do something different.

The result: a book that communicates the ‘spirit’ of our school in just a few words and pictures; a series of ‘impressions’ that, together, seeks to conjure up for the reader a sense of what ISB experience is like for the 1500 students who make up this extraordinary international community.

Take a look. Comments welcome.

This Powerpoint is a modified version of the book.  ©International School of Brussels. Design by Manuela Skylitsis.

What do we all want for our children?

When it comes down to it, most of us want the same basic things for our children.

We want them to be safe, happy, to have friends, to do the right thing, to learn something about themselves and the world around them, and to have the best possible future beyond childhood.

Of course, there is much more we might go on to say. We might expect our children to learn a new language, become proficient in the creative arts, grasp an understanding of complex scientific knowledge or lead a team on the sports field. In the end, however, many of us will settle for knowing that we, as parents, had made choices that ensured our children became happy, successful and ethical members of society.

Schools, as we well know, have a huge role to play in shaping our children and leading them towards this optimistic future. So, it is hardly surprisingly, when it comes to the question ‘Which school?’ parents can often feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of the decision. And nowhere is this more keenly felt than by the growing numbers of globally mobile expatriate families who arrive in a new country, a long way from home, faced with a mind-boggling choice of ‘international’ schools.

Stepping off the plane, I know that the first question that many parents ask themselves is: Have I just ruined my child’s life?

The answer, of course, is a resounding ‘no’. In fact, the experience of international education has proven to be transformative for many young people arriving from many different backgrounds and cultures; offering new ways of learning, access to exciting resources and bringing fresh opportunities to learn new stories and perspectives on complex global issues.

So how do you know you are making the right choice for your children? How do you know if a school is right for you?

My advice is simple: take the time to visit each school; meet the people who work there; talk to them about the hopes, fears and expectations you have for your children; and ask lots of questions about the school’s core values and philosophy of learning.

And just to get you started, here are a few examples of questions we encourage our families to ask:

Your child
* Does the school have planned activities to assist your child in a positive start to school?
* Do the students seem happy at school?
* How big are the classes?
* What services are available for individual student counselling and university placement?
* How often will you receive information concerning your child's progress?
* If you child has 'special learning needs', how will the school meet these?

The curriculum
* Is the approach child-centered and challenging enough to develop each child's strengths and love of learning?
* Are the course offerings sufficiently extensive to meet your child's needs?
* How many co-curricular activities (arts, sports, clubs, community service) are offered?
* What types of standardized tests are offered, and how do the students perform?
* In the last year, what universities accepted the school's graduates?

The teachers
* What are the expectations for staff about students of high ability, special needs, ESL, other areas?
* Are all the teachers certified?
* Does the school support professional development, so teachers learn and apply 'best practices'?
* What percentage of teachers has earned advanced degrees?
* During your visit, are the teachers available and friendly?

The school
* Is the school accredited?
* How many years has the school existed?
* Are all facilities such as libraries and IT state-of-the-art and well maintained?
* How long will it take for your child to get to school?
* What security precautions is the school taking?
* Were all questions answered in a straight-forward manner with documentation readily offered for claims?

Your involvement
* Does the school have a strong sense of community in which you and your family can play an active and happy role?
* To what extent can you be a partner in your child's learning?
* Does the school offer opportunities for parent education?
* Are there opportunities for you to contribute to the school by sharing your own skills and knowledge?

The conversations that emerge from these questions will certainly get you started!

In the end, however, schools are a bit like people. They all have ‘personalities’, generating a particular feeling or atmosphere, which goes way beyond a simply analysis of the curriculum offered, number and range of sports teams or success in getting kids into the best colleges. These factors are, of course, important, but there is often more to making the decision. Many families, after they join the International School of Brussels (ISB), for example, explain how their eventual choice of school was based simply on a sense that ISB and the experience it offered was the right ‘fit’ for their children and the family as a whole.

For some people, the decision is easy. It is literally, ‘love at first sight’. For others, it is a growing sense of trust in a particular school. In the end, however, the best schools are not out there giving you the ‘hard sell’ – even in times of global financial crisis. They are simply wanting to help you choose the best school for your child, even if it isn’t theirs! 

This article was written and is awaiting publication in the Weekly Telegraph in May 2009.  To view the online article click here.  To view in PDF format, click here.

Choosing an international school in Belgium

How do you make one of the most important decisions in your child's life?

A presentation given to the expatriate community in Brussels on the role and relevance of international schools, as well as what we know about how families make this decision in a competitive market.

Choosing An International School In Belgium

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The plural of anecdote is not data

Have you ever wondered how you, your team, your school is doing?

What counts as 'success' and how do you measure it? And how do you tell others about it.

We all have stories to tell that help us understand how well we are doing. Sometimes, though, anecdotal evidence is not enough. Prospective parents, members of our current community, members of our faculty and staff, our Board, sometimes want something 'harder' and more empirical

The Plural of Anecdote is Not Data: One School's Story of Developing a Data Dashboard

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