Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

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patrickmurtha
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2014 10:01 am

Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by patrickmurtha »

There's no need at this point to go into details, but I have recently had a reminder of just how bad an international high school can be. In the wake of that experience, I have read a lot of reviews here at the International Schools Review, and even allowing for the fact that the disgruntled are more likely to write reviews than the pleased are, the picture that emerges from around the world is not pretty.

Several points occur to mind. One: Although it is easy to find the administrators who represent commercial and bureaucratic values at these institutions, it is not so easy to find the administrators who represent strong educational values. I think a lot of them become frustrated and leave the schools, or perhaps the profession of education altogether.

Two: I think that whether these schools call themselves "for profit" or "not for profit," virtually all of them are actually for profit institutions and run themselves accordingly. Very few would compare favorably to your average, reasonably well-funded suburban American public high school. Yet parents pay high fees because the alternatives to the independent schools are, in most countries, much worse.

Three: Many students at these schools are pleasant, and I can't blame the ones who are jerky too badly, because they were not responsible for their own rearing. It is true that way too many of the students are academically lazy, which would matter less if they weren't enrolled in IB or honors programs that should not tolerate laziness. But overall, I would not lay the problems of the schools at the feet of the students; they are pawns in the process.

Four: I do think that many parents are culpable however, because they show a far higher concern that their children be treated with the deference due to privilege than that they be well educated. One choice tidbit from a 9th grade mother: "Even though the students were all misbehaving, the teacher shouldn't have spoken to them harshly." Oh well, excuse me.

The upshot in my case is that even though I like teaching high school (under decent circumstances, anyway) and have won accolades for my teaching, I am fleeing towards Business English classes, online English classes, private tutoring, and perhaps some university classes. None of those settings is perfect either, far from it, but it seems to me that the headaches in international high schools and K-12 schools are much worse. (I do know that things are not rosy back in the U.S. or Canada, either.)
Vernacular
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by Vernacular »

"...whether these schools call themselves "for profit" or "not for profit," virtually all of them are actually for profit institutions and run themselves accordingly."
There you have it.
SuzieQ
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:31 pm

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by SuzieQ »

As well as money, there is enormous prestige attached to starting a school, as our profession in an honorable one. Then, you are the owner and can be free to impose your idiosyncratic views on how you want to run it.

Case study 1. A school offering dual IGCSE and IB MYP Certification. Owner: 'IB MYP is wishy-washy".

Case study 2. A school upgrades its facilities to state of the art Interactive whiteboards in every class. Teachers directed to teach by PowerPoint, require a student to initial and date the final slide every lesson as evidence the lesson was taught, save to PDF and print a hard copy for the files.

I can't wait to build a school of my own!
Nomads
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 2:08 pm

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by Nomads »

The statement below is not correct.

>Two: I think that whether these schools call themselves "for profit" or "not for profit," virtually all of them are actually for >profit >institutions and run themselves accordingly. Very few would compare favorably to your average, reasonably well->funded >suburban American public high school


A large number of schools are for-profit, but no where near "virtually all of them are actually for profit." According to International School Research the number of international schools have doubled in the past ten year and almost all of the new schools are for-proift. However, before this point the majority were "parent-owned" schools that were started by the US State Department. You can see a list of many of these schools here http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/c1684.htm

As a teacher candidate, you certainly need to know what you are getting yourself into, but to declare virtually all school for-profit is not accurate. There are many, many high quality international schools that are equal to or better than your average, reasonable well-funded suburban public high schools.
fine dude
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Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:12 pm
Location: SE Asia

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by fine dude »

Agree with Nomads. United World Colleges, among others, do a pretty good job in providing a well-rounded education.
shadylane
Posts: 133
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:11 am
Location: SE Asia

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by shadylane »

fine dude wrote:
> United World Colleges, among others, do a pretty good job in providing a well-rounded
> education.

But are hardly representative of International Schools generally.

Decent US public schools, UK state schools and Australian government schools will generally be much better run than all but the best International Schools.

It's the travel, seeing new cultures / meeting new people, tax free salary, smaller class sizes etc. that makes IS teaching worthwhile.
fine dude
Posts: 651
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:12 pm
Location: SE Asia

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by fine dude »

@shadylane
"among others" should mean something more than UWCs and apart from a handful of middle eastern countries (where the pay packages are not so stellar, Aramco being an exception), tax-free salary is non-existent.
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Re: Why Are So Many International Schools Sub-par?

Post by shadowjack »

Actually fine dude, you should do your due diligence. There are more schools than you think where your taxes are either covered or you don't pay any. Not just in the Middle East either!
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