The International Schools Review Forum

I am so sick and tired of the stale topics on here this summer. Let's look ahead. What are your thoughts on trends for the upcoming recruiting season and/or international primary and secondary education in general?

I will throw in my two cents first: I think the big story this year is that fewer folks will be leaving their jobs because, let's face it, scum rises to the top, and there is a lot of scum out there right now who know they ain't getting a better gig after this one, so they might as well HODL.

I think that in uncertain times globally more people may choose to stick rather than twist, resulting in more people staying where they are. There is uncertainty financially and from safety/peace perspectives. Whether these fears are more perceived or more real I don't think matters. The fears are there and I suggest that this will make people more cautious.

Actually, the one place where this uncertainty could manifest itself in people choosing to live is perhaps the UK, specifically England in the wake of further Brexit difficulties. This will increase the number of applicants for possibly fewer jobs.

China will continue to be a growth market, but would you want to work at some of the schools that spring up there? There will be a steady enough supply of people taking the plunge. And we all have to start somewhere.

I also think we'll see a rise in the profile of online course providers which will diversify the options available for courses and qualifications at 16 and 18.

Middle east will continue to grow although the pay and living conditions are not the same as they used to be. SE Asia is more or less flat with fewer jobs. Same applies to Japan. If I were a young teacher, I'd try Vietnam or even Myanmar.

i would love for there to be continued growth in terms of non-traditional "fairs" or opportunities that don't necessarily involve the big recruitment agencies.

the safety/financial uncertainty is always an issue no matter what year it is.

v.

Sure :)

1) The housing credit bubble has corrected, and with DTs back in demand fewer DTs will make the switch to IE.

2) Leadership roles will continue to grow and expand.

3) The border between ESOL and IE will get narrower. The presence of "post school programs" and Early Childhood targets younger and younger students and the desire of "international" and "western" programs will continue to experience lower levels of entry.

4) Professional ITT and EPP programs will expand to make it easier to obtain a professional credential.

5) Brexit will force changes in the UKs (England) DE market, they will have to become more competitive to staff classrooms. I doubt it will be fast but its not going to be overly slow.

6) Technology integration will move closer to integration by design. Less how to push technology into a lesson, and closer to designing lessons from conception around technology.

7) Demand for STEM ITs will have the highest classroom growth. Not just ITs how can do classic science and maths and technology but the new and popular stuff thats more studio based.

8) The IB will continue to grow and dominate over other curriculum. CPU will gain market share. AP will shift more externally outside the classroom as ISs structure SLL classes around congruent skills and material.

9) A shift from team competitive athletics to individual athletics and motion studies.

10) An increase in self directed learning classrooms will grow.

Warriors will win it all. LeBron will make it to the Playoffs. Celtics will make the finals.

Here in China, a lot of schools have close to 100% Chinese kids with the only foreign kids being teacher kids. Obviously the best schools in China still have an international population but below that your teaching all Chinese kids.

What will Houston do to replace Ariza?

I think looking at China the major growth area will be second tier cities. This year alone at least 6 new programs have popped up in my city here. All of these programs are tacked on to existing Chinese schools, but they run international curriculums such as IB, A-Level, and AP. Kids are 100% Chinese but they are flocking to these programs.

The "A" bit of STEAM will continue to grow in importance as employers start to look for students who don't just know that 1+1=2 but are able to reason and explain why 1+1 doesn't equal 3. Continued development of critical and creative thinking skills will become more important and schools will start to realise how these are developed.

As night follows day, after a 7 year slumber, the next resources boom is slowly beginning to take off again. 2018-19 will be the year natural resource producing nations will begin to see an uptick in expat numbers as existing mines ramp up and exploration begins to pick-up. Schools in Indonesia and Malaysia, who suffered most during the downturn, will be the ones to see the first benefits. The inflow will be relatively slow at first, followed by the usual flood.

Disagree with the Arts component of STEAM, IE students dont go to work for employers they go to Uni, and unless your an arts major, than no one cares.

Interesting prediction from @vincentchase.

PsyGuy wrote:
> Disagree with the Arts component of STEAM, IE students dont go to work for
> employers they go to Uni, and unless your an arts major, than no one cares.

That's not what the Unis are saying, publicly and privately, to schools and advisors. Unless the student is a prodigy, they're not interested in training them for critical thinking skills.

@expatscot

I agree Unis want students with critical thinking skills, and they dont want to do that kind of remedial education. My claim is that arts dont improve critical thinking skills any more than STEM subjects do. There are just as many clueless artsy students who can improve and draw and have zero critical thinking skills (LOOK AT ME and LIKE ME, I have a gazillion cute Instagram photos so Im a photographer, and because the photos are all of me, Im a model too). A student who is constructing a flow chart for a programing assignment in ICT is developing critical thinking skills just as much as the theater student doing role play.

All the claims amount too, is artsy edus claiming "us too, we do that". When you have a student who doesnt get maths, they get remediation until they get pushed through it. When you have a student who cant draw, or cant play an instrument you just shrug and say "maybe its not your strength". Its okay to not be good at the arts, its not acceptable to be incompetent in numeracy. Thats why when DSs have budget cuts/shortfalls/etc. the arts programs are the first programs to cannibalize. They will drop arts programs before sports, physical prowless is more important than the arts. There are so many Uni directors of art traveling and combing through DSs with full scholarships trying to build a championship painting team for the local, regional and national championships....

Ah - we're miscommunicating about Arts...

My school is starting to bring Humanities into this through MUN, debating, etc - as in "arts and social sciences" rather then Fine Art & Drama.

@expatscot

Different perspectives in definitions. Social Science is Science, its the first part of STEM, STEM doesnt differentiate between natural science, experimental science and social science. Students doing behavioral experiments and studies are just as much a part of the Science of STEM as a chemistry student synthesizing participates through titration are.

I still would disagree about humanities, students have studied humanities for a very long time and little development has been made. The majority of history is still taught by drill and kill, rote memorization of dates, places and people, here is very little critical thinking. Lastly, MUN is for performing arts than it is humanities, and in most ISs debate, and MUN are clubs, or debate is a small amount Literature.