International Mindedness: A professional development handbook for international schools

Benefits

International Mindedness includes opportunities and suggestions for:

• developing international mindedness across the whole school, at every level
• departmental groups and curriculum concerns
• individual teachers, including keeping a personal journal of reflection (PJR)
• self-evaluation
• suggestions for teacher networks – in school and internationally
• outreach awareness
• collaborative planning sessions
• further reading and research
• focus and discussion groups.

Summary of contents

Chapter breakdown

• The leadership team
• The whole staff
• The governing body
• The parents

• understand the importance of having a clear statement about internationalism within the school mission statement so that it guides all educational activities including CPD
• understand the complex decisions that will influence the formulation of the international aspect of the mission statement
• understand what is meant by international mindedness
• integrate both internationalism and global issues 
• commit to individual professional development related to international mindedness

• have a better understanding of the many meanings of international when applied to education and to schools
• appreciate the complexity of the values involved
• have considered what it means to be ‘internationally minded
• have considered the way certain values relate to international mindedness
• have an understanding of some of the ways international mindedness could be put into practice
• have been made aware of the values implicit in a school’s mission statement.

• appreciate the need to develop in a more defined way how the school addresses the issue of internationalism
• understand the concept of international mindedness
• understand their role in supporting the enactment of the goals and specific objectives being developed that will impact upon the whole school and its implication for CPD
• as individuals offer support for specific special projects that will arise in relation to international mindedness
• see their role in informing a wider local community of the school’s orientation toward internationalism
• see themselves as ambassadors of the school’s internationalism and identify with it.

• understand how international mindedness could develop in the school
• have input into the process and discussion
• voice concerns they may have with this ‘new’ goal for the school
• appreciate their supportive role in the home so as to enhance the development of international mindedness.

• Keeping a personal journal of reflection
  Summary of the benefits of using a personal journal of reflection as well as a template for your journal and a task to get you started.
• The role of heads of departments
  This section describes the role of the head of department in relation to the development of international mindedness. There is also guidance in this section on your department meetings with regards to each department and the whole school and what they should entail.
• International mindedness and the curriculum
  A programme for two meetings to understand how being internationally minded can be intergrated into the curriculum.
• International mindedness and language
  A two hour session for use of all staff to help with the understanding of such issues as:
  • the particular problems of those of your students who are being educated in a language other than their mother tongue, an acceptance that all staff are involved in some way in language acquisition and practice
  • the provision of an appropriate programme to cater for all language students
  • a curriculum where all learners have opportunities for the development of international mindedness
  • a realisation of the importance of a student’s mother tongue.
• International mindedness and community service
  This one and a half hour session focuses on the community services that can be developed in the process of developing into an internationally minded school. This session should include all staff members.
• International mindedness and the local environment
  This session lasts for two and a half hours and focuses on the local environment in terms of use of external resources and awareness of the complexity of relationships between your local students and the local community
• International mindedness in practice: global issues
  This session focuses on how to disseminate global issues throughout subjects and how to connect global issues with your teaching
• International mindedness and the student voice
  We look at using the student voice as part of the decision making process in this training session
• International mindedness and aspects of assessment
  How to make sure that your plans are making an impact across the whole school
• Individual CPD programme
  This programme is to give you an introduction to the complex world of international schools and international education, to get you thinking about what it means to be an international school teacher and how this relates to being internationally minded.
  By the end of this programme you should:
  • be aware of the historical context of international education
  • be aware of the different types of international school
  • have noted the variety of ways in which a school can claim to be international and internationally minded
  • have considered various options in choice of curriculum
  • be aware of the different bodies which unite the field
  • be aware of some of the advanced CPD opportunities available to international teachers. 

• How to ensure that there is a use of interactive units throughout the curriculum and incorporating the whole school
• How to implement cross-cultural understanding through language and community – an examplar is given demonstrating the cross cultural understanding through History /English/drama/ music/ other languages/community service in a lesson about Shakespeare
• Activities to ensure that your students/pupils are developing critical thinking with regards to international mindedness
• Activities to help consider global issues and the curriculum as well as teaching
• International mindedness in action: a case study of an international day of tolerance
• A class exercise exploring the work of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and the idea of international mindedness and aesthetics
• Assessment tools for students and for the leadership group: learning log and measurement tools

• core documents
• supportive reading resources
• explanatory summary papers

Description