Education plays a vital role in society and international schools today are genuinely meeting the needs of all parents willing to enrol the child. The multilingual skills that many international students and teachers possess have made possible means of nurturing and developing these skills to the optimum. The task is not easy although there is much enthusiasm for multicultural awareness and intercultural conferences. We need to have a true understanding of the many facets of international education. However, classroom teachers are confronted with the daily reality of students who are unable to speak and write grade level in English. These children need solutions and strategies to overcome these difficulties.

Teachers in international schools are from different diversities as we are hired due to the efforts made by the school to hire a mix of nationalities and ages. Most are native speakers, but not all. Some schools place a very high priority on years of experience, but others are more flexible. I worked as an international school teacher for English Language and other mainstream subjects of the Cambridge Curriculum in Sri Lanka for the past 10 years. The school was originally for daughters of ex-pats and diplomats, but it became a truly international school with students from 10 different countries. Many of them are actually sent there from their country of origin.

I chose to teach in international schools mainly for the diversity and challenges confronted in teaching. The development came gradually as I matured in a position which has enhanced and enriched my experience and capabilities. Most international schools are also learning-focused and have extensive professional training and development for teachers. The high expectations have made me implement this knowledge in the current school I am employed. Of course, the rewards always come way later, after all the hard work’s been done.

Education in Malaysia has been continuously enhanced by the development of strong content knowledge in mainstream subjects and language. However, higher order thinking skills have been in the spotlight of recent times. Due to continuous progression of the education system it is put forth that the performance of a Malaysian student may be at risk. Other educational systems in countries such as Singapore have already found ways to sustain and the international assessments of Malaysian students show figures of the declining performance rate of the student.

It is of paramount importance that student outcomes should be equitable in all states as this affects the achievement levels. A rising gender gap over the past 5 years show that an increasing 70% of the girls population outperform boys at every level. Boys with low attainment levels are a cause for concern for this nation.

International schools, however follow a curriculum model from UK, USA, Canada, Australia and/or New Zealand choosing to run the International Baccalaureate Program. This results in children attending top-notch universities around the world due to high quality of education, placement or IGCSE offerings and scholarship. Through the holistic education system they find out about each others’ cultures and views on the world. By sharing everyday parts of their lives; dining, sleeping, and helping each other tackle the challenges of an exciting outdoor education programme, they learn to develop tolerance. What is more, friendships are formed which transcend traditional barriers and differences. Ordinary day to day situations become opportunities to educate the students beyond their own cultural mind set. While government schools are increasing the ethnic homogenization of schools. This reduces the opportunities for interaction between individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. These interactions are important as they develop a shared set of experiences and aspirations for the future, through which a common national identity and unity are forged.

The range of languages learnt in school makes each student bilingual or multilingual which finally opens doors for an international outlook. This adds a reality to the life of students as they are continuously in this environment. One of the biggest advantages international students have is when different cultures, nationalities and languages are brought together in one place. They have a chance to recognise that what makes them human is not their cultural identity, language or religion but something spiritual that transcends all these things. It gives students the chance to rub shoulders with another human being at a more essential level. For example, in the challenges of outdoor education, young people from varied backgrounds discover that they experience the same human feelings of fear apprehension and achievement. An international education is as much about the quality of the relationships that can be formed between human beings as it is about a particular curriculum or set of qualifications. These relationships become the soil in which other things can grow. To be effective and fruitful, the curriculum needs this kind of soil, but just as important as the curriculum is the methodology and the values used to deliver it.

This article was written by Fathima Rezlana Mushadiq. Fathima works as an English teacher in an international school. She is a guest writer for this blog.