Teachers, heads of department and principals in International Schools want to keep up with the latest in educational thinking – but given that they are often following curricula, policy and best practice set thousands of miles away from where they teach, what’s the best way to do it?
The wealth of resources available on the internet is the obvious starting point, but the problem is how to filter out the best resources.
In the twenty or so years that I’ve been involved in publishing educational materials, I’ve come up with the following ways of keeping in touch.
Get regular updates from reliable, trustworthy sources who do some of the searching and filtering for you. My list is below – form your own and keep reviewing it so you know you’re getting good quality information (and not too much of it).
Form a research group with colleagues. This could be in the form of a book group, picking a recent educational title and discussing it in a local cafe, an online discussion group, or a more in-depth action research group within your school, with neighbouring schools or online. There are plenty of ‘how to’ guides online – try this blog as a starting point.
Try to find some local events to visit so you can network with colleagues and hear directly from researchers. The researchED group, for example, runs events all over the world – upcoming events at the time of writing include New York, Toronto and Amsterdam as well as their longer-established UK events. They are teacher-led, research-focused and very, very popular.
My list of policy updates
These are the best policy updates I’ve seen and the ones that I find most useful. This is a UK-flavoured list as that’s where my experience lies, and I know many of you teach a British or British-influenced curriculum; it would be great to hear from US curriculum colleagues as to where you would go for similar advice.
I hope you found this useful – and if you have a spare 5 minutes and have experience teaching primary in an International School, I would also appreciate it if you could help me out on a research project that we are doing into the various international primary curricula and fill in this quick survey – many thanks in advance.
Sam Derby is a Director of Oriel Square Limited, a strategy and publishing consultancy specialising in education. Find out more here.
The journey to work is indeed an important one. The journey though is not so clear for international school teachers when they are looking for jobs at schools in cities/countries to which they have never been. So let’s share what we know!
The International School of Brussels is located in a leafy suburb of Brussels and nestled along the ancient Forêt de Soignes which is filled with towering trees and a variety of paths. The school began in an old chateau (that is still referred to as “the chateau”) but has since expanded to fill a campus that has separate buildings for each division and a variety of facilities. Today, the chateau is the main physical symbol of the school and houses administration, human resources, admissions as well as key personnel such as the school’s director and team.
Arrival at the school takes many different forms. Some teachers have settled into local life and come by car while others take advantage of the free yearly transport pass and arrive by bus, metro or tram. The location of your home will determine the best form of transport. Many of the younger teachers prefer to live in the Ixelles area near the Flagey ponds where they are between the center and the school. From Flagey, they can catch a 366 TEC bus that takes them in 20 minutes to the doorstep of the school. Departure times during the school year are at 6:48, 7:30 and 7:50 am and teachers often sit together as they ride into school.
Flagey PondsBus stop next to PondsTEC bus entering Watermael Boitfort
Another option from Ixelles or the other side of town in Woluwe St. Pierre is the 94 tram which is more convenient for some as it leaves more frequently but it does require a 10 minute walk to school (The 94 tram cars are brand new and feature leather seats, laminate wood flooring and easy accessibility). In the morning the walk from the tram stop at Delleur is a pleasant downhill stroll but in the afternoon, it can be a bit of a hike up. The tram can be a bit slower than a bus, but it conveniently leaves at regular intervals.
Some teachers also enjoy biking to school. There are marked paths along most major routes and this is a mode of transport that’s becoming more popular. While paths are marked, cyclists still need to be aware as drivers can sometimes get very close to the bike paths. Biking along Franklin Roosevelt takes you past some beautiful embassy buildings as well as some architectural gems from the Art Nouveau era in Brussels. There’s also an option to cycle on the winding roads that pass through the Bois de la Cambre, a serene manicured park on the edge of the city that connects to the more wild Forêt de Soignes.
An area of growing popularity to live in has been the town where the school is located, Watermael Boitfort. There is a lovely village and the walk to school is quick and pleasant. This is a nice option if you’re actively involved in coaching and need to arrive at school early in the AM or if you want the shortest commute possible and a chance to run home if you’ve forgotten something. Rent can be a bit more expensive in this area but the teachers who have moved there believe it’s worth it for the convenience.
Parking on campus is getting more tight but there’s generally always space if you come by car. Brussels is an easy city to own a car in. Expenses such as taxes and insurance are relatively low and gas is manageable if you’re mostly using the car for commuting. The school also offers financial assistance for kilometers traveled in lieu of the yearly Brussels transport pass as an option for drivers.
On a good day, I set my alarm for 6:15 so that I can leave my apartment in Ixelles with my car and arrive at school by 7 to get in a morning workout in the school fitness center. The fitness center has showers so if there aren’t too many teachers working out, I can sneak in a quick shower before walking to my classroom by 8:10 to prepare for the start of the day at 8:40. On a bad day (or after a late night), I can set my alarm for 7 and leave by 7:50 which gets me to school by 8:10 or 8:15. Campus security has been beefed up after the terrorist attacks a few years ago so entering by the large double gates sometimes takes a few minutes if there is a line up of cars. Most teachers are on campus relatively early and until the late afternoon so in the darker winter months, everything is well-lit. Some teachers stay later on campus taking advantage of faculty fitness classes or free language classes but others are just as eager to head out and try one of the many local beers.
Back entrance to ISB CampusMorning sports practice on the upper field
This Journey to School article was submitted to us by guest author and International School Community member.
What to know more what it is like to visit and live in Western Europe? Out of a total of 298 international schools we have listed in Western Europe, 137 that have had comments submitted on them. Here are just a few:
So what is your journey to the international school you work at? Earn oneyear free of premium membership to our website if you participate in this blog series – ‘The Journey to School’. Email us here if you are interested.
Having an opportunity to see an aerial view of an international school really gives you a great idea of what life will be like in and around your future international school. Maybe all schools should consider doing this and then make sure to share that video when they are interviewing people to work with them.
The sunset scene of this video is truly beautiful, and look at all those beautiful trees on the campus!
Hopefully you are not actually leaving school at this time (assuming the sunset stays pretty similar throughout the year at around 18h or so), but if you were to, then it would indeed be a nice ride home.
This video is reminiscent of a blog series we have called, “The Journey to School.” In this blog series we get firsthand accounts of what it is like to travel both to and from various international schools from around the world.
Living in the Middle East does sound very enticing. For one, the sun will most likely be out almost every day of the year. The summer will be quite hot, but the winter won’t be too cool. It is important to note though that there appears to be some overcast can be see in the video, and it might be because of pollution and not clouds!
However, desert life can indeed be quite nice for many of us. The adventures of exploring the desert and its sand dunes are not too far away. Many of city’s buildings are constructed using traditional Arabic architecture with wind towers and finishes in colors reflective of the nearby desert and sea.
There are also lots of beaches, theme parks and movie theaters in nearby Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Currently on www.internationalschoolcommunity.com we have 76 international schools listed in United Arab Emirates. Here are a just a few of them (the number of total comments and information that have been submitted for each school is listed to the right of the link):
If you know about what it is like working at one of these international schools in United Arab Emirates, log-on today and submit your own comments and information. Become a Mayor of one of these schools and you will receive unlimited premium access to International School Community for free!
