There is no doubt that teachers coming to terms with changes in International Schools do a lot of learning. These teachers are often taking on planning of new curriculum like the International Baccalaureate that International Schools are rushing to adopt or coming to terms with the changes brought about through the introduction of new technology into the learning program. Most teachers work very hard to embrace these changes. Admittedly, some work harder than others but that is human nature. What I want to reflect on here is the lack of recognition of that learning in many cases.

In a world adapting to life-long-learning, the concept of certification becomes quite complex. Having lived in Hong Kong the last few years, the amount of study in formal courses is something that is a huge industry here. Indeed, it is not uncommon for many HK residents to be studying for their 3rd or 4th degree! I am not the only one who thinks that the number of pieces of paper that a candidate produces at a job interview can have very little to do with the ability of the person to do the job in a truly effective way.

Returning to our teachers here, many of them are demonstrating the attributes often heralded by Higher Education establishments as the characteristics of a good academic student. They are reflecting on their practice, carrying out elements of action research, reading the latest writings on the topics of interest, either via the IBO curriculum resources site, other academic database collections or even blogs that discuss issues of “thinking curricula“, “inquiry approaches“, “information literacy” or other topics of interest related to the changes affecting them. The only difference with the teachers and the students of more formal bricks and mortar higher education establishments is that the teachers are not getting any formal certification for their studies.

I wrote some time ago about Professor Stephen Heppell’s vision for turning leading edge schools into Universities and I now see that the International School of Bangkok offers something similar via a collaboration with Buffalo State, State University of New York (SUNY) in the US. My concern about these initiatives is; what if I am a teacher at a smaller, less connected International School? What are my options and not just for me but for my Learning Community being set up within my school? Can’t we have some sort of flexible model that sees some work being done in the school and via the net and supported by holiday classes or a model where an academic is resident in the region for a period for some classes run along the lines of Professional Development but counting for credit to a higher degree?

This has to be a good way forward. How often do we hear that PD in schools is very ineffective when done on a “Seagull Basis” (fly in, drop a pile and fly out). There is a real opportunity for Universities and schools here if they can configure it right. I have been talking with people at HKU about this and our conference next October might be a good time to generate some discussion and interest.

Photo: IKBLC Group Study11 by UBC Library Graphics