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Find out about International Schools

As it says on the home page, you can find out more about international schools by browsing or searching ischoolnet.org.    Starting with the basic facts, each school has a place to build as complete a picture of itself as it would like.  So, parents and others looking to understand particular schools can find the information they need to differentiate one school from another.  Ischoolnet.org will help by analyzing and categorizing facts and making them available via browsing and faceted searches.

Join a Country-Group

Representatives of schools are automatically made members of the country-groups in which their international schools are found.  That means that they can participate in the discussions about schools, answering questions about their own schools directly, and commenting on issues relevant to international schools in general, wherever they are. 

Parents of children already attending international schools are encouraged to join their country-group in order to help others who might want to learn about the school they know about.  Of course, being part of the larger community's conversation will also lend them perspective on the facts and circumstances at their children's schools.  It is also a great help to the school-representatives to be able to call on parents to corroborate facts or simply to offer their views of issues relevant to international schools in general, or one in particular.

Those moving to a new country have the most to gain, of course, when they join a country-group in which they can meet parents already living there.  There is no faster or more direct way to learn about a school than to talk to the parents of the children currently attending it.  Making that connection possible is the central reason that we have created ischoolnet.org.

There are other reasons it is important that schools and parents join ischoolnet.org.  There is a need in the international school community for a single point from which they can share information with others about events, projects, fund-raising efforts, health issues and news.  Ischoolnet.org is equipped to make it easy to disseminate information from this central source to various social networks such as Facebook and Linkedin.  Via RSS feeds from this site, schools may share the latest community news with their own communities via their own Web sites.  Likewise they may share their own RSS feeds with ischoolnet.org and we will automatically display them in our news channel, available via the "news" link in the menu.

Make Your Own Groups

While it is important that parents and representatives of various schools communicate within and between their country groups, it may not be enough.  It may be that your school would benefit from its own group, or even sub-groups within your school.  We are particularly interested in helping parent-groups form their own on-line meeting places by taking advantage of the tools offered right here on ischoolnet.org.   The tools are easy to use and the groups you form can be private or public and membership can be closed or open to outsiders.  Please use the contact form to let us know that you would like a group, the school you're associated with, and the name you'd like to give it.  Of course, you should register first if you want to help us to respond quickly.

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Link (back) to Ischoolnet.org

In terms of search engines on the Web, advertising and word-of-mouth, ISCHOOLNET.ORG will make more people aware of international schools in general, and yours in particular.  We would be very grateful if you would return the favor and put a link to us on your site wherever you put links or logos from international school-related organizations.  It's easy, and it means a lot to us:  (This link opens in another window in order to prevent users from losing track of your site.)  Here's the image and the link:

<div align="center"><a href="http://ischoolnet.org" title="ischoolnet.org helps parents find the best international schools for their children" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.web4you.in.th/sites/default/files/images/logo.30w.gif" alt="ischoolnet.org helps parents find the best international schools for their children" title="ischoolnet.org helps parents find the best international schools for their children"><br>We're listed on Ischoolnet.org</a>.</div>

Thank you!

What's an International School?

An International school does not have a strict definition.  Its meaning varies from one place to another and even from one person to another in the same place -- even inside "international" schools.  Wikipedia has a page devoted to it, but it may not represent a common view of the topic, although it does cover many of the points usually mentioned.

In many countries the very term is restricted by law. First and foremost, an international school does not necessarily represent the curriculum or philosophy of its host country. Usually, however, the law stipulates that the curriculum must pay attention to particular issues, usually linguistic, especially for students native to the host country. In some countries, citizens of the country are barred from attending an international school; if they are not, their numbers may be limited by nationality-quotas thought necessary to maintain international schools distinctively "international" student-bodies.  There are also likely to be laws regarding a school's ownership, its funding and the nationalities of its faculty members.  In other words, the location of an international school has a lot to do with its definition.

Another important part of arriving at a definition is the origin of its founders. The country of origin and their particular needs often has a significant say in the shape of the curriculum, the campus and everything else about a school. For example, embassy staff from a particular country may wish to prepare their children for their ultimate return to their home country. Likewise, businessmen and women will expect their children to attend institutions of higher education back home. Proper preparation for further education is the most likely reason not to have one's chidren attend school in the host country. People of various religious or political backgrounds will have their viewpoints and shape schools in which they are involved accordingly. If their numbers are not sufficient for a viable school, however, they may join with others or just enroll their students in existing international schools.

Since World War II, many have remarked a new kind of international school emerging for apprently various and often overlapping reasons. This new school takes the term "international" to mean more than "outside" the host country's educational domain or that of a school's organizers,  and to include at least passing reference to such terms as "globalism," "internationalism," and "multiculturalism." Whether starry-eyed or pragmatic in appearance, the new thinking is widespread and has infiltrated not only ideas, but also curricula around the world. The hope that through education we might help our children to become better-prepared to grapple with the enormous challenges of over-population, pollution, hunger and freedom of thought is a key component in the mission statements of most international schools. The fear that ignoring this opportunity might be more than a little irresponsible, and of being on the losing side, drives many to join or support them.

An international school, then, by virtue of its competing missions, embodies a world apart in education, possessing an intrinsic drive to go "beyond borders" which can become a drive for excellence, and which, therefore, acts as a measuring stick against which all other schools can grade themselves.  No wonder in this time which we all feel to be one of great transition, that parents find themselves choosing schools such as international schools bent resolutely toward the horizon of the future.