I remember vividly the moment in 2011 when my wife and I made the decision to move from a great life in an excellent school in Berkshire to an international school in Hong Kong.
A senior leadership role as part of the team seeking to build and establish a new British school overseas was too exciting an opportunity to turn down. Thus began a fascinating decade in which I grew professionally and personally a great deal.
There are of course many things which I learnt in those ten years overseas as a leader and as an individual — probably a whole book’s worth — but if I were to point out three areas of potential interest to the readership of this volume, they would be:
A sense of community and relationships
I am hugely fortunate now to lead a school in Britain where community is absolutely at its core. We constantly reflect on our contributions to each other and how we support and value each other in relationships. However, I found this even more acute and intense when overseas. Perhaps this was since some people knew that they would only be attending or working at a school for a couple of years, and often they arrived not knowing anyone or very little about the new country in which they were now living or working.
“At times people could perhaps become somewhat too close to the project.”
There was no time for settling in; people had to throw themselves in at the deep end. In the international school environment “the school” very much becomes the centre of one’s life. Friendships are made quickly and deeply and people can become hugely dependent on their school communities. There is of course a great benefit to this — particularly from a parental/family point of view — but it would be remiss of me not to say that at times people could perhaps become somewhat “too close to the project”. I can see now the benefits of a bit more distance between life inside and outside school for the various different groups of people.
Tradition
Here in Kent we are looking forward to celebrating our school’s 450th anniversary in a few years. Such an age is certainly not typical of international schools around the world.
I joined a school in Hong Kong right at the beginning of its journey, and in Japan the school had just celebrated its 25th. Such schools thus do not have the centuries old traditions that other schools may have — although of course British franchise schools can of course refer to traditions of the “motherships” .
“It was rare to hear someone say ‘we have always done it that way’.”
I certainly feel more at home back in an environment where sepia photos, dusty old books in the archive and very old leaning walls and arches are commonplace. Relative youth in the international environment was however very welcome. It was rare to hear someone say “we have always done it that way” and it certainly felt that other international school leaders/heads with whom I connected were a touch more progressive than some of our more traditional and conservative leaders back at home.
Professional Development
There is more potential for staff turnover on the international scene, not least owing to the contract system that is used in most areas of the world. With that can come an array of fresh ideas and views on a rolling basis — sometimes overwhelmingly so — and I certainly sensed a liberating and open approach to sharing professional experiences related to teaching and learning, personal development and educational dialogue.
Online networking was already a huge thing pre-Covid (Zoom etc. was not new to the international school sector in 2020) and professional groups such as the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISA) were superb for bringing colleagues and indeed students from all over the world together.
“With staff turnover can come an array of fresh ideas and views on a rolling basis.”
I sense that Covid has opened the eyes for many within the UK to the benefits of such professional dialogue and schools will be all the better for it.
I feel privileged to have worked in both Hong Kong and Japan, and have no doubt that I am a “better” professional for having had such experiences. Broadly, UK governing bodies and school communities seem much more open to the international school sector than perhaps they were previously. Groups such as COBIS and the Association of British Schools Overseas (AOBSO) are supporting impressive and constructive collaboration and learning between the UK and the rest of the world.
I would encourage colleagues to learn from “home and away” as it will benefit both them and their school communities. For all the challenges that Britain may be facing at the moment, however, it is good to be “home”.
This article first appeared in A Culture of Innovation: British Schools Overseas, the latest report from executive search consultants Wild Search. It is edited by Wild Search’s head of education and former Wetherby senior school head, Seth Bolderow.