International Mindedness

Introduction *The background to CPD in international schools *How this CPD programme works - a brief outline of the programme aims, with an introductory questionnaire for school leaders *User guidance and possible timeline for completing the programme Part One - Getting the programme of the ground: sharing the same vision Part One begins by considering approaches to the subject of international mindedness in your school. Included in this section are four workshops for four different groups of people in your school: *The leadership team *The whole staff *The governing body *The parents These workshops will ask questions and get the groups to work towards constructing a school mission statement that will suit your school's particular needs.The leadership team workshop Participants will: *understand the importance of having a clear statement about internationalism within the school mission statement so that it guides all educational activities including CPD *understand the complex decisions that will influence the formulation of the international aspect of the mission statement *understand what is meant by international mindedness *integrate both internationalism and global issues *commit to individual professional development related to international mindedness The whole staff workshop Participants will: *have a better understanding of the many meanings of international when applied to education and to schools *appreciate the complexity of the values involved *have considered what it means to be 'internationally minded *have considered the way certain values relate to international mindedness *have an understanding of some of the ways international mindedness could be put into practice *have been made aware of the values implicit in a school's mission statement.The governing body workshop Participants will: *appreciate the need to develop in a more defined way how the school addresses the issue of internationalism *understand the concept of international mindedness *understand their role in supporting the enactment of the goals and specific objectives being developed that will impact upon the whole school and its implication for CPD *as individuals offer support for specific special projects that will arise in relation to international mindedness *see their role in informing a wider local community of the school's orientation toward internationalism *see themselves as ambassadors of the school's internationalism and identify with it. The parent workshop Parents will: *understand how international mindedness could develop in the school *have input into the process and discussion *voice concerns they may have with this 'new' goal for the school *appreciate their supportive role in the home so as to enhance the development of international mindedness.Student participation The student contribution can be crucial in making relevant to the rest of the school community the whole idea of international mindedness, therefore this section helps you to approach your students in getting their opinion on the mission statement and the concept of being an internationally minded school. This section also provides guidance on finalising your statement with the governing board and ways to encourage the aims of the mission statement throughout the school. Part Two - International mindedness in practice: living the mission in the daily life of the school *Keeping a personal journal of reflection Summary of the benefits of using a personal journal of reflection as well as a template for your journal and a task to get you started. *The role of heads of departments This section describes the role of the head of department in relation to the development of international mindedness. There is also guidance in this section on your department meetings with regards to each department and the whole school and what they should entail.*International mindedness and the curriculum A programme for two meetings to understand how being internationally minded can be intergrated into the curriculum. *International mindedness and language A two hour session for use of all staff to help with the understanding of such issues as: the particular problems of those of your students who are being educated in a language other than their mother tongue, an acceptance that all staff are involved in some way in language acquisition and practice ;the provision of an appropriate programme to cater for all language students; a curriculum where all learners have opportunities for the development of international mindedness ;a realisation of the importance of a student's mother tongue. *International mindedness and community service This one and a half hour session focuses on the community services that can be developed in the process of developing into an internationally minded school. This session should include all staff members.*International mindedness and the local environment This session lasts for two and a half hours and focuses on the local environment in terms of use of external resources and awareness of the complexity of relationships between your local students and the local community *International mindedness in practice: global issues This session focuses on how to disseminate global issues throughout subjects and how to connect global issues with your teaching *International mindedness and the student voice We look at using the student voice as part of the decision making process in this training session *International mindedness and aspects of assessment How to make sure that your plans are making an impact across the whole school *Individual CPD programme This programme is to give you an introduction to the complex world of international schools and international education, to get you thinking about what it means to be an international school teacher and how this relates to being internationally minded.By the end of this programme you should; be aware of the historical context of international education; be aware of the different types of international school; have noted the variety of ways in which a school can claim to be international and internationally minded; have considered various options in choice of curriculum; be aware of the different bodies which unite the field; be aware of some of the advanced CPD opportunities available to international teachers.Part Three - Exemplars *How to ensure that there is a use of interactive units throughout the curriculum and incorporating the whole school *How to implement cross-cultural understanding through language and community - an examplar is given demonstrating the cross cultural understanding through History /English/drama/ music/ other languages/community service in a lesson about Shakespeare *Activities to ensure that your students/pupils are developing critical thinking with regards to international mindedness *Activities to help consider global issues and the curriculum as well as teaching *International mindedness in action: a case study of an international day of tolerance *A class exercise exploring the work of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and the idea of international mindedness and aesthetics *Assessment tools for students and for the leadership group: learning log and measurement tools Part Four contains a wide range of: *core documents *supportive reading resources *explanatory summary papers to use as part of the programme or independently.