Leading Inclusion and Wellbeing in International Schools

Dilemmas and Tensions

According to data from ISC Research, which provides market intelligence to the sector, a total of 14,010 English-medium international schools were recorded in January 2024 (ISC Research, 2024). This represents a huge increase from the numbers of international schools, globally, reported in research by Stobie (2016), of 2,584 in the year 2000 and 7,545 in 2015. The international schools sector has also undergone rapid transformation over the past few decades and continues to transform. Whereas the first international schools to be established (such as the international school of Geneva, which opened in 1924) were set up to cater for wealthy ex-patriate communities, international schools now generally educate a higher proportion of 'local' learners from the host countries where they are situated (Bright and Poole, 2025). Alongside 'traditional' international schools, run not-for-profit, for example, are schools that have been set up by profit-driven private equity. Some international schools are selective, and others are not. Amongst many international schools, in particular regions of the world, which are looking to recruit from the same pool of students, there is fierce competition.

Bunnel (2022) uses the term 'crypto-growth' to refer to the way in which this expansion of the international schools sector eluded recognition for many years and been beyond the gaze of policymakers and researchers. Such 'crypto-growth' has created a significant research gap, which the 'Leading Inclusion and Wellbeing in International Schools' (LIWIS) research project, which I am leading at Leeds Beckett, is addressing. This research project is exploring the below research question:

The LIWIS research project has been working with 'dilemma stories'. These stories are semi-fictionalised accounts that are broadly based on interviews with six leaders of inclusion and/or wellbeing from international schools, including heads of learning support departments, special educational needs coordinators, and vice principals with related responsibilities. To maintain the anonymity, enhance engagement with the stories, and avoid repetition, different accounts from different school leaders have been amalgamated and/or specific details have been changed. The dilemmas that the stories outline however, do maintain fidelity to those that were articulated in the research interviews.

Although the term 'dilemma stories' is used in the study, the semi-fictionalised accounts that were created are in fact presented as 'thought experiments' and can be used as a teaching, professional learning tool and/or stimulus for discussion. In Philosophy, a 'thought experiment' typically outlines a hypothetical situation, for those encountering it, to respond to. Questions may be asked in relation to the thought experiment such as 'What would you do in the same situation?' 'How would you feel?' 'What questions does the situation prompt you to ask?'. A classic example of a 'thought experiment', in Philosophy, is Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave' in which we are asked to consider how a released prisoner would feel upon first discovering that a world existed beyond the cave that they had been captive, yet content, within. Thought experiments can be factual, semi-factual and/or retrodictive. An example of a 'thought experiment', generated from the interviews with school leaders, for the 'Leading Inclusion and Wellbeing in International Schools' research study, is outlined below. It is titled Should I just accept that the other learning support specialist in the school just isn't interested in collaborating with me?

You have always considered collaboration with others to be key to securing the inclusion and wellbeing of vulnerable pupils for whom there may be multiple barriers to participation. In your experience, it is through dialogue and reflection with colleagues for example, that support strategies can be identified and/or refined, to enable greater personalisation of provision. You have also always enjoyed working in schools where there are opportunities for collaborative professional development, such as 'Lesson Study', through which groups of teachers observe one another in the classroom and engage in joint reflection and planning. You are therefore disappointed when you join a large international school as the lead learning support teacher for the secondary. Staff at the school, seem to all work in isolation. There appears to be a cultural perception, amongst various groups of colleagues within the school, that seeking guidance from others is a sign of weakness. In addition, there is another new lead learning support teacher in the school, for kindergarten and elementary, who is from the USA, and has no interest whatsoever in collaboration. She has openly stated ' want to make my mark here' and seems very competitive. You wonder if you should conform with the individualistic ways of working, so not to upset anybody, and fit in. However, you do not consider this to be in the best interests of children and young people in the setting.

The focus of the LWIS research project, on professional dilemmas, is for a number of reasons. Multiple studies have found that it is the navigation of professional dilemmas that characterises inclusive education (e.g., Florian, 2010, p. 62 ; Paulsrud, 2024). As the challenge of strengthening inclusive practice in schools is so complex, it has been argued, it is underpinned by complexities, ambiguities and uncertainties. Across the research literature on Inclusive Pedagogy, for example, it is highlighted that the same action within a classroom can be simultaneously inclusive and exclusive, rather than unambiguously either one or the other (e.g., Black-Hawkins and Florian 2012, p. 568). In working to strengthen inclusive practice, therefore, international school leaders will arguably inevitably find themselves in situations where they are required to confront what Norwich (2010) defines as a 'dilemma' by having to make 'a choice between two alternatives, when neither is favourable' (p. 117). Many international schools are also sites where power-dynamics, often along racial, linguistic and/or cultural lines, underpin encounters between people, and processes of decision-making. It has been found for example, in a study on international schools in Malaysia, that historical forces, shaped by colonialism and its pervasive legacy, continue to be reflected in staffing structures, and in the school image that is represented in marketing materials, to others (Gibson and Bailey, 2023). Such forces, wherever they are active in the world, bring additional dilemmas to school leaders, as well as further barriers to inclusive practice. This is highlighted in one of the dilemma stories' crafted from the interviews with the six school leaders. This 'dilemma story' is titled Can I prevent myself from colluding in discrimination against those with more visible disabilities?' and is outlined below:

The international school, where you work proudly describes itself as 'inclusive' and does not select its intake on the basis of academic performance. They were willing to take in students with exceptionally low prior attainment and want parents to be confident that their child can thrive there. However, the same school is also resistant to admitting students with disabilities that are more immediately obvious and visible, such as cerebral palsy. It seems that the schools is worried that this would somehow be bad for its image and create the perception that academic standards are lower. In a competitive market, which requires them to put 'bums-on-seats', they want to emphasise how they can accommodate diverse needs and cater to a range of learning profiles. Simultaneously, however, they also want to project an image of academic excellence and see having pupils with visible disabilities as incompatible to this. You do not know what to do, and were wondering if, by working in the school, you are colluding in discrimination.

Currently, the LIWIS research project has entered its next phase, where it is discussing the various 'dilemma stories' in focus groups and also in a second round of research interviews, to enable interaction with a range of interpretations of them. From this, findings are emerging in relation to the study's research question, which have likely implications for policymakers in nation states, around the regulation of international education, as well as for parents making decisions over where to send their child to school. Once finalised, there are plans to disseminate these findings, in a range of formats, to be accessed by different stakeholders in inclusive education, international schools, and whole-school wellbeing.

If you are interested in finding out more about the 'Leading Inclusion and Wellbeing in International Schools' research study, you can register your interest in joining a focus group by clicking on the link below:

You can also email me (for example, to arrange a one-to-one discussion on the dilemmas): tracy.edwards@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

The collection of 'dilemma stories' are publicly available to all and can be accessed as a pdf below. Please credit Tracy Edwards and Leeds Beckett University if you use them for any training or teaching.

At Leeds Beckett, we run a Postgraduate Certificate in Leading SEN in International Contexts.

References

• Bright, D., Poole, A., (2025). Navigating the tensions between international schooling and national goals of education: expatriate teachers and local students in international schools in Vietnam. Educational Review 77, 1175–1192. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2024.2438874
• Bunnell, T., (2022). The crypto-growth of “International Schooling”: emergent issues and implications. Educational Review 74, 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1907316
• Gibson, Mark.T., Bailey, L., 2023. Constructing international schools as postcolonial sites. Globalisation, Societies and Education 21, 405–416. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2045909
• Florian, L. (2010). The Concept of Inclusive Pedagogy. In Transforming the role of the SENCO: Achieving the National Award for SEN Coordination (Vol. 1, pp. 62–70). Open University Press.
• ISC Research. (2025). Data on the international schools market in 2024. Available at: https://iscresearch.com/data-on-the-international-schools-market-in-2024/ (Accessed on 31/01/25)
• Norwich, B. (2010). Dilemmas of difference, curriculum and disability: International perspectives. Comparative Education, 46(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/03050061003775330
• Paulsrud, D. (2023). Resolving dilemmas: Swedish special educators and subject teachers' perspectives on their enactment of inclusive education. Journal of Education Policy, 39(2), 303–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2023.2210102
• Stobie, T. (2016). The Curriculum Battleground. In M. Hayden & J. Thompson (Eds.), International Schools: Current Issues and Future Prospects (pp. 53–71). Symposium