Course summary Master's Learning & Innovation, special track International Teacher Education

This course provides a critical overview of international education within a global perspective through an introduction to key theories, priorities, policies and practices in contemporary international education. The course begins with an interrogation of the term ‘international education’, highlighting the power dynamics at play in its conceptualization. From here, the course moves through three key themes: theoretical frameworks for international education, global reforms, and the education market. The course aims to highlight the complex ways in which economic, political and social forces shape international education in an era of globalization, especially in relation to questions and experiences of inequality.

This course provides an overview of some of the most urgent and important issues facing international schools at this time, focusing on ethical and political matters affecting the work of international educators and providing theoretical resources to assist students in their responses to these issues. Contemporary global issues will be critically assessed through consideration of their local manifestations. The course is structured around three themes: contexts of international schools, tensions between policies and practices of international schools, and alternative educational models.

In this course, students explore and reflect upon the concepts of learning and teaching through a variety of interactive methods designed to recognise, value, and capitalize on the diversity within the student group. Students familiarize themselves with a range of international curricula and their inherent philosophies and approaches to learning and assessment practices. The course encourages students to reflect upon current tensions in international education and how these are currently approached by schools in the core areas of learning, teaching, curriculum, and assessment.

This hybrid course provides students with a critical understanding of education research and academic writing. Students explore the philosophical concerns around the potentialities and limitations of research as an approach for gaining understandings of international education. There is a strong emphasis on the practical implications of educational research through research-based educational design. Students apply research knowledge, skills and attitudes to the wider profession and engage with nascent research in international schooling.

This specialization consists of three courses:

• Multilingualism in Educational Spaces 

• Transdisciplinary learning and teaching 

• Diversity as a resource 

In these courses, students engage with a wide range of concepts and practices, such as: pedagogical approaches that support diversity in the classroom, multilingualism, language integrated learning, transdisciplinarity, and transferable skills.

This specialization consists of three courses:

• The global context of International Education reform 

• Educational leadership and change in international schools 

• Teacher leadership and development in international schools 

In these courses, students explore the implications of leadership and of change in the contexts of international schools and international education. Examples of topics explored in these courses include definitions of effective change implementation, concepts and practices related to teacher leaders, macro-level reform and its local translations, and the impact of technology on educational practice and policy.