International School Governance: Soliciting Your Thoughts
Kuala Lumpur--At EARCOS in K-L for three days of governance seminars, followed by a consultation at an international school here. I am planning daily posts, largely informed by what happens in each daily session.
International schools are in flux. Most are reinventing themselves from an original purpose to serve embassy and expatriate communities into something approximating private, independent schools in Canada, the US and the UK. Despite attempts at reinvention here and in Europe, I still find that most schools on the international circuit have retained governance models and mindsets from the old days; e.g., that the school's purpose is proximate to the interests of current stakeholders, rather than remote, consisting of fulfilling a larger institutional objective to the local community.
The above begs the question of what public purpose international schools serve, beyond the private interests of current stakeholders? Al Adams famously answered this for independent schools in the United States, but what is the answer for international schools in K-L, Bali, Taipei or Luxembourg? I am soliciting your thoughts in reply to this post or by e-mail to me at marc@ta-stl.com. Will summarize in a later, longer draft.