The Times They are a-Changin'

With apologies to Bob Dylan and his classic 1964 song by this title, the times are a-changin' for private, independent international schools and too many are slow on the uptake. A quad-fecta of trends combine to create a very different environment for today's international schools than existed even a decade ago.

• Shifting expat flows away from U.S. nationals toward citizens of non-Anglophone countries;
• Greater presence of host country families in school populations;
• Less tolerance by parents of uneven or haphazard teaching; and
• Fewer families on full expat benefit packages; e.g., more self-pay customers.

We will treat each of these in subsequent posts, but our observation is that many, maybe most, school administrations and faculties are behind the curve. It used to be that families were just so happy to find native-speaking Anglophone teachers abroad that they forgave many quality issues. That was so 2005! Expectations have risen and old-style international schools seem slow to respond.