Global Insights: November 2016

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GLOBAL INSIGHTS FRESH INSIGHTS ON ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

SPRING 2016

ISSUE 3 AUTUMN 2016 |

@ECISCHOOLS

SAFETY AND SECURITY ABOVE ALL ELSE

ECIS MIDDLE LEADER CERTIFICATE

DEVELOP, IMPROVE & SUSTAIN HIGH-QUALITY TEACHING

COURSE ELEMENTS

Take a step forward, and learn how you might lead in international schools, especially given the growth in our sector and the ever-increasing need for quality leaders. Learn how to develop, improve and sustain high-quality teaching within a team and identify strategies to help close gaps in achievement. The Middle Leader Certificate programme from ECIS and ASL (American School in London) supports the development of leadership and management skills needed by middle leaders in order to thrive and move schools forward.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1. THE CULTURE OF LEADERSHIP 2. BUILDING & LEADING TEAMS 3. CURRICULAR DESIGN & LEADERSHIP 4. ASSESSMENT & LEADERSHIP 5. LEADING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING 6. MANAGING FINANCES & RESOURCES (ONLINE)

SCHEDULE FOR 2016-17 OCTOBER 15-16, 2016: THE CULTURE OF LEADERSHIP (LONDON) NOVEMBER 2016 ECIS CONFERENCE: BUILDING & LEADING TEAMS (COPENHAGEN)

• WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOLS LOOK LIKE?

JANUARY 21-22, 2017: ASSESSMENT & LEADERSHIP (LONDON)

• HOW CAN I BECOME A LEADER WHO FACILITATES ADULT & STUDENT LEARNING?

MARCH 10-11, 2017: CURRICULUM DESIGN & LEADERSHIP (THE HAGUE) JUNE 2017: ASL LEARNING INSTITUTE: LEADING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING (LONDON) REGISTRATION VIA WWW.ECIS.ORG/EVENTS/CALENDAR

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All courses share a common pedagogical model in which participants engage in active learning experiences, protocols and structures that foster thinking and equitable participation.

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“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children.

There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.�

Kofi Annan

CONTENTS

WELCOME KEVIN J RUTH 3

SAFETY AND SECURITY SAFEGUARDING AND THE EVER-PRESENT THREAT 4 JOHN BASTABLE WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A SCHOOL AND ITS LEADERS? 7 JANE LARSSON ENHANCED STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY 11 HENRY CRAM GROOMING WITHIN ORGANISATIONS: HOW TO KEEP CHILDREN SAFE KATIE RIGG

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THE SECURITY OF DATA MANAGEMENT 28 DANNY YEOW

OTHER TOPICS A GREAT YEAR FOR INTERNATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION 30 PETER ELTING THE ‘INSTITUTIONAL PRIMARY TASK’ OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL TRISTAN BUNNELL

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KEVIN J RUTH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ECIS ENABLING OUR PRIMARY TASK The foundational elements of safety and security inform our duty of care in international schools -and care we must, especially in this day and age. We hear much about child protection, and that is as it should be, yet our obligation goes further. Schools maintain and utilise a great deal of data -- whether for/about students, staff, or alumni, and we have a duty of care with these data as well, in terms of data privacy and data security. If you haven’t considered it before, cybersecurity deserves a seat at the table when we are engaging in risk management.

And yet we wish for nothing more than to be communities that exude openness and hospitality, hallmarks of international schools. Perhaps the most oft-heard remark in discussions surrounding safety and security, at any level within a school, is how deeply we all desire to put aside the ideas of perimeter fencing, cameras, lockdown drills, [insert your own school’s item here], and so forth. However, put them aside we cannot. International schools are places of learning and formation of meaning; to enable learning and meaning-making, we must have safe and secure environments, since our charge is to guide the next generation toward adulthood and citizenship.

The articles presented here will provoke thought around issues of safety and security. In a complementary way, Tristan Bunnell’s article on the institutional primary task in international schools underscores the importance of these issues without

naming them: they are the sine qua non that enables a school to pursue its primary task, and that’s something worth celebrating. We can build places of deep meaning and lifelong impact thanks to our efforts around these two areas.

Toward better things, always.

Kevin J Ruth, Executive Director, ECIS

4 For those who lead and govern international schools, it is obvious that educational establishments for secondary and tertiary education are both crowded at certain times of the day and, like airports and railway stations, are usually easy to enter. Although schools offering primary education often have a higher level of security and control over those entering their premises, primary schools situated on the same campus as senior schools may be similarly vulnerable. An international school could quite clearly be the focus of an attack; neither the callous nature of the extremist nor the madness of the lone shooter leaves any room for complacency.

SAFEGUARDING AND THE EVER-PRESENT THREAT JOHN BASTABLE DIRECTOR, BASTABLE SCHOOL SOLUTIONS The threat of terrorism is changing the design of public buildings and crowded places. International schools need to ensure these developments are addressed in their safeguarding practices.

It would seem that few places are safe from the threat of terrorism and venues where people gather, ‘crowded places’ have currently become the most attractive targets. This is because such crowded venues being easily available and accessible provide prospects of publicity and notoriety beyond the death and carnage these sites assure. Transport and transport hubs have been targeted because they are used on a daily basis and offer easy access to the crowds of people who need to gather there.

Several governments, the UK and the USA amongst them, have issued documents providing guidance on increasing the protection of crowded places from a terrorist attack.1 General guidance as well as guides for specific public sectors are offered but little for schools in particular. Considering that schools have been targeted by terrorists on several occasions since the Beslan School massacre, and that ‘lone shooters’ - whether radicalised terrorists or not pose a particular threat to schools, (painfully often in the USA), it is clear that international schools must develop their own solutions to these perceived threats. Working with such security agencies as are available, locally or internationally, each school needs to formulate a measured response.

Many national schools, having been made aware of the dangers that face them, are implementing plans to ensure the safety of their students and staff. These responses may vary depending on the place and circumstances. Older students in schools in France are currently being given lessons in how to survive a terrorist attack.2 The UK government has put the PREVENT campaign at the centre of its strategy, and is targeting radicalisation in the schools with particular attention being paid to student use of the internet. With these issues of school security being taken very seriously at a national level, it is important that international schools do not fall behind, and that they adopt or adapt the security measures most applicable to their situation.

International schools serve a clientele which is often of high social, political, and economic profile. The schools and are usually situated in or near to major cities, sometimes in countries of varying states of 1 ‘Protecting Crowded Places: Design and Technical Issues’ Revised March 2014 HM Gov 2 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/10/french-14-yearolds-to-have-school-lessons-on-surviving-terroris/

5 social unrest. Their students are drawn from many nationalities and have multi-ethnic backgrounds.

This is a considerably more exposed situation than that of a typical state school nestled in the comfort of its home security services. Each international school will therefore need to take a measured response to the particular situation it occupies.

In the past, most international schools were built to be open and welcoming with an emphasis on structures fit for educational purposes. Others, also hopefully no less attractive, are sited in buildings and grounds originally constructed for other roles; some of these may have additional security concerns.

The majority of schools were built in safer times and lack anti-terrorist design features other than by accident. Following a security audit, many such schools find they need to retro-fit some aspects of their campuses. Installing counter-terrorist features to a completed building or across a campus can be expensive and is not always easy. For aesthetic, financial, and functional benefits, it is better to incorporate anti-terrorism measures at the concept stage rather than later on, and all proposed newly planned schools would be wise to consider this.

During this period of growth in international schools around the world much money could be saved if, at the conceptual stage, architects created features which make for a safer campus. More importantly students and staff would be able to work in safer environments. With innovative thinking, this approach could achieve aesthetic designs and unobtrusive restrictions on access. This is the strategy behind the latest guidelines given by the Royal Institute of British Architects for the design of places which generate crowds.3 Security minded design guidelines concentrate on reducing the vulnerability of a site and incorporating anti-terrorist measures side by side with the ideals of an open society and a deliberate attempt to avoid reacting to a siege mentality. These new design buildings should not shout out the security measures inherent within them, nor should they preclude good design, but they consider from the outset design features which reduce their vulnerability to attack.

Strategically placed steps to a building, hardened street furniture and other innocuous features create barriers but allow a building to perfectly blend 3 RIBA guidance on designing for counter-terrorism, Royal Institute of British Architects

in without creating an unwelcoming impression.

Embedded in this approach is a consideration of the materials to be used. Glass, for example, is a major cause of injury following an explosion and the type and placement of glass or other easily fragmented material in building needs to be carefully considered.

The proximity of an explosion to a building is critical, and controlled vehicle access, landscaping, and strengthened street furniture can mitigate blast effects.

Public buildings in the UK must now by law comply with these guidelines; new international schools would be very wise to incorporate them, too. In future accreditation visits, international accrediting agencies should consider including the school’s security audit, the security provision, and policies which prevent children being drawn into terrorism, as part of ‘safeguarding.’ (This once expected good practice is now a mandatory part of an Ofsted Inspection in the UK.4) Ex-pat parents will come to expect the same security provision overseas as they are used to at home.

Areas of concern in any security audit for example, include control of access site, hostile vehicle mitigation through and disembarkation procedures, service

would, to the parking access

4 Counter terrorism protective security advice for Higher and Further Education

6 restrictions, CCTV provision, communication equipment, relationships with the local security services, lockdown procedures, and escape routes. In older schools, this will ultimately require the retro-fit or hardening of some design features, the upgrade of devices, and the security training provided to staff.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to school security, and only a school audit will reveal the level of threat, the ensuing risk factors, and suggest bespoke solutions. The measures taken not only address the increased threat of terrorism, they also improve all other aspects of school security, effectively deterring crime and the improper use of the facilities.

In the future, a robust school building project will surely be held accountable for the general security measures put in place, and, unless the world changes drastically applying anti-terrorist solutions to places where large numbers of people gather is essential.

International Schools will need to ensure that they keep abreast of these developments, implementing whatever new security requirements are needed to safeguard their communities.

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RECRUITMENT AND THE LAW : WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A SCHOOL AND ITS LEADERS? JANE LARSSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS (CIS) One aspect of child protection – effective recruiting practices – continues to be a focal point for discussion between international school heads in virtual forums and email groups. Key aspects of the discussion include a call for the creation of a list to monitor people unsuitable to work with children, and reports of widespread amazement and dismay at the continuing failure of many in our community to take the time to verify references as part of the hiring process. Reviewing recent recruitment-related messages between school leaders, they generally fall into two categories: 1. checking in with colleagues about candidates under consideration, and,

2. warnings to colleagues about candidates they believe should not be working with children – for a variety of reasons ranging from poor performance to serious allegations of misconduct.

A number of school heads have posted on leadership forums to express frustration at the lack of one central “clearing house” for candidate screening, some of them referring to the work of the ITFCP (International Task Force on Child Protection) and wondering how it can help. Others are advising caution about “do not hire” or “please contact me” messages that lack specific detail about the reasons behind the warnings.

ITFCP CHECKLIST OF RECOMMENDED RECRUITING PRACTICES FOR SCHOOLS To address the frustrations expressed by so many leaders of international schools as they consider their responsibilities, the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) focused on the development of a set of essential recruiting practices, specifically for international school communities.

Following a year-long pilot at 75 schools led by a working committee of the Task Force, a new resource

8 is now available to guide school leaders in what they routinely refer to as their most important role: to identify and hire the very best educators for their schools.

THE CHALLENGES OF EFFECTIVE RECRUITING Significant challenges continue to exist. Even as these new practices are introduced, I realise how time intensive effective recruiting can be, from fielding hundreds of inquiries to searching for a highly specialised teacher, before the screening process even begins. I also realise that the capabilities of school leaders to do all of this work well varies widely.

It is important to address the call for the creation and maintenance of a list that would include anyone unsuitable to work with children – one that could be shared openly within the international community.

As Chair of the International Task Force on Child Protection, I gathered expert opinions from both the law enforcement and legal professions on this topic. Ultimately, their advice, and our conclusion, is that the maintenance of such a list by the educational community would not be legitimate from a legal or operative standpoint.

It is the responsibility of educational leaders to follow effective recruitment and selection practices, and to report allegations of crimes against children. It is the responsibility of law enforcement professionals to identify and track people who should not be working with children. To help us all in the screening of staff, an important initiative has been undertaken by INTERPOL. The INTERPOL Crimes Against Children unit will meet in Lyon on 14 November 2016, where the outcomes of a feasibility study on an INTERPOL International Police Certificate (IIPC) will be presented and the next steps will be agreed.

The development of this new tool, the IIPC, aims to create an international ‘one-stop-shop’ police check/ criminal background check for applicants applying for jobs abroad that involve contact with children.

Peter van Dalen, Project Manager of the IIPC at INTERPOL, commented on the process: “We greatly value the input of all of our stakeholders and we are eager to learn about needs and concerns. The IIPC should add tangible value as a preventative tool in combatting Child Abuse.”

ACTIONS FOR ORGANISATIONS SUPPORTING SCHOOLS With the clear vision that the world of International Recruitment is changing, at CIS, we are taking meaningful action to ensure that within our own Recruitment services for Schools, our screening of candidates is rigorous and well-aligned with new International Accreditation Standards. Two years ago, we took a leading step to require criminal background checks of all candidates applying for positions in our schools through our Career & Recruitment Services.

We’ve strengthened our Recruitment Team with new expertise and have added important new steps and checks in our candidate screening and approval process, dedicated to high standards of screening and child protection.

AN ACTION FOR SCHOOL LEADERS As a first step to strengthening school-based recruitment practices this year, I strongly recommend that school leaders broadly post a statement of commitment to safer recruitment practices in all places where they advertise for staff, including the following statement on documents used as part of these processes: Aligned with the recommendations of the International Task Force on Child Protection, we hold ourselves to a high standard of effective recruiting practices with specific attention to child protection.

REFERENCES: OPEN OR HONEST? The question of defamation of character frequently arises as school leaders make decisions on whether to recommend a candidate. A typical question: “In writing references for teachers, I’m apprehensive about legal repercussions. Has language been developed as advice for those writing references?”

As we guide school leaders about their legal obligations, there are broader areas of learning that are timely to share. It is safe to write that all of us are concerned at the significant number of international hires which are seemingly being made without verification of references or direct contact with international peers. What makes this doubly frustrating is that this is one area where we CAN have complete control, and for which each school leader has absolute accountability.

9 One head approached me at a recent conference with a plea that we remind everyone to make these calls. He reported that he had 19 teachers leaving one year, yet he and his leadership team were contacted by only three of the schools that hired them.

In our capacity as recruiters, we must all exercise due diligence as part of the selection and hiring process.

What, however, is “due diligence?”

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Do we understand the meaning of negligence and how to avoid being negligent?

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How do we avoid defaming someone when the circumstances are unclear?

NEGLIGENT HIRING ACCORDING TO UK/US LAW IS DEFINED AS: “…a claim made by an injured party against an employer based on the theory that the employer knew or should have known about the employee’s background which, if known, indicates a dangerous or untrustworthy character. Pre-employment background checks, employee drug testing, and employment physical exams are some of the ways negligent hiring claims can be avoided.”

Three examples of potentially negligent referrals and the resulting legal implications can be found in an article published by the Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management.

The full article, “Defamation vs. Negligent Referral,”

by Linnea B. McCord, JD, MBA, can be found on their website. The article refers to three types of potentially negligent referrals which, in certain circumstances, could make an employer/referee subject to litigation.

• Providing a “good” reference which presents a candidate too positively (i.e. omits important information which may be viewed as negative) • Providing a “bad” reference which unjustly presents a candidate too negatively • Providing a “neutral” reference which does not provide enough important information one way or the other

As employers, we can be charged with “negligent hiring” if someone we hire harms another at our school or organisation, and it is subsequently proven that due diligence was not used when screening the candidate. The article goes on to illustrate how one can been charged with negligence if the employer (or former employer), when contacted as a referee, does not reveal factual evidence that someone is a danger to others: “Former employers can be sued for negligent misrepresentation or negligent referral if the employee is involved in some incident at the new workplace that might have been predicted based on prior behaviour.

Negligent referral or misrepresentation includes the failure to disclose complete and accurate information about former employees.”

Within the international school community, questions of performance and character are often resolved through non-renewal of contract. The truth is that no one enjoys conflict. Non-renewal of contract and the provision of a neutral (or no) reference are frequently chosen as the easiest and most expedient means of dealing with poor performance or behaviour. This approach does not release us from our obligation to the law nor from our moral obligation to society as a whole.

Returning to the purpose and focus of the International Task Force on Child Protection, one of our key findings was the need for school leaders to recognise that it is law enforcement’s job to track child abusers, so that educators don’t have to. In order for this to happen, we have a collective responsibility to report suspected or known abuse (or other potential criminal activity) to professionals who are trained as first-responders to investigate potential crimes.

REPORTING ABUSE When, how and where should we report suspected or known abuse? Many have asked for advice and counsel on this topic. To address this need, the Task Force developed a partnership with the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), where reports of abuse can be made from anywhere in the world.

Our collaboration with ICMEC has led to tangible results, including the establishment of a web-based

10 resource center on child protection education, an portal of resources to support international school communities as they address child protection challenges (www.icmec.org). We intend that our collaboration with ICMEC will have high impact, combining resources and training with an international reporting point for suspected and known abuse through the Tipline. Staffed by professionals trained as first-responders to assess reports, provide counseling and with direct-line reporting to national law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes, they are a valuable resource for international educators dealing with suspected abuse.

While these results are significant, we continue to have much work ahead of us. We are now seeking counsel from suitably trained experts in the field, to guide us through our questions and concerns of suspected or known abuse as we continue to gather and share expertise and resources with school communities.

The International Task Force Recruitment Committee’s findings emphasise that ultimately, accountability and responsibility for hiring lie with the school. Recruiting agencies have many different business models and in the marketplace, schools can select agencies that meet their needs, ranging from a fully out-sourced screening approach including background checks and validated credentials, to a mass-market approach with no screening.

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE NEW RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE SCREENING INCLUDE: Candidate profile review • Collection and verification of references • Identity and credentials verification • Background checks: • Criminal Records • Police Records • Offender Registries I believe these recommendations will serve to enhance effective screening practices overall, addressing pervasive recruiting concerns which continue to arise each year.

The Council of International Schools (CIS) provides International Accreditation, Global Citizenship Development, Educational Career & Recruitment, and University Guidance & Admission Services to schools around the world.

MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE ON CHILD PROTECTION: • Colin Bell, Executive Director, COBIS, Council of British International Schools • Christine Brown, Regional Education Officer for Western Europe, U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Schools • Jane Larsson, Executive Director, CIS, Council of International Schools (Chair) • Anthony Maimone, Chief Compliance Officer, ISS, International Schools Services • Yolanda Murphy-Barrena, Executive Director, AAIE, Association for the Advancement of International Education • Kevin J Ruth, Executive Director, ECIS, the Educational Collaborative for International Schools • Deb Welch, Executive Director, AISH, Academy for International School Heads

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ENHANCED STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY HENRY CRAM, ED.D. PRESIDENT, THE MIDDLE STATES ASSOCIATION COMMISSIONS ON ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS (MSA-CESS).

In 1950 in the United States, a headline on the cover of Good Housekeeping magazine posed the question: “How Safe Are Your Schools?” This past September, more than 66 years later, a headline in The Wall Street Journal noted: “French Schools Launch Terrorism Drills.”

School safety – in one form or another – is not a new issue, nor is it one that is going away any time soon. As a global leader in school improvement and accreditation, the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools recognises that school safety and child protection are critical to student outcomes.

Student outcomes aside, schools have a fundamental responsibility to keep children safe while they are in their care. To say it is not an easy assignment is an understatement, as schools around the world face an array of threats every day. The United States experienced the deadliest mass shooting at a high school or elementary school in its history in December 2012 when a gunman forced his way into an elementary school and shot and killed 20 first graders and six adults.

In 2014, more than 250 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped at gunpoint by Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist group. Later that same year, a militant group carried out a suicide bombing and armed assault at the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan. More than 140 people were killed in the assault, most of them children.

Between 1970 and 2013, more than 3,400 attacks targeting educational institutions took place in 110 countries, according to a report by the National Consortium of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, based on data from the Global Terrorism Database.

While mass shootings and terrorist attacks make international headlines, physical, emotional or sexual abuse are also real and serious threats to students. Though dependable statistics are hard to come by, the World Health Organisation reports that a quarter of all adults say they were physically abused as children, and one in five women and one in 13 men report having been sexually abused as a child. Sadly, it must be acknowledged that some abuse occurs at the hands of teachers, who take advantage of their position and betray the trust of their students and the school community.

Regardless of the circumstances, schools have an important role in protecting children from abuse and neglect and providing a space where children can feel safe and secure. Because if children do not feel safe and secure, how can they learn? That question is the heart of the issue when we talk about school safety. The Middle States Association had the

12 privilege this year of serving on the International Task Force on Child Protection, a broad coalition of volunteers and leaders representing a range of organisations involved with international education.

As part of our involvement, we helped develop a checklist of core and recommended recruiting practices for schools to use when screening and assessing candidates, with the goal of child protection. We also recommended that annual training be required of and provided to teachers to help them learn how to detect child abuse and feel confident in reporting it. Perhaps most importantly, we came together with other accreditation and inspection agencies to endorse new, enhanced standards for child protection.

At Middle States, Health and Safety has long been one of the 12 Standards for Accreditation. Overall, schools applying for Middle States accreditation or reaccreditation must demonstrate that they provide a safe, orderly, and healthy environment for teaching and learning that meets the health and safety requirements of the civil jurisdiction(s) in which the school operates. Schools also must have and implement policies and/or procedural guidelines to ensure the health and safety of students, the staff, and visitors to the school, as well as have and implement plans for responding to emergencies and crises.

This year, as a result of our work on the task force, we revised a number of our quality indicators to specifically address child abuse prevention and reporting. In addition to requiring training for teachers, we added two new indicators for all schools: The governing body and leadership ensure that the school has effective relationships with community organisations that are able to provide appropriate support, advice and services related to health, safety and child protection.

The governing body and leadership ensure that the school implements policies, procedures and/or programs to promote awareness, prevention, and responsiveness to issues related to the social and emotional wellbeing of the students and staff.

Further, we added a separate section of indicators specifically for boarding schools. Among other things, these indicators are to ensure boarding schools are equipped to handle emergencies and evacuations and that appropriate and adequate health care is available to all students and staff residing in dormitories at all times. The full set of indicators can be accessed on our website at: www.msa-cess.org.

By virtue of what they do and the innocence of those they serve, schools should be considered sanctuaries like houses of worship once were.

They should be places within the larger society that other refuge from the violence of the outside world.

Despite the instances of terrorism, school violence and abuse, schools still remain among the safest places in our global society. As leaders in education, through initiatives like the International Task Force on Child Protection and enhanced standards for child protection, we can keep them so.

With more than 2,700 accredited schools and school systems in 34 states and nearly 100 countries, MSACESS is a worldwide leader in accreditation and school improvement.

To learn more about Middle States accreditation or to start the accreditation process e-mail info@msa-cess.org or call 267.284.5000.

See where ISS can take you.

2017 2016

Come find your next dream job at our International Recruitment Conferences and Job Fairs!

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NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES Commission on International Education Supporting transformative approaches to teaching and learning worldwide. “... education is not about teaching or knowledge transmission. Rather it is about supporting learning. ACE provides an excellent framework and process that can help schools start the shift.”

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Visit our website to learn about ACE, our groundbreaking new accreditation framework.

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LEARNING

ECIS RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

CREATE NOTABLE IMPACT: RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AVAILABLE UP TO £3,000

Are you interested in creating notable impact in international education? The ECIS Research Fellow has the opportunity to share research with the ECIS network through the academic year and you can be part of it.

ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATION Demonstrate how your research will contribute to International Education.

ELIGIBILITY • MUST BE ENROLLED IN A MASTER’S OR DOCTORAL DEGREE GRANTING PROGRAMME

Fellowships are 12 months and there is no minimum time commitment, however there has to be demonstrable evidence that a reasonable amount of time will be spent pursing research topics. The fellowship covers reasonable and customary expenditures associated with the pursuit of academic research.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS • AN ARTICLE OF UP TO 3000 WORDS TO BE PUBLISHED BY ECIS • AVAILABLE TO PRESENT RESEARCH AT THE ECIS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, AFTER HAVING COMPLETED YOUR DEGREE

SIGNIFICANT DATES

• MUST BE ON THE STAFF AT AN ECIS PREMIUM SCHOOL

Research fellowship applications are open annually.

• SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE EXPERIENCE AND ACADEMIC BACKGROUND SUFFICIENT TO CONFIRM THEIR ABILITY TO COMPLETE THE PROPOSED PROGRAMME OF RESEARCH

OPEN DATE SUBMISSION DATE NOTIFICATION DATE DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS

FUNDING@ECIS.ORG WWW.ECIS.ORG/FUNDING

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• MUST BE PREPARED TO SHARE FINDINGS WITH ECIS AND ITS CURRENT AND FUTURE MEMBERS

01 Nov 2016 15 Dec 2016 06 Jan 2017 31 Jan 2017

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GROOMING WITHIN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS: HOW TO KEEP CHILDREN SAFE KATIE RIGG ASSOCIATE, FARRER & CO. Understanding what grooming is and learning how to identify it are fundamental to preventing abuse within any organisation.

This article helps schools to identify, tackle, and prevent grooming. It sets out the typical modus operandi of groomers and the common features associated with this process. It looks at both inperson and online grooming, and it provides practical advice on the steps to take in order to protect children from grooming.

The risk of grooming and abuse within international school settings was brought into particular focus by the discovery of the crimes committed by William Vahey, who taught at international schools for a long period of his life. In 2014 he was discovered in possession of a number of indecent images of students; it would appear that he obtained these images whilst having drugged students on school trips that he ran. Vahey committed suicide following the reporting of these images to the FBI. It is now known that his criminal behaviour spanned over 40 years, and may have occurred in up to 10 international schools in nine different countries.

The Guardian newspaper conducted a wide-ranging investigation into Vahey and their article and podcast both provide further information about his modus operandi and his crimes. Both are case studies on grooming in an educational setting and refer to how Vahey developed a modus operandi of “hiding in plain sight� in order to gain access to his victims.

They also set out a number of lessons which can be learnt from this case and implemented in schools.

16 Southbank’s progress in this area has been recognised by regulatory and statutory bodies, which have praised the transformation. Southbank’s journey is looked at in more detail later in this article.

GROOMING AND ABUSE Whilst many of you will have heard the word ‘grooming’ in relation to abuse, you may think that the process is only applicable to the child victim of the abuser. Here we use the term in relation to the process by which an individual who is intent on abusing a child or children grooms not only the child, but the significant adults around them (e.g. parents) and the whole of his/her working environment.

Perpetrators of grooming manipulate their victims over a period of time, sometimes years, gradually gaining the victim’s trust, desensitising and sexualising them for the purposes of abuse. Victims are taught to respect, trust, and sometimes love their perpetrator, and the betrayal of that trust can result in severe long-term trauma. The damage caused by grooming can be irreparable. It frequently takes place undetected by others, and it is rarely disclosed by the victim.

All schools have a critical role to play in preventing, identifying, and reporting signs of grooming.

Teachers and other adults working with children are uniquely placed to spot signs of distress in a child, and are often the first to identify and report child abuse.

Whenever children are groomed there is always a power imbalance between the adult and the child. Other adults around those children are the protective factors so empowering those adults to recognise and report grooming is a fundamental step to safeguarding children.

PARADIGM PATTERNS OF GROOMING Grooming can take many forms. This article focuses on (a) “in person” grooming within schools and (b) online grooming.

IN PERSON GROOMING WITHIN A SCHOOL This type of grooming occurs when an individual

working for or with a school uses his or her position within that school to gain access to and groom a child.

It can occur in any organisation which works with children, and perpetrators can include individuals at all levels including, for example, school teachers, sports coaches, religious leaders, governors, psychologists, or directors. It can also occur when a child or young person within a school grooms other children – for example, online by a student in a boarding school setting. Little is known about the frequency of sexual grooming within schools. This is partly because grooming is often unreported or concealed in other categories of abuse or crime.

ONLINE GROOMING The online world presents greater opportunity for groomers both in terms of number of potential victims they can reach and the perceived anonymity of access. Online technology provides the means for all of us to communicate with others, regardless of location. Given the reach of social media (Facebook claims more than 1.4 billion active users, Twitter 302 million and Instagram 400 million), it is no surprise that such platforms are used by groomers to exploit the vulnerable. The nature of social media encourages us to communicate with others and, perhaps, have a more relaxed attitude toward our privacy and who we might consider to be friends.

We can also view such technologies as platforms of shared interest – we trust the content, and contacts, of others we know, which is an ideal opportunity for a groomer to gain access. If a groomer can befriend one or two young people within a friendship group, it is more likely others will also accept their contact requests.

The case of Michael Williams in the UK highlights the opportunities presented via social media. Currently serving an eight-and-a-half year sentence for 27 charges, including inciting sexual activity, grooming, and distributing indecent images, Williams initially used local contacts as both a postman and a member of a local football club as “offline” ways to approach young people, but he greatly expanded the potential volume of access through eight different online profiles. He used both Facebook and Bebo to approach victims and groom them for indecent interactions in private online communications, or to meet up physically where abuse would take place. During the investigation, the police identified approximately 500 victims, but officers estimated

17 that there were around 1,000 victims in total.

Another high profile case, which illustrates the reach of groomers in an online environment, is that of Amanda Todd, a Canadian teenager who sadly committed suicide in 2012. Three years earlier, Amanda had been “befriended” on a webcam chat service by an individual who then spent approximately one year trying to get her to indecently expose herself to him. After a year, Amanda eventually did bear her breasts during a webcam conversation with the individual, who then captured the image and got in contact to say that unless she gave him “a show” he would release the image to her friends. The groomer subsequently released the image online, and the bullying and abuse Amanda received by her peers ultimately resulted in her committing suicide, after releasing a video on YouTube detailing her experiences.

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK Some countries have introduced offences aimed at protecting children from grooming although much remains to be done, particularly in light of recent technological advances which have presented far greater opportunities for groomers. In the UK, for example, the following offences have been introduced:

MEETING A CHILD FOLLOWING SEXUAL GROOMING This offence is designed to protect children from both in person and online grooming. It makes it an offence for an adult aged 18 or over to meet or arrange to meet an individual they do not reasonably believe to be over 16 if that adult (a) has previously met or communicated with the child on at least two occasions; and (b) intends to commit a sexual offence against that child. There is no requirement for the adult to have actually met the child, nor is there a requirement for the communications to be sexual in nature.

SEXUAL COMMUNICATION WITH A CHILD This offence was introduced in 2015 and attempts to deal with the growing issues caused by technological advances which have given rise to an increase in the culture of “sexting”, the sending of youth produced sexual imagery primarily via mobile technology.

This offence will be committed where a person above the age of 18 either (a) intentionally engages in sexual communication with an individual they do not reasonably believe to be over 16, for the purposes of sexual gratification; or (b) communicates with an individual they do not reasonably believe to be over 16 with the intention of eliciting a sexual communication from the recipient. A communication is defined as sexual if any part of it relates to sexual activity or where a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances, consider it to be sexual.

Similar offences exist in a number of other countries including Canada, Costa Rica, the United States of America, the Netherlands and Australia.

PREPARATORY OFFENCES There may also be a number of preparatory offences which may be relevant in grooming cases. In the UK, for example, these include: •

drugging a person with intent to engage in sexual activity with that person (section 61); committing any offence with intent to commit a sexual offence (section 62); and trespassing on any premises with intent to commit a sexual offence (section 63).

MODUS OPERANDI There is a great deal of research into the methods offenders use to groom children, whether in person or online. The Council of International Schools, for example, provides the following checklist on institutional grooming: •

Target vulnerable victim - Perpetrators target victims who are vulnerable, isolated, insecure and/or have greater emotional needs. These victims are easier to control and manipulate.

“I would probably pick the one who appeared more needy… Someone who had been a victim before: quiet, withdrawn, compliant” Quote from an abuser •

Gain victim’s trust – Institutional offenders often abuse the power and influence inherent in their position within an organisation in order to gain the victim’s trust. Offenders may allow a child to do something (e.g. eat ice cream, stay up late, view pornography) which is not normally permitted by

18 the child’s parents or the organisation in order to foster secrecy.

“I look for a child who seems to be lonely or sad or looking for attention. Then I take my time gaining her trust and becoming her friend. In time she will do anything I ask.” Quote from an abuser •

•

Gain the trust of others – Institutional offenders are often popular with children and parents, successfully grooming not only the victim, but other members of the victim’s family and the community at large. Offenders sometimes do this by being exceptional or inspiring teachers or leaders, or by consistently praising the victim to his or her parents. This facilitates the offender’s access to the victim and makes it harder for the victim to speak out when abuse occurs.

Filling a need / becoming more important to the child - This can involve giving gifts, rewards, additional help or advice, favouritism, special attention and/or opportunities for special trips or outings. This can be particularly powerful when carried out by a professional who the child looks up to and seeks approval from.

“No-one has shown interest in me like this before, he made me feel special and told me I was special and that I was the only one he wanted to be with.”

A young person reporting to ChildLine •

Isolating the child - The perpetrator may encourage dependency and subtly undermine the victim’s other relationships with friends or family members. Once isolated, victims are more easily exploited and manipulated into sexual relationships.

•

Sexualising the relationship - This can involve playful touches, tickling and hugs. It may involve adult jokes and innuendo or talking as if adults, for example, about marital problems or conflicts.

It can involve overly graphic and inappropriate sexual education classes by teachers or leaving sexual material out where the victim can see them. This desensitises the victim, preparing him or her for sexual abuse.

•

Maintaining control and secrecy - Offenders may

use their professional position to make a child believe that they have no choice but to submit to the offender. This process often involves secrecy and blame; the offender may blackmail or threaten the child, make them feel ashamed or guilty, or make them feel the emotional cost of losing the only “loving” relationship he or she has.

“He said to me that he loved me and that I should do things for him, and if I didn’t, he’d start shouting at me; it’s my fault, I agreed to meet him.”

A young person reporting to ChildLine

DIVERSE NATURE We should also acknowledge the diverse nature of grooming, and also the platforms on which it takes place. While the “classic” view of an online groomer would be an adult male grooming a young person online for sexual reasons, we should also acknowledge that grooming behaviours also happen within peer groups and those whose ages might be far close together that we might expect.

The recent IPCC investigation related to the murder of Breck Bednar highlights this point. Breck was befriended and groomed by someone four years older than him via gaming servers, where the abuser established a small group with access to “exclusive” servers for the game they were playing – Minecraft.

Over a period of time the abuser, Lewis Daynes, isolated Breck from his family, and ultimately paid for Breck to visit his flat, where he murdered him.

While Breck’s mother had contacted the police to relay her concerns about Daynes, the IPCC inquiry highlighted failings to recognise these concerns as grooming, with the call handler even recording “nothing to suggest this is grooming”.

This case also highlighted the use of gaming platforms for grooming – it is not just social media where online contact happens. If we are to consider a gaming platform not simply as a means for players to play a video game together, but as a massively connected community of online peers, all of whom share a common interest, we can see how such environments would be targets for groomers – they have potentially a large pool of victims to access, and they have the “common interest” in which to befriend them before moving toward the standard practices of isolation and private communication.

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20 Behaviours associated with peer sexual interaction, such as the sharing of youth produced sexual imagery (“sexting”) among teens, can be also be used by those exhibiting coercive and grooming behaviours. The work of Ringrose for the NSPCC highlighted the fact that, among peer groups, teens have experienced the use of sexually explicit “selfies” as a means to coerce further sexual acts, or to engage in a pattern of behaviour to try to obtain such images in order to achieve further control over the victim. While these might not be viewed as the typical scenario, there is certainly a growing body of evidence to show such practices among peers which would certainly fall into a broad definition of grooming.

•

Unexplained gifts

•

Older boyfriends - victims frequently identify the perpetrators as boyfriends or very good friends

•

Elation/joy – victims are often made to feel elated, special and loved, particularly at the start of the grooming process

•

Suicidal, self/harming, unworthy

•

Alcohol or drug use

Finally, we should highlight another growing area of concern around online technology, as very much a form of grooming – that being online radicalisation.

While the end goal for groomers in this instance is different from “typical” grooming in that there is not a sexual goal, but one of recruitment to a political or terrorist cause, the techniques are the same, and the approaches will often take place via online technologies such as social media and gaming with a similar practice – to befriend an individual then try to isolate them from peers and family before encouraging meetings to take the grooming further.

Police forces have already highlighted a number of approaches that have taken place where gaming has been an element (for example Nasser Muthana) and it is important to be mindful that grooming can take many forms.

•

Sexual health issues

SIGNS MANIFESTED BY VICTIMS •

Missing from home or school

•

Behavioural change

•

Secretive use of mobile phones or the internet

depressed,

SIGNS MANIFESTED BY THE OFFENDER MAY INCLUDE •

Overly affectionate behaviour with a child – for example, stroking, excessive touching and/or hugging

•

Affording special attention or preferential treatment to a child – this can include:

•

Allowing a child to carry out special duties in the classroom

•

Excessive time spent alone with a child outside of the classroom/school

•

Frequently spending time with a child in private or isolated areas

•

Transporting a child to or from school

•

Making friends with a child’s parents and visiting their home

•

Acting as a particular child’s confidante

•

Working hard to win the trust of and cultivate close relationships with the parent body. Vahey, for example, was voted second most popular teacher by parents

•

Giving small gifts, money, toys, cards, letters to a child

SPOTTING THE SIGNS Grooming is often undetected by others, and is particularly difficult to spot unless adults working with children have a clear understanding of what to look out for. Disclosures by victims are rare, and adults (and children) within schools must therefore be particularly alert to the signs of grooming exhibited by both victims and offenders. Some signs manifested by victims are listed below.

feeling

21 •

Using texts, telephone calls, e-mails or social networking sites to inappropriately communicate with a child

•

Flirtatious behaviour or making suggestive remarks or comments of a sexual nature around a child or other adults

•

Using inappropriately explicit and sexual language in class, encouraging children to

•

use swear words and/or sexual words

•

‘Going the extra mile’ to help a child or children

•

Normalising behaviour which would not seem acceptable in another adult

Teachers and other staff should also be alert to any comments or jokes made by other children in the school. For example, where children are heard to have a nickname for an adult such as ‘dirty old man,’ ‘perv,’ or ‘paedo,’ this should always be taken seriously and enquiries made to establish what has led to this.

LEARNING FROM PAST CASES Serious Case Reviews in England, such as those relating to William Vahey, Nigel Leat, and Jeremy Forrest (all teachers) illustrate that many of the grooming behaviours bullet pointed above were evident to other adults working in the school.

Vahey was known to pick particular children to join in his prestigious travel club – and taking children abroad was a perfect way to isolate them from their parents and other adults. He was also known to have made jokes with sexual connotations which made other staff feel uncomfortable, but because he had made himself popular with parents and pupils and had normalised his behaviour, he was difficult to challenge. Leat was known to have favourites, and that those favourites were girls who were academically less able, emotionally needy, and/or vulnerable and very pretty. He allowed his favourites special privileges and gave them presents. Indeed, it was only when the mother of one girl questioned what she had accomplished to receive the gift that the true nature of Leat’s conduct came to light.

Even before his abuse came to light, Forrest was known by other staff to have had inappropriate contact with his victim via social media; this had been reported by the victim’s peer group. He had been giving the victim extra maths lessons – thus giving him a prima facie reason to spend time alone with her. In this way Forrest was able to re-assure her parents that he was working in the best interests of the child.

Grooming behaviours such as those illustrated above are not solely found in education settings. In 2015, paediatrician Myles Bradbury was found guilty of abusing boys he was treating for cancer. Bradbury had groomed the parents by making them believe he was ‘going the extra mile ‘for their children, seeing them out of hours and giving them specialist treatment – rather than his true goal of isolating them in order to abuse.

“The doctor was so trusted and admired by the family they saw him as ‘a god’ who would cure their son and even sent him Christmas cards for two years with the boy’s picture. They were devastated when their young son revealed what Bradbury had done to him” (Telegraph) In Chile, the priest Fernando Karadima was found in 2010 to have groomed and sexually abused children over the course of decades. His status within the Catholic community in Santiago afforded him great power over his victims and their families, with people viewing him as god-like and beyond reproach.

VICTIMS OF GROOMING Grooming can affect any child. However, vulnerable children may be more at risk than others. They can include: •

Disabled children – research suggests that disabled children are over three times more likely to be abused (or neglected) than non-disabled children.

•

Children who have been abused (or neglected) in the past.

22 •

Children whose parents are under continued or increased stress, or who have problems with mental health, drugs or alcohol, domestic violence or learning disabilities - these problems can severely undermine a parent’s ability to care for their child.

•

Children living in poverty.

•

Children who are academically less vulnerable and/or emotionally needy.

•

Children who are isolated from friends and/or family.

•

Talk to the child - when an individual has a concern about a child, the first port of call is often to talk to the child. Whilst this is a sensible approach, it is important to do this in a sensitive and age-appropriate way; everyone should be aware that victims of grooming rarely disclose what is happening to them. This is because many children do not understand that they have been groomed, or that what has happened is abuse. Some children become convinced of the legitimacy of the relationship and believe that the offender truly loves them. Other children describe themselves as being in a cycle of fear and shame, where they think no one will believe what is happening and that they are to blame for the exploitation they are suffering. Many victims describe feeling worried about what people will think as they have let the situation go on for so long. They do not understand the role of grooming and believe that they must have consented and that they are to blame.

•

Listen to the voice and concerns of children create a culture in which children are genuinely listened to and feel that they are listened to. Think about how your student council structure can be improved to ensure that all children (and not just the elected few) feel that they are participating and affecting change within the school. Involve children in the recruitment of staff and the design of PSHE and other subjects. Ensure that staff listen to and act on the questions and concerns of individual children, whether it be about the food in the canteen, a broken radiator, a disagreement between friends or something more serious.

•

Reporting and recording concerns – the SCR panel and Hugh Davies were both puzzled as to why teaching staff did not recognise and report behaviours by Vahey which “clearly fit the profile of a likely sex offender”. The SCR attributes this failure to: (i) a lack of training for staff on the modus operandi of sex offenders; (ii) mixed feelings within the staff, pupil and parent groups about the individual, with some believing him to be a popular and charismatic teacher; (iii) a reluctance to go against the wishes of a small number of parents who did not want further action to be taken when concerns involving their children were raised; (iv) not wishing to report a concern without “firm evidence”; and (v) staff being unaware that others had similar concerns.

able,

WHAT SHOULD SCHOOLS DO TO PREVENT, IDENTIFY AND TACKLE GROOMING? •

Safer recruitment - safer recruitment can be particularly challenging for international schools who tend to recruit from a highly mobile group of individuals. These challenges include the difficulty in (a) obtaining reliable background checks in some jurisdictions; (b) carrying out face to face interviews; (c) obtaining, following up and verifying appropriate references from overseas; and (d) probing an individual’s attitude to safeguarding where that individual comes from a different cultural and statutory background. Ensure that your school operates robust safer recruitment policies, including seeking and following up references, probing gaps in employment, consistently referring to your school’s commitment to safeguarding throughout the recruitment process (including in all advertisements, person specifications and job descriptions), carrying out criminal records checks, including overseas checks where appropriate, ensuring that all staff involved in recruitment undergo safer recruitment training, and critically assessing the candidate’s ability to form trusting and appropriate relationships with children. Consider for example using value-based interview techniques. (For further information please see Marcus Erooga’s article Towards safer organisations). If you use an international recruitment agency, probe and check the agency’s safeguarding procedures before using them. If there are gaps in their checks, complete these gaps.

23 Both reports also show that a number of concerns were raised at the time, but that no one had overall oversight, which meant that no one was able to “join the dots”. Grooming is a subtle and gradual process and it is therefore essential that your school has procedures in place which enable it to spot subtle patterns of behaviour.

This includes (a) ensuring that there are clear procedures in place for parents, children, staff and other individuals associated with the school to report any concerns or unusual behaviour, no matter how trivial. These procedures should be known and understood by everyone; (b) ensuring that at least one senior person within the school has sight of all reports of such concerns; and (c) ensuring that all reports are recorded centrally, with the name of the person about whom the report relates clearly stated on the form.

•

Open culture – having the correct procedures in place is not enough. Schools must also ensure that people within or associated with the school feel comfortable making reports. This requires a culture of openness, transparency, and vigilance without paranoia. Achieving this balance can be difficult. Leadership and training are key. The way in which reports of concerns are dealt with by senior managers will also have a bearing on this.

All reports should be dealt with sensitively and with discretion.

•

Mandatory reporting and self-referral - consider mandatory reporting of certain incidents to your child protection officer or safeguarding lead (e.g. when a member of staff or volunteer has been alone with or gives a gift to a child, or of any of the signs listed above). This removes any discretion on behalf of the person reporting the incident, and it will help schools to spot subtle patterns of behaviour. Requiring staff and other individuals associated with the school to self-refer can also be helpful to creating a culture of openness and raising awareness of boundaries and risks amongst these individuals. A failure to self-refer can also indicate a problem.

•

Training for staff and other individuals associated with the school - train your staff, volunteers and other individuals associated with your school about how to spot signs of grooming.

Poor quality training can propagate unhelpful myths and finding the right training is crucial.

Check the credentials of the trainer and ask for recommendations.

•

Educating children - educating pupils is also key.

Research indicates that children have very little awareness or understanding of grooming. The concept of “Stranger Danger” is well developed, but children are very rarely told about the risks of grooming by someone they know. This should be done without unduly frightening the child or damaging their ability to form trusting relationships with adults. Achieving this balance can be difficult - there are a number of resources online which are aimed at assisting parents and schools, including the NSPCC Underwear Rule, the Think You Know website,and schoolcounsellingbyheart.

•

Clarity of guidelines / code of conduct - ensure that you have clear and culturally appropriate guidelines on personal-professional boundaries, including on social events, communications on social media and friendships/relationships. What is appropriate will depend on the cultural and legal context within which your school is operating. For example, in some Latin American countries it is normal and appropriate for students to kiss their teachers on the cheek when greeting them. In other countries it is normal for staff and students to share the same bathrooms. Your challenge as international school leaders will be to draw up and implement a staff behaviour policy which delineates clearly between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour, is consistent with local law and culture, sets high standards and which clearly sets out the consequences of any breach.

There should be clear rules on adults being alone with children and on children’s access to adult’s private rooms or accommodation (particularly in a boarding school). Clear rules on trips are also key – individuals working with children should not be able to take children out of the school unless it is part of an official and regulated trip, and all trips should be planned and notified to senior managers in advance. These rules should be unambiguous, widely communicated and supported by in-house training. Again, a balance is key and rules prohibiting any physical contact or appropriate care behaviours are likely to be inappropriate and counter-productive. The UK´s Guidance on Safer Working Practices (2005 and 2015) provides clear and useful guidance on this

24 area. Although this guidance may need to be adapted depending on your legal and cultural context, it is nonetheless relevant for international schools around the world.

•

Photography and video - ensure that you have appropriate policies on the use of photographic/ video equipment and photos and films. Record and investigate any breaches of this policy.

•

Attendance and absence records - ensure that your school has in place a clear procedure for monitoring attendance and recording absences.

Any unexplained absences should be recorded centrally alongside other child protection reports.

•

•

Re-writing and living the policies – one of the first tasks I undertook was to review the safeguarding regulations and to re-write our key safeguarding policies. With my senior management team and key safeguarding staff we conducted a line by line review, connecting deeply with the policies and underlying regulations. We put Southbank students’ needs first and looked at the policies through their eyes. This went against practices in many schools, which, by trying to shelter staff and senior management from too much paperwork, can inadvertently lead to staff to become disengaged from the regulations.

•

Creating an open culture and supporting staff - We focused on staff welfare and encouraged staff to raise concerns and questions, which they began to do more freely. With the involvement and support of our proprietor, we worked closely with an independent clinical psychologist who specialises in the field of abuse and trauma and provides consultation to CEOP. This specialist delivered a series of workshops to staff in advance of the publication of the serious case review, helping staff to make sense of the abuse and to respond to students’ questions about it.

•

Building capacity amongst staff - we rolled out training to bus drivers, cleaners, caterers and external sports staff. We expanded the training and expertise of deputy safeguarding leads and we involved a greater number of people in safeguarding meetings, which provided a forum for concerns to be aired and expertise to be shared. By working with children every day, teachers and other frontline staff often know far more about safeguarding than external experts.

By explaining this to staff and by replacing the term “safeguarding” with “concerns about children” on staff meeting agendas, we were able to give staff confidence and encourage dialogue.

•

Being attentive to and learning from previous failings – My team and I focused on previous shortcomings and failings, identifying what had gone wrong in the past in order to improve practices for the future. We engaged proactively and wholeheartedly with the SCR, inspection and regulatory processes, taking ownership for the inspection action plan and overseeing the work to ensure compliance with it. The Principals and staff then turned this into a reality in the classroom.

Well-being and welfare - focus on implementing a strong culture of care within your school. By looking after the emotional health and wellbeing of children schools can help build resilience to grooming and increase the chance that it will be disclosed and/or detected. Schools should also be sensitive to the devastating and long-term effects of grooming and where appropriate should put in place measures to help victims deal with these.

IMPLEMENTING CULTURAL CHANGE POST VAHEY Many international schools have used William Vahey as a case study and have implemented changes to their safeguarding regimes in light of this case.

Southbank International School, where he taught for four years, has made particular progress in this area.

Regulatory and statutory bodies have praised this transformation, finding the school’s safeguarding practices to be comprehensive and robust and praising the senior management team for developing an open culture across the school.

Much of this improvement has been driven by Siobhan McGrath, who was appointed Executive Principal of Southbank in July 2015, 15 months after the discovery of the crimes, and supported in this work by the School’s proprietor, Cognita. We asked Siobhan to contribute to this article by explaining how she and her team were able to build such a strong and open safeguarding culture in the wake of such tragic events and in such a short period of time.

Siobhan´s response was as follows:

25 •

•

•

Curriculum - A lot of work has been put into the curriculum and in particular to PSHE and e-safety.

The Westminster Principal drove the review of the e-safety curriculum by asking children what they were experiencing online and what they wanted to learn about. Whereas staff and students had previously shied away from difficult issues (e.g. sexting), we were determined to address these issues head on and to generate discussion amongst students, which in turn led students to open up and talk about how these issues were affecting them.

Listening to students – this was key. Online surveys are not sufficient, and I and others encouraged staff to talk to and listen to students, to create opportunities for discussion and to really understand them and their needs.

Leading by example and walking the talk leadership needs to exhibit common sense or you will not be credible to your staff; it also needs to show that it cares about other people.

These relatively small changes have resulted in a remarkable cultural shift. The last inspection by Ofsted described the leadership team as having “relentlessly driven improvement, built a sense of community, and palpably changed the school for the better.” Staff have started to discuss child protection more, to ask questions and seek reassurance about welfare issues. Staff have become more confident as a result, and more open and able to form trusting and open relationships with students. This shift has been significant; it has affected the atmosphere at the school and has been noticed by students. When asked about the culture at the school, one 16-yearold student had said recently that “the culture of this school is now completely different; we can see that the teachers are a lot happier and they have a completely different relationship with the leadership of the school; and we can see that our concerns now get acted on”. This shift can also be seen in annual staff turnover which has reduced from over 20 two years ago, to three this year. The trick now will be for us to maintain the open culture we have created, to continue to be vigilant realising that abuse can happen anywhere, and to continue to measure and improve the strength of our safeguarding systems.

SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL AND STRATEGIC SAFEGUARDING REVIEWS If carried out correctly, self-assessment exercises can be very good indicators of how effective your safeguarding systems are. Taking grooming as an example, questions could include: •

Have all staff (not just teachers) undertaken training on spotting signs of grooming?

•

Do you teach children about grooming in an ageappropriate and sensitive way?

•

Do you think you have the right balance between vigilance and paranoia?

•

Do your leaders and staff have an attitude of “it could happen here”?

•

Do you have a culture in which low level concerns about children and staff are shared, recorded and reviewed?

•

Would your reporting and recording mechanisms enable you to spot concerning patterns of behaviour amongst staff?

•

Do you have a clear strategy in place for investigating and handling concerns about staff?

Does this strategy take account of local law and external support?

This is particularly important for international schools with very little or no support from the police and/or children´s services as these schools will often have to conduct the investigation internally and decide on appropriate action without advice from statutory agencies.

THE CHILD PROTECTION UNIT (CPU), FARRER & CO. The CPU provides advice to international schools on all aspects of child protection and safeguarding,

26 including on the handling of live cases, institutional grooming, safer recruitment, and safeguarding governance and structures. It also carries out strategic safeguarding reviews and tailored training for international schools and other organisations working with children If you have any questions about this article or about the CPU please contact Katie Rigg (katie.rigg@farrer.co.uk).

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS:.

Farrer & Co are the content partners for the ECIS Child Safeguarding Certificate, an online solution for training your full teaching and administrative staff. Learn more at ecis.org/learning and select Child Safeguarding Certificate under Certificate Programmes.

Professor Andy Phippen, professor of social responsibility in information communication technology (“ICT”) at Plymouth University. Andy is a research partner with the UK Safer Internet Centre and is a frequent media commentator on children and the Internet. Andy hasalso worked with companies such as British Telecom, Google and Facebook on issuesrelating to ethical and social responsibility and looking at how technology impacts the socialworld.

AUTHOR: Katie Rigg, Child protection, safeguarding and employment lawyer in the CPU. Katie was a member of the Farrer & Co team which acted as Solicitors to the Independent Review by Hugh Davies QC into the criminal conduct of William Vahey with a particular focus on theschool’s child protection governance structures and the practice and procedures for reporting of concerns.

Jane Foster, consultant for the CPU. Previously the Tri Borough (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and City of Westminster) Safe Organisations Manager and Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).

Siobhan McGrath, Executive Principal of Southbank International School and Principal of Southbank’s Kensington campus. Siobhan lectures at the University of Buckingham. Siobhan was previously Deputy Head and then Acting Head at North Bridge House Prep School.

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KEY FEATURES • TOTAL TIME REQUIRED: APPROXIMATELY 6 HOURS • 70% PASS MARK REQUIRED ON ALL ASSESSMENTS • CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION, VALID FOR THREE YEARS, ISSUED TO EACH PARTICIPANT WHO COMPLETES COURSE SUCCESSFULLY • CONTENT AND ASSESSMENTS DESIGNED IN COLLABORATION WITH FARRER & CO (WWW.FARRER.CO.UK) AN INDEPENDENT LAW FIRM WITH A SPECIALITY PRACTICE IN

CHILD SAFEGUARDING. INCLUDES ANNUAL TOP-UP COURSE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLETED THE INITIAL CERTIFICATE • 3-YEAR LICENCE WITH UNLIMITED NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS FROM YOUR ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC STAFF • COST IS FLAT FEE OF £2,500 FOR THREE YEARS, FOR ECIS MEMBER SCHOOLS. NONMEMBER RATE IS £5,000 FOR THREE YEARS • MODELLED ON PRINCIPLES OF CHILD SAFEGUARDING DRAWN FROM UK REGULATIONS, BUT UNIVERSALLY APPLICABLE, WITH PRACTICAL TOOLS FOR HOW YOUR SCHOOL CAN USE THESE GOLD STANDARDS TO FIT YOUR OWN CONTEXT “The UK safeguarding regulations for schools are some of the most extensive in the world, with a number of international schools moving toward these standards and being inspected against them... the principles highlighted in this course are universally applicable, no matter the location of the school.”

Katie Rigg, Solicitor, Farrer and Co.

LEARNING@ECIS.ORG WWW.ECIS.ORG/LEARNING

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Protecting the children in our schools is our most important job; learning itself depends on a child feeling safe. The ECIS safeguarding certificate sets the benchmark for safeguarding training.

Our four-part programme provides training in the foundations of child protection policies and practices, complemented by assessments requiring successful application of that knowledge. Offered fully online, your entire staff will benefit from expert knowledge so that your school can not only meet compliance standards, irrespective of accreditation or inspection regime followed, but exceed them.

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THE SECURITY OF DATA MANAGEMENT DANNY YEOW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, WCBS The security of data has been one of the top reasons for investment in information technology within commercial organisations for many years. Stories in the global press, such as the recent publicity regarding Yahoo’s data breach, fuel the public’s concern which prompts more organisations to take action. Historically, education establishments have been relatively sheltered from this risk, but with increasing amounts of sensitive data being stored and utilised by schools, the efficacy of school data security has come into sharp focus. Many international schools are now addressing data security head-on, others are taking some action and asking the questions that matter. One thing is for certain: schools cannot afford to keep their heads in the sand.

TAKING ACTION MATTERS Data security is paramount for all schools. Every school handles data, and the vast majority of it relates to children. For some international schools,

this includes children of very prominent families. No child, whoever they may be, should have their data at risk.

For schools in the European Union (EU), there will be no option regarding data security standards from 2018. New data protection legislation will take effect then that addresses data storage and transfer as well as wider implications of data security.

While international schools within the EU will have to comply or risk facing extensive fines, this new legislation will set the bar that many international schools throughout the rest of the world will wish to follow.

GETTING REAL ABOUT DATA MANAGEMENT Your choice of an information management system should not be restricted to a ‘one-solution-fits-all’ model. No two international schools are the same.

Instead, an effective school management system should give you accessibility to a solution that can be tailored to the needs and priorities of your school, from collecting and analysing the appropriate data to suit your ethos and orientation, to enabling access to the right people within your school community where and when it is needed.

29 No one Management Information System (MIS) supplier can give you everything to meet your every need, and do it all well. The data requirements of any school are too extensive and the need to remain at least current, if not ahead of the game regarding data security, too crucial. In addition, the specialist niche software providers are often too good for a single MIS supplier to compete with. There are so many outstanding software solutions now available that each meet very specific needs within all areas of school life, from learning and teaching solutions to college counselling, to payroll and much more.

This is why schools tend to have five or six different products holding data; some schools have many more.

The potential to integrate many systems through automated data synchronisation is what really makes the difference to a school. It reduces manual replication of data and allows for real-time, crosssolution reporting. Overcoming the complexity of where and how the data are stored, securely transferred and protected is the real challenge.

THE CHALLENGE OF DATA SECURITY Within a mix of software solutions, some data will be stored on-premise, other data stored in the cloud.

Data, by necessity, have to move; from on-premise to cloud, between different solutions from different suppliers located in different parts of the world who want to read or even write back to each other’s systems. It is in this movement of data where the greatest security risk lies, and which schools need to mitigate against.

If a module is not compatible with your school information management system, and so unable to feed directly into a central database, then the value of the solution will never be fully realised. Not only does it then risk your data security every time data are transferred, but it also limits the way you can use that data. Multiply this by the number of software solutions a school could potentially select, and you can see where the challenges arise.

CENTRALISING YOUR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT The selection of software should not be conducted in an ad hoc way by individual departments. Instead it should be part of a whole school initiative, driven

by a strategy to maintain a centralised school data system: one that is compatible with best-of-breed third party solutions; one that ensures maximum effectiveness of all integrated solutions. One that interprets all your essential data through its analytics; one that is user-friendly, that can be easily accessed by everyone who matters; and one that is reliable, robust, and fully protects all your data.

ENSURING YOUR SCHOOL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SECURITY •

Use a system with a reputable API (an Application Processing Interface). An API is a ‘bridge’ which is created between an independent application (such as a specialist app supplied by third party software supplier) and your central database. The API will allow data to flow into your core database in a very secure manner, ensuring your dataflow is safe.

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If you are using a cloud-based solution, ensure that its API exposes the data to the sole user only.

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Question the security protocols that your software provider has in place and, if still concerned, request a security audit.

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MIS providers will be able to advise you on who their third-party partners are, and how they integrate securely with partners.

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Remain vigilant to the quality and robustness of your current solution. Out-dated systems are increasingly at risk of security compromise. The management and protection of your data should remain a constant focus.

WCBS are one of the world’s leading providers of information management systems for international and independent schools www.wcbs.co.uk

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A GREAT YEAR FOR INTERNATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION PETER ELTING PROGRAMME MANAGER, ITE CONSORTIUM STENDEN UNIVERSITY It’s a world first. Stenden University of Applied Sciences and University College of Southeast Norway have successfully achieved the first accreditation of a Bachelor Degree programme from the European Higher Education Area authority for their International Teacher Education for Primary Schools (ITEps) programme.

COLLABORATING INTERNATIONALLY ITEps (The International Teacher Education for Primary Schools) is a partnership between Stenden University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and the University College of Southeast Norway. The programme is delivered and assessed in English and attracts students from all over the world. Currently student teachers from more than one hundred nationalities study ITEps.

PREPARING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS International Teacher Education prepares preservice teachers to work specifically as teachers in international primary schools. However, ITEps graduates are also valued at bilingual schools or schools with cultural diverse learning communities.

ITEps can also be a part of pre-service teachers’ preparation to teach at national schools that use English as a language of instruction.

HEADING TOWARDS THE FUTURE The ITEps staff and students are extremely proud of this new international programme. All newly qualified teachers who graduated from ITEps in July 2016 have been hired by international schools. These young professionals are wonderful ambassadors for the ITEps programme and we look forward to working together with them as our first alumni.

Now that we are through the pioneering stages of new programme development, we look forward to improving the programme further. Working collaboratively, student teachers and teacher educators in our partnership universities in the Netherlands and Norway are exploring perspectives, going beyond the usual boundaries of curriculum design to include a wide variety of stakeholders, from researchers, lecturers, and student teachers in universities to management, teachers, support staff ,and children in international schools. It may take a village to raise a child, but it will take an international learning community to develop international teacher education.

Our aim is to develop and deliver innovative teacher education specifically for international contexts.

We are taking teacher education, which is usually nationally based, toward an international context.

Our staff and students aim to be ambitious, open minded, enterprising and empowered. We welcome input into our programme from the international learning community. Please contact us through www.iteps.eu

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THE ‘INSTITUTIONAL PRIMARY TASK’ OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

‘China now vies with the UAE for the top country spot’ (Gaskell, 2016 p.24). At the same time, much discussion is starting to take place about the identity, role and purpose of these ‘international schools’, and this issue requires attention.

DR. TRISTAN BUNNELL

Ian Hill (2016 p.67) has recently explored the theme of ‘What is an International School?’ in the (International Schools Journal,) where he states that the ‘concept of an international school becomes complex and confusing if we consider the range of manifestations it can have.’ Hill explores the categorisations of ‘international schools’ over the period since the 1960s and shows how the normative or ‘ideal’ model (Leach, 1969) has subsequently broken-down over time. Leach (1969 p.176) had argued that ‘a genuine International School should be an active member of the International Schools Association and should prepare (students) to take the International Baccalaureate.’ However, we know that most ‘International Schools’ do not offer the programmes of the IBO. In particular, the notion that an ‘International School’ should be a nonprofit organisation now has little real substance.

Nick Tate (2016), in a recently published book, has asked the question ‘What are International Schools for?’ In particular, he focuses on the issue of what

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

THE EMERGING ISSUE OF IDENTITY AND LEGITIMACY There is no denying that the number of transnational spaces of education (Hayden, 2011) known as ‘international schools’ is growing (Brummitt and Keeling, 2013), both in terms of scale and diversity of operation. As discussed in the previous edition of this publication (Gaskell, 2016 p.24), the past 16 years have seen a ‘staggering growth’ in the number of schools worldwide being classified as ‘International Schools’, and the ‘market continues to expand at pace.’

China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) currently compete in terms of which nation has the most schools, and the most children attending them;

32 ought they be for? He approaches this through the traditional dichotomy of approach lens (Cambridge and Thompson, 2014), which views ‘International Schools’ as having pragmatic as well as ideological purposes. In other words they can be viewed as being ‘globalist’ and ‘internationalist’.

Alongside a discussion of identity and purpose, there is emerging a more negative narrative concerning legitimacy which adds to the urgency of addressing the question: ‘What is an International School’? There is an emerging critical narrative, evident in both research and popular press discussions, which is sceptical and cynical about the label ‘International’.

One such view suggests that some schools are ‘International’ in name only; ‘Some of these schools are international in name alone, offering little more than English-language instruction by home nationals and a token expatriate as consultant’ (Tarc and Mishra Tarc, 2015 p.36). Another recent example comes from the discussion about the sudden huge growth of the number of schools claiming to be ‘International’ in Sri Lanka: ‘Since then, there has been a profusion of independent primary and secondary education institutions claiming to be ‘International Schools’’ (Wettewa, 2016 p.67). A similar issue has recently been raised in the Nigerian national press (Belo-Osagie, 2016).

In short, it is being implied that the word ‘International’ is being used inconsistently, whilst some ‘International Schools’ use it in ways that have seemingly little legitimacy. From that analysis, the need for a stronger conceptual framework becomes clear. A key concept taken from Open Systems Theory (Katz and Khan, 1966) is the ‘institutional primary task’, and I hereby offer this as a possible way forward in our thinking about ‘What is an International School?’

THE CONCEPT OF THE ‘INSTITUTIONAL PRIMARY TASK’ By the introduction of organisational theory, we can begin to ask questions such as ‘What should an organisation claiming to be an International School be doing?’ I and two of my colleagues at the University of Bath (Michael Fertig and Chris James) have previously (Bunnell, Fertig and James, 2016a) drawn on the work of the American sociologist William Richard Scott, particularly his work on institutionalisation theory. Scott’s (2014) work

on theorising organisational institutionalisation processes allows us to show how ‘organisations’ acquire legitimacy, and become instead ‘institutions’.

We have subsequently (Bunnell, Fertig and James, 2016b) begun to build on Scott’s (2014) framework by introducing the concept of the ‘institutional primary task’. We argue that defining an institution’s ‘primary task’ is crucial in establishing institutional legitimacy.

The more legitimate an institution is, the more favourable are the environmental conditions for its survival; legitimacy brings with it ‘resources, stability and enhanced survival prospects’ (Meyer and Rowan, 1977 p.340). Thus, if a school’s claim to be an ‘International School’ is indeed legitimate, then its standing may be enhanced, and it may be viewed more favourably by parents who wish to send their child there, teachers who wish to work there, administrators who wish to manage it, researchers who wish to study it and external agencies that have to accredit it. As I argued in the previous edition of this publication (Bunnell, 2016 p.20), legitimacy does matter.

The concept of the ‘primary task’ is seen as important in helping organisations reclaim their sense of purpose (Dartington, 1998; Elfer, 2007). According to Lawrence (1977 p.23): ‘The concept of primary task is a tool of inquiry to understand the realities of organisations.’ It was initially identified by the English anthropologist Albert Kenneth (A.K.) Rice (1958 p.32) as ‘the task an organisation was created to perform’. Rice (1965 p.17) later modified this to: ‘the task an organisation must perform to survive.’ In other words, its essential activity.

More recently, Obholzer (2001) related the ‘primary task’ to that of ‘Mission’, a theme that no doubt resonates strongly with most ‘International Schools’.

However, the ‘primary task’ and the ‘Mission’, although inter-related, are different. An International School may have a ‘Mission’, for example, to ‘Educate the global citizen’ but how does it go about doing this?

What ‘tasks’ ensures that this is achieved? To use a concrete example, Copenhagen International School (CIS) was established in 1963 (IBO Code: 0004) and is where I taught IBDP Economics between 2004 and 2014. CIS might be viewed as a good example of a ‘Type A Traditional’ International School (Hayden and Thompson, 2013), established to pragmatically serve the needs of the largely expatriate community in Copenhagen.

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A CONCRETE EXAMPLE: COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL CIS in 2016 has a three-tier set of Guiding Statements, forming a ‘Temple Structure’. It has an over-arching ‘Vision’ of ‘Educating champions of a just and responsible world’. This is coupled with a ‘Mission Statement’ that says: ‘CIS will develop the potential of each student by offering educational excellence in a stimulating environment of cultural diversity and mutual respect’.

So far, this information tells us what CIS intends to do as an organisation, but we still know little about how it goes about doing it. Furthermore, this set of statements reveals CIS is indeed a ‘school’, but it does not really tell us that CIS is an ‘International School’.

Lots of other schools, including non-International Schools, may have a similar set of Vision and Mission Statement. Nearly 50 years ago, Robert Leach (1969 p.7) had first proposed a category of ‘International Schools’ ‘serving or being composed of students from several nationalities’ but then realised this is a hopelessly vague typology that might theoretically encompass most schools in inner-London or New York.

To reiterate, the Vision, and Mission Statement alone do not fully tell us that CIS is an ‘International School’. They tell us what the school wants to do, but not how it will go about doing it. The clues that tell us this information can be found in the thirdtier of its Guiding Statements, which it calls the ‘Strategic Pillars’; these are ‘Learning’, ‘Building’ and ‘Community’. These three pillars are made up, in turn, of nine ‘Goals’. One ‘Goal’ is to ‘Recruit and retain the best staff in an increasingly competitive global education market’. Another is to ‘Provide a safe venue that ensures academic, physical and social growth and well-being’. It can be seen here, exemplified by the key words ‘recruit’ and ‘provide’, that these ‘Goals’ are in fact the ‘Tasks’. However, they are arguably not key to the school’s survival, unless of course the school was to prove to be a dangerous venue for children. They seem important, but they are arguably not essential. In other words, they might well be ‘secondary tasks’, but they do not seem to represent the ‘institutional primary task’.

Further within the ‘Learning’ pillar it says that CIS shall: ‘Provide a high-quality, varied educational

programme for a diverse student population’.

This is arguably the ‘primary task’. Although it does not mention any specific programme, the implication is that CIS will maintain to provide the three main programmes of the IB, i.e., it will provide an ‘international curriculum’ that promotes ‘international mindedness’ and ‘intercultural understanding’. In other words, it will provide an education programme with a pedagogy and philosophy that will allow for the fostering of cultural diversity and mutual respect, which in turn will help produce champions of a just and responsible world.

Thus, the provision of an international curriculum might be viewed as the ‘institutional primary task’.

Going back to Rice’s (1965) framework, if CIS did not provide such an education it would find it hard to legitimately claim to be an ‘International School’.

This would harm its chances of competing with other similar schools in Copenhagen, which in turn might threaten its long-term survival as an organisation.

What this real-life analysis shows is that the provision of an international curriculum helps CIS establish legitimacy as an institution; in this case, an ‘International School’.

It also gives the school a clear identity and purpose, plus it helps the school achieve its ‘Vision’ and ‘Mission Statement’. I raised the issue of the ‘institutional primary task’ at a presentation at the ECIS Leadership Conference in Rome in March 2016. The general consensus view that emerged from the gathering, after much discussion, was that the delivery of an international curriculum is what makes a school an ‘International School’.

The ‘primary task is essentially a heuristic concept’ (Miller and Rice, 1967 p.25), which allows it be conceived in many different ways. At the same time, different groups might have a different primary task. Here we are envisaging what the ‘classroom teachers’ in an International School might be doing as the ‘institutional primary task’: delivering an international curriculum within a stimulating environment of cultural diversity and mutual respect, which in turn facilitates international mindedness and intercultural understanding.

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CONCLUSIONS AND IDEAS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION I contend that the notion of ‘What is an International School?’ needs to move substantially away from arbitrary characteristics of identity (e.g. language of instruction, ownership model, diversity of student body, or membership of networks) and purpose (e.g. pragmatic or ideological) towards an investigation of what the school actually does i.e. what is the ‘institutional primary task’? This ultimately involves an investigation of its curriculum, its content and philosophy, and its mode of pedagogical delivery.

The delivery of an ‘international curriculum’ is arguably the ‘institutional primary task’ of many ‘International Schools’. In other words, a school that wishes to claim legitimately to be an ‘International School’ needs to be seen to be undertaking a specific task, not merely possessing a stated ‘Vision’, ‘Mission’ or purpose. This latter point is arguably where the notion of a school ‘claiming’ to be an ‘International School’ comes in. A subsequent discussion of what the ‘institutional primary task’ of an ‘International School’ is would offer a fresh lens of inquiry and I would welcome more comment on this topic.

To facilitate this issue being discussed further, perhaps within this publication, I would like to add that the work of Gordon Lawrence (1977) adds to our understanding of Primary Task Analysis.

Within Lawrence’s (1977 p.22) framework there are three different types of ‘primary task’. The normative task is what we ought to be doing. The existential primary task is what we think we are doing. Thirdly, the phenomenal primary task is what others hypothesise we are doing, but we may not be conscious that we are doing it. I would argue that all three of these primary tasks can be applied to ‘International Schools’, and they offer a possible way forward for further discussion and subsequent framework-building.

REFERENCES Belo-Osakie, K. (2016, March 3) ‘International’ not in name only, The Nation.

Brummitt, N. and Keeling, A. (2013) Charting the growth of International Schools, in: R. Pearce (ed.) International Education and Schools: Moving Beyond the First 40 Years pp.25-36.

London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Bunnell, T. (2016) International Schools as legitimate institutions, ECIS Global Insights 2, 18-22.

Bunnell, T., Fertig, M. and James, C. (2016a) What is international about ‘International Schools’? An institutional legitimacy perspective, Oxford Review of Education.

Bunnell, T; Fertig, M. and James, C. (2016b, in press) Establishing the legitimacy of a school’s claim to be ‘International’: The provision of an international curriculum as the institutional primary task, Educational Review.

Cambridge, J. and Thompson, J. (2004) Internationalism and globalisation as contexts for international education, Compare 34 (2), 161-175.

Dartington, T. (1998) From altruism to action: Primary task and the not-for-profit organisation, Human Relations 51 (12), 14771493.

Elfer, P. (2007) What are nurseries for? The concept of ‘primary task’ and its application in differentiating roles and tasks in nurseries, Journal of Early Childhood Research 5 (2), 169-188.

Gaskell, R. (2016) The global expansion of International Schools, ECIS Global Insights 2, 24-27.

Hayden M. (2011) Transnational spaces of education: the growth of the international school sector, Globalisation, Societies and Education 9 (2), 211-224.

Hayden M. and Thompson J. (2013) ‘International Schools: Antecedents, current issues and metaphors for the future‘, in Pearce R. (ed.) International Education and Schools: Moving Beyond the First 40 Years, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp.324.

Hill, I. (2016) What is an ‘International School’? International Schools Journal 35 (1), 60-70.

Leach R. (1969) International Schools and Their Role in the Field of Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Katz, D. And Kahn, R. (1966) The Social Psychology of Organisation. New York: Willey.

Lawrence, G. (1977) Management development… some ideals, images and realities, Journal of European Industrial Training 1 (2), 21-25.

Meyer, J. and Rowan, B. (1977) Institutionalized organisations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony, American Journal of Sociology 83 (2), 340-363.

Miller, E. and Rice, A. K. (1967) Systems of Organisation: The Control of Task and Sentient Boundaries. London: Tavistock Publications.

Rice, A.K. (1958) Productivity and Social Organisation: The Ahmedabad Experiment. London: Tavistock Publications.

Rice, A.K. (1965) Learning for Leadership: Interpersonal and Intergroup Relations. London: Tavistock Publications.

Scott W. R. (2014) Institutions and Organisations: Ideas, Interests and Identities. London: Sage.

Tarc, P. and Mishra Tarc, A. (2015) Elite International Schools in the Global South: Transnational Space, Class Relationalities and the ‘Middling’ International Schoolteacher, British Journal of Sociology of Education 36 (1), 34-52.

Tate, N. (2016) What are International Schools for? In: M. Hayden and J. Thompson (Eds.) International Schools: Current Issues and Future Prospects pp.17-36. Symposium Books: Oxford.

Wettewa, V. (2016) Postcolonial emotionalism in shaping education: An analysis of international school choice in Sri Lanka, The International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives 15 (1), 66-83.

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