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Welcoming ‘Alice’ to ‘Education Land’

Editors Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson invite you to join our new contributors

We have been delighted and encouraged by the correspondence received in response to our invitations for readers to express their views, through this magazine, on a number of suggested topics. These have included the continuing relevance of the soubriquet ‘Third Culture Kid’, and the definition of the designation ‘international school’ – terms which were coined in very different educational contexts than those in which we currently live. Our last issue included excellent articles by Angie Wigford and Andrea Higgins, Margot Sutherland and Mitesh Patel, inter alia, which raised crucial issues relating to Mental Health and Wellbeing, and their importance within international schools. From the interest generated by those articles, it is clear that the topics raised, and the views expressed, struck chords with a range of stakeholders in both international and national school sectors, and we thank those of you who have sent us either your comments on the articles themselves or ideas arising from your own experience. We have pleasure in including four such contributions in this issue of the magazine, covering differing age ranges and dimensions of the area. We welcome further contributions both on the articles so far published, and also via new articles drawing upon your own experience, which we look forward to receiving. By sharing your views you will be making a valuable contribution to the development of practice in such a crucial aspect of the work of international schools.

We are also pleased to announce that, in the coming set of issues of the magazine, we shall be including a new feature. This is entitled ‘Alice in Education Land’, and comprises a series of occasional contributions in which important educational issues, relevant to international and national schools alike, are raised through a parody of Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Chris Binge, the author, is a well-respected writer and speaker, with extensive experience in the international school sphere as a mathematics teacher, Head and Director of schools in five countries over the past 30 years, and we are delighted to accept his offer to share these imaginative and creative contributions with International School readers. Chris notes that the idea behind these stories is “to use humour to provoke thought about some sacred cows of education”, and we trust that our readers will not only enjoy reading the contributions within each issue of the magazine, but will also feel moved to share their own views and experiences on the topics raised. The first of these is entitled “Alice gets a job” – we look forward to hearing from you!

We’d like to hear your thoughts on this and any other articles in this magazine Email: editor@is-mag.com

Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson Editors Jonathan Barnes Editorial Director James Rudge Production Director Alex Sharratt Managing Director

For Editorial enquiries contact Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson Email: editor@is-mag.com Website: www.is-mag.com

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International School© 2019 ISSN 1461-395