This article presents a genealogical analysis of the concept of "international school" by critically examining its multifaceted manifestations across varying historical, cultural, and geopolitical landscapes.
The article delineates the evolving signifiers of "international school", beginning from its pre-modern iterations in the 19th century, where such institutions in Europe epitomised intercultural and multinational ideals, juxtaposed against their contemporaneous Asian counterparts serving (trans)imperial diasporas within foreign settlements.
Progressing to the interwar period, the article examines the inception of intergovernmental schools during a burgeoning international education movement, concurrently charting an alternative trajectory within non-Western societies exemplified by the establishment of expatriate schools associated with multinational companies.
The analysis then sketches the divergent trajectories of international schools in the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War era. This analysis elaborates the neglected history of international schools attended by children of revolutionaries from countries with wars and conflicts, including the Ivanovo International Children's Home and International Lenin School, as major contributors to the international education landscape in the 20th century.
Lastly, this article examines the contemporary milieu of international schools that emerged from the 1990s onward in the new wave of globalization, deregulation of education markets, and new forms of mobility. It scrutinises the rapid proliferation of "non-traditional" international schools in the Global South and discusses the ideological dynamics between internationalism, globalism, and nationalism.
This genealogical analysis illuminates the discourses and power dynamics underlying the changing concept of "international school" and their nuanced impact on the shaping of global education and society.

Authors:
Wenxi Wu, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Wenxi Wu is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Shenzhen Polytechnic University in China

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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