Which international school curriculum is best for you and your child?

4 May 2017 | Family

Back home, schools tend to follow a national curriculum, and there isn’t much of a choice to be made. But as usual, being an expat brings with it a multitude of extra choices and decisions. When choosing schools, the first decision is often the curriculum. It can seem a bewildering process, but after spending recent months pondering this, learning the terminology and assessing the options, I thought I would share some of the factors I weighed up when trying to make a decision.

Everyone’s priorities and choices are different of course… that’s why such a variety of curriculum options exist in the first place!

Ten factors to consider

1. Where will you end up?

Start with the destination. The expat journey is seldom predictable, but if you are likely to go back to your home country eventually then it is worth considering how easy it will be to reintegrate into the school system there. For example, if you aim to return to the UK in a few years, then following a UK curriculum while overseas makes sense.

2. What culture/background do you have, want to develop?

These days the boundaries of nationality, culture, and citizen are increasingly blurred. And it is not always simple to pinpoint the culture and ethos that is best for your child and the path their life might take. If you speak one language it home it might be advantageous to speak another in school. And while having all these choices makes the decision more difficult, it opens up opportunities that wouldn’t be available in our home country. In the likes of Dubai and Singapore there are schools with Indian, US, UK, French, Indian, Australian and Japanese curriculums.

3. What languages are important to you?

For us, English and Polish are the two languages we speak at home, and French, English and Creole are the official languages of the country we currently live in (Mauritius). Our kids picked up French at nursery (a French-Lebanese one in Dubai) and then learnt some Arabic at school in Dubai. Children are like sponges when it comes to languages so why not make the most of the opportunity.

Some curriculums put a huge emphasis on languages, while others consider them less of a priority. The UK curriculum is relatively weak on languages, for example.

What languages are important to your family? This fantastic infographic from The South China Morning Post shows the world’s most spoken native languages, and the countries in which they are spoken.

4. How mobile do you want to be?

If you are regularly moving countries and continents, changing schools regularly could be unsettling for you children. To make it simpler, consider a curriculum that is offered widely so you are always likely to have a selection of schools in your next country. The International Baccalaureate (IB) is specifically designed to simplify moves between schools, as every IB school follows the same curriculum at the same time, meaning your children should find it easier to adapt to a new learning environment as the subjects and style of teaching will be familiar.

5. What suits your child’s personality?

Some curriculums are more teacher led (eg French), others are inquiry based with the children taking greater responsibility for their own learning.

6. Is there a connection between primary and secondary school?

This one is not strictly a curriculum issue, but rather a factor specific to certain schools. Some primary schools have links to secondary schools, providing smooth progress for your children. If you live in a country where school places are scarce and the battle is red hot, it might be nice to know you won’t face a repeat at the end of primary school.

7. What age does the curriculum start?

The French curriculum starts with Maternelle but compulsory education doesn’t start until the age of 6. Compulsory UK education starts at 5. In Dubai, UK curriculum schools tend to start at the age of 4 with Foundation Stage 1 (FS1). In the UK this first year of formal education is usually provided by nurseries, and primary school usually starts at FS2.

In short, the starting age can vary depending on country, curriculum and school, so contact the individual school to be certain.

8. Is the school accredited?

It’s not essential for a school to be accredited, but if it is that’s a good sign that they are implementing the chosen curriculum correctly, ie with suitably trained teachers, appropriate facilities, etc. To find out schools that are accredited for a curriculum in your country you can check the following:

9. What can you afford?

If you are lucky enough to be on a corporate package, school fees may be included. Congratulations! Even so, this may be in the form of an agreement with a specific school, rather than a free choice. If you are paying your own way, some curriculums tend to be more expensive than others. The IB is usually most expensive, followed by the British and American systems.

10. What is school for?

This is a bit existential… but worth thinking about before you send your kids off down a particular educational path. Let’s assume school is supposed to help prepare children for the world that they will encounter. What sort of world will that be in 15 years time?

Will learning still be in classrooms with a teacher standing at the front? Will universities still be physical buildings with lectures, or will they be branded online education service providers? Will writing be an artistic curiosity rather than an essential skill? In our fast-changing society it can look like an impossible task to know what world to prepare our children for!

That said, I’m confident that traditional life skills such as critical thinking, good communication and numeracy will still be valuable, so perhaps it’s not worth worrying too much about the unknown unknowns! One thing that seems certain is that the world will become increasingly interconnected, and an international school and a broad international curriculum should be good preparation for that world.

I would love to know how you approached it, what other consideration you feel are important, or if there’s anything else you want me to add. Let me know in the comments!