International education: a view from South Korea
Our final video exploring what international education means around the world comes from Jeju Island, South Korea.
An international education should always reflect the changing world."
Student at the North London Collegiate School, South Korea
Paul Friend, Principal at the North London Collegiate School, explains how he feels the concept of international education has changed. "International education simply meant a school that existed in an international location, probably serving the needs of expats." Paul feels the term has taken on a new meaning and now sees himself not as an educator teaching overseas but as an international educator.
Paul's experiences have raised concerns however about the narrow focus on examinations in some parts of the world when creativity and collaboration are what the world and the workplace needs. He feels this can only be improved by schools and universities working together to identify key skills employers are seeking and to embed them in the curriculum. A significant challenge at the North London Collegiate School is in convincing the parents of the advantage of an international education and the importance of valuing other cultures as well as their own. In Tim Oates' case study video from Cambridge, he also expounds the diversity in educational focuses between different cultures and the need to embrace them all. Paul and Tim share the opinion that international education should be embedded into the curriculum to ensure schools produce globally-minded students.
The video also sees some of Paul's students explaining what international education means to them - "An international education opens a gate to a whole new world… [teaching me] to be more open minded and ready to explore." And how they see it changing in the future - "An international education should always reflect the changing world."
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