International Schools Blog

Sharon Hague, Senior Vice President of Pearson Qualification Services, shares her thoughts on the clear challenges ahead as global education makes the switch to online learning.

Wherever you are, and whatever type of international school you’re in, it’s a fact that all students have had their learning affected by the school closures brought about by the global pandemic this year. It’s also true that all teaching professionals want to identify gaps in learners’ skills and knowledge, yet identifying those gaps and deciding if they are important or not isn’t always straightforward.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question that all children will hear at some point in their early childhood. Typical answers usually include astronaut, firefighter and ballerina. However, with the odds of becoming an astronaut fairly low, eventually your students will begin to wonder – what other careers are possible?

Everyone has experienced the same unusual start to the school year. For students as well as teachers it’s important to adjust to the new normal as smoothly as possible. However, when students find themselves in stressful and uncertain situations, it can be hard for them to stay focused in class.

This year is shaping up to be a significant one for efforts to raise diversity and inclusion in schools and on the British curriculum. The global coronavirus pandemic has hit black people disproportionately hard, both in terms of health and in economic terms. And the police killing of George Floyd that led to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, has forced many people to confront institutional racism like never before.

The start of a new school year is a great time to sharpen your professional teaching skills with the latest offering from Pearson. The Teacher Education & Leadership Academy (TELA) builds on Pearson’s professional learning programs for K–12 and English as a Foreign Language teachers. The programmes offer training that can be used for self-study, taken with a virtual instructor, or delivered as a blended programme with face-to-face sessions.

COVID-19 forced governments around the world to introduce nationwide school closures for all but a sliver of students. Now, as the lockdown is loosened, schools in the UK and many other parts of the world fully reopened from September 2020. As children flood back through the school gates, the mental health impact of the pandemic is becoming more and more apparent.

Getting back to school in 2020 has been a bigger challenge than we could ever have predicted. Against the backdrop of the global coronavirus pandemic, the usual preparations for the return of students to classrooms around the world have been overshadowed with social distancing concerns.

Our popular story writing competition is back and this year, we are giving you everything you need to run your very own ‘just-for-fun’ competition within your school.

Monday 5th October is UNESCO World Teachers’ Day. This year, the day celebrates teachers with the theme ‘Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future’. In a year in which global educators have faced so much adversity, uncertainty and challenge, we want to acknowledge all of the wonderful educators in international schools around the world and celebrate the international teachers who continue to shine brightly as beacons of hope for today’s learners.