Host-Country Parent Perspective on International Schooling:
A study from Bahrain
Author: Lucy Bailey (Bahrain Teachers College, University of Bahrain)
Article summary: Dr Stephen Whitehead
0 to 12,000 in 10.
No, I’m not describing the performance of the Bezos rocket but the performance of something altogether more important to the future of the human race – international schools.
OK, forgive my artistic licence but you get my meaning; in a decade we’ve hit over 12,000 international schools and the numbers increase daily, despite covid et al.
These facts we know.
What is less clear, however, is why. Yes, I can take a guess and so can you – parents want the best for their children and are willing to pay for it. But once we get beyond stating the obvious, where are we?
This article by Lucy Bailey offers some insights not only into the ‘why?’ but specifically the ‘why’ as it relates to the views of Arab parents:
‘Despite the rapid growth in international schooling worldwide, little attention has been paid to understanding why parents choose this kind of schooling and what they believe their choice has meant for their child. Most saliently, the extant literature has not considered the views of Arab parents.’ (p. 3)
As Bailey points out, this lack of insight into why Arab parents choose international schools for their children is a definite weak spot in global educationalists’ awareness and understanding of parents’ motivations and experiences. Especially when we look at how important the Arab market is to the whole international school industry. Based on ISC research, West Asia (which includes the Middle East and Egypt) is a real hot spot and not just in climate terms. By 2029, this region will have a ‘phenomenal’ 2.5 million IS students, an increase of 56% from 2019.
‘Most international school growth is ‘increasingly located in Asia/Middle East’ (Bunnell, 2019), mostly targeting a local market ‘completely different from the previous landscape of activity’…We know that most of this increase comes not from expatriate parents – the traditional clientele of international schools – but from wealthy local parents…who are opting out of their local system of education.’ (p. 3).
The focus of this research is the Kingdom of Bahrain, which with a third of children in Bahrain being educated in private and international schools makes it an interesting case study.
As Bailey acknowledges, state flight is most definitely one driving force behind the growth in international schools; parents don’t trust the state education system to deliver on its promise – or lack of promises. But when you look a little deeper the data appears contradictory, at least in Bahrain.
‘One possible explanation is that parents choose private schools because they are perceived to be better, but data from independent government inspections does not support this. In 2016/17, 35% of government schools reviewed were deemed inadequate, but 33.3% of private schools reviewed were also deemed inadequate- hardly a significant difference, although it is possible that parental perceptions of quality differences may differ from quality differences in reality.’ (p. 4)
Clearly, there are deeper social dynamics behind the growth in international schooling in Bahrain and these need to be teased out if we global educationalists are to understanding this profession/industry and its future. Sure, there will be some stereotypes operating here, but it is vital to get beyond those and, if possible, into the different cultural contexts behind the IS growth, worldwide.
Research Methods
Bailey undertook an online survey of parents at three international schools in Bahrain each of which follow the national curriculum of England. Almost 50% of all IS in Bahrain offer the ‘British’ curriculum. In 2014/15, there were 74 private schools in Bahrain, with international schools constituting around a quarter of all schools in the Kingdom.
112 parents responded who had a total of 222 children at the three schools. In addition, 11 parents were interviewed.
Findings
The first aspect that stands out is clued in the above paragraph – why British? Why does ‘British’ continue to prove so popular?
(Actually, across the international school world, ‘British’ is erroneously used as a generic term for what is actually an English education)
It cannot be because of English language skills, at least not in Bahrain.
‘…the importance of personal connections in gaining employment [in Bahrain] renders English language skills – or other educational outcomes, such as a foreign degree – unnecessary….’Britishness’ is attractive more for its prestige and connotations of superiority than for its inherent educational utility.’ (p. 6)
The very same ‘networking trumps education’ forces are apparent in many other parts of the world, not least South East Asia. Which suggests that what a great many IS parents are now buying, at least when it comes to ‘Britishness’, is based on symbolism/image/history/rhetoric rather than reality.
Nevertheless, when looking at the eight key factors identified by Bailey from the survey responses, English stands at the top.
1.    English medium
2.    Feel of school
3.    Curriculum
4.    International staff/students
5.    Reputation
6.    Class size
7.    Preparation for university overseas
8.    International exams
No big surprises with these top 8, though I am wondering how one can objectively measure or assess the ‘feel of a school’. That said, you and I both know what the parents are referring to when they claim this to be the second most important factor for choosing a school. Because we too can ‘feel’ it. But how many school leaders are able to ensure their school has that right ‘feel’? What do they do to make this ‘climate’ or culture feel welcoming and amenable to parents? Exam results are easy to get right, but school culture and ‘feel’ is an altogether more amorphous and trickier factor, yet evidently one of the most important.
The results of this research start to get especially interesting once one gets away from the ‘
Big 8’ factors.
Here is a summary of some other salient influencers, as mentioned by parents:
1.    21st century Teaching and Learning: ‘Teachers, school’s vision, teaching techniques. School shouldn’t only be about memorizing books and taking exams.’
2.    Inclusivity: ‘no discrimination based on religion, race or background’
3.    Exclusivity: ‘Most children in public schools are unfortunately from Syria and from Yemen. I would never want my children to mix with them.’
4.    Elitism: International schooling has become so normal in Bahrain that ‘it is almost needed in order to belong to the educated elite.’
5.    Cosmopolitanism: “I wanted my children to start with an international school to get exposed to international cultures. I don’t want the classroom to be only Bahrainis, or only Arabs or only British. I want my kids to be part of the bigger world’
6.    Acceptance: ‘Here in an IS it is normal and OK to be different. You don’t have to explain why your name is this, and who you are, and where you’re from’.
7.    Behaviour: When the Syrians came in they brought a level of violence to the [state] schools that we’re not used to.’
8.    Gender: ‘I prefer that they are mixed with another. I don’t’ want them to only be with their own sex. At the end, life is not only girls and not only boys.’
9.    Religion: ‘Nowadays the political situation [between Sunni and Shia] matters in state schools. You would not want to put your children in such a situation.’
10. Class: Maybe it’s a bit rude but whenever they act like, sorry, street boys, I say they should go and be in a government school. That is how you talk.’
Eight obvious motivations, then a further ten you may or may not have predicted, all wrapped up in the Union Jack flag, or more accurately, Arab conceptualisations of ‘Britishness’.
However, the tensions and contradictions in all this will be apparent to any IS teacher with any experience of trying to explain to local parents just what it means for their child to become a ‘cosmopolitan’ global citizen.
For example, check out these revealing quotes from Bahrain parents;
‘Nowadays in Bahrain we are getting lots of stories about gays and lesbians at schools, and this is again more horrible than students dating. It is not acceptable culturally and is actually forbidden in Islam.’
‘We’re quite conservative and sometimes my daughter will come and say, my friend is wearing shorts and sleeveless, and I’d like to wear shorts. It’s quite a challenge for me as a parent. But it has nothing to do with the school.’
‘At some point, you just forget who you are and where you belong. So that scares me to be honest, and we put lots of effort at home to just try and balance what they are missing here. Our culture is different from your culture. For example, the words, the books they read. The stuff they see in the books are not acceptable in our culture.’
They may be Arab but they are typical of millions of international school parents; caught between a cultural rock and an aspirational hard place.
They want their children to own and occupy the world, become global citizens, have endless opportunities, they just don’t want their children to be different or think for themselves.
Eventually, one concludes that it is impossible to square this circle. You just have to break the circle.
And that, for me at least, is the biggest motivation for sending a child to an international school.
Summary: Dr Stephen Whitehead
link: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14752409211006634
reference: Bailey, L. (2021) ‘Host-Country Parent Perspectives on International Schooling: A study from Bahrain’, Journal of Research in International Education, 20(1), pp. 3–18.
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