In this episode I’m talking to Natalie Obiko Pearson. Natalie is a journalist and bureau chief at Bloomberg Vancouver. Natalie’s work came to the attention of lots of International educators this year after writing an article entitled: Elite International Schools Have a Racism Problem. This provoked a lot of discussion online as well as amongst my colleagues and friends in the industry. 

Having spent time at an international school herself, Natalie’s incredibly well informed and wide ranging investigation confirmed a number of growing doubts that people within international schooling may have had as well as introducing a variety of other issues within the system that were yet to come to light. 

We discuss: 

• Natalie’s observation that ‘The more elite the school, the less diverse the staff’ and whether it can be said of any global hub’s international schools
• Whether the efforts of the International Baccalaureate or other curricula designed to produce world citizens are undermined by a lack of cultural diversity in recruitment
• The role of parental expectations and how they influence or validate decisions made by school management teams
• What the appeal of working in an international school is for those who would be deemed a ‘local hire’
• Natalie’s opinion on what would be a truly fair or meaningful way to approach recruitment for schools in future
• And finally, whether staff professional development can ever deliver on the promise of ensuring a more diverse approach to international schooling.

For anyone who is yet to read Natalie’s article it is an essential piece of journalism for those of us who have made a life abroad or plan to in the future. It explores the role of parents, students, teachers and school management in terms of the questions we should be asking of ourselves and the sense of self-identity we’re guiding our young people towards. 

If you want to be kept up to date on when educational chat like this happens, then be sure to subscribe to the podcast and/or follow me on Twitter @chrisjordanhk

Links:

Article: Elite International Schools Have a Racism Problem.