The opportunity to study the master’s course is offered exclusively to all Nord Anglia Education employees, regardless if they are part of the teaching staff, as part of ongoing professional development studies. A two-year course, the MA International Education combines theory, evidence and opportunities for participants to share and learn from one another’s experience of working in international schools.
It also encourages them to rethink both the challenges and prospects they face within the context of technological advancements, cultural diversity and globalisation – three key areas that affect the education offering international schools must provide as the demographics and needs of students entering NAE schools change.
Nord Anglia Education chief executive Andrew Fitzmaurice said the response from staff who have completed the course was so positive he decided to enrol himself into the programme as part of the third cohort.
Not only did he want to experience a core part of NAE’s professional development offering, he said he wanted to better understand and appreciate what teachers experience too.
“Any broader understanding of the environment you’re operating in is going to be helpful,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.
Having acquired a large amount of practical experience in his role over the past 16 years, Mr Fitzmaurice said studying topics that delve into how the curricula is designed and what skills will be required by 21st century learners, has helped him consider the rapid growth of the international education sector and what NAE can do to help train teachers to keep pace with it.
“It’s thinking about what we are doing to make sure we not only have the right teachers, but how are we helping to develop them,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.
Jason Ng, a mathematics teacher at the British International School of Boston agrees.