abstract: International schools and international education initiatives are experiencing tremendous growth as the world’s economy continues to globalize. International schools operating outside of the traditional boundaries of state and national contexts have become havens noted for their diverse and multicultural staff, student bodies and school communities. However, the challenges facing international education have only recently begun to be studied independent from their traditional teaching counterparts. International schools, and any study associated with them, require an individual approach for identifying and solving the challenges unique to their context. “I’m Leaving!” is an action research study which incorporates phenomenological hermeneutics, action research, and a transformational innovation to examine the social structures associated with the decision-making process of the “I’m Leaving!” phenomenon and the administrative action developed in response. Guided by Transformational Leadership Theory (TLT), this study combined the latest action research methodological perspectives with hermeneutic tradition and Professional Learning Community (PLC) theory to provide a deep and unflinching view into the real and lived experiences of the one subject often forgot about in educational research: the teacher. The study results confirm previous study findings that teacher feelings and perceptions of the leadership effectiveness, teacher-leader relationships, and teacher professional growth opportunities were all improved after teachers participated in an action research communities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2018

How do elementary educators approach cultural diversity within international school settings? How do North American teachers negotiate the tensions and experiences they have as cultural agents living abroad while valuing the cultural identities of the students they serve? This study describes how international teachers' unique positions, experiences and perspectives affect their attention to cultural diversity within their classrooms. Sociocultural theory frames this study with emphasis on personal and professional identities, narrative inquiry and culturally responsive teaching. I interweave narrative inquiry and ethnographic research methods as theoretical and methodological frameworks. I interviewed and observed the 3 North American educators in their elementary classrooms in an American school in China over several weeks. Data collected in this study included interview transcripts, artifacts from the school and classrooms, photographs and field notes. I also weave my own stories from my experiences as an international teacher throughout the study. The Atlas TI qualitative computer program assisted the constant-comparative analysis process. Grounded and axial coding revealed a pattern across participants' stories and approaches to cultural diversity. All three teachers authored stories from their cross cultural experiences that informed their identities as educators. The teachers questioned their cultural agent role, reflected on their responses and took action in their teaching to be culturally responsive. The approaches each teacher implemented to be responsive to the cultural worlds in their classroom related to their cultural agent identities in their personal stories of cross-cultural experiences. Findings indicated that teachers were more likely to be culturally responsive in their teaching when they implemented a constructivist educational philosophy in their classrooms. This study reconceptualized cultural responsiveness to include the diverse cultural worlds of the student, teacher and international school setting.

High teacher turnover has become a serious problem globally, in many international schools, and is a growing concern in segments of the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS). This persistent problem has a detrimental effect on student learning and upsets the culture of school communities. Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory served as the framework for this qualitative case study research that examined the perceptions of EARCOS international overseas-hire teachers, to determine their beliefs regarding high teacher turnover in international schools. These questions gave direction to this study: What factors do international teachers in EARCOS member schools believe contribute to high teacher turnover in international schools? What do international teachers in EARCOS member schools believe is the result of high teacher turnover in international schools? What steps do international teachers in EARCOS member schools believe should be taken to reduce high turnover in international schools? Purposeful homogenous sampling was used to identify 8 focus group interview participants from the entire pre-K-12 international overseas-hire teacher population from the 149 EARCOS member schools. Coded data were examined, analyzed, and categorized into themes related to Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. Member checking, peer debriefing, and external auditing were used to add validity to the research study. The analysis of the data and findings revealed that lack of effective mentorship, lack of administrative leadership support, and ineffective systems are the major contributors to international teacher turnover in international schools. A white paper was developed and constructed from the themes that emerged from this study and presented to EARCOS member school administrators, to potentially use to address the issue of increasing international overseas-hire teacher turnover rates in international schools. This acquired knowledge could lead to positive social change that can influence the practices, structural procedures, and policies of EARCOS and other international school systems related to teacher turnover.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the knowledge, skills, and experiences in the enameling arts and the attitudes and perceptions of in-service (n = 12) and pre-service Kuwaiti art teachers (n = 170), art supervisors at the Ministry of Education (MOE) (n = 3) and art education faculty members at the College of Basic Education (CBE) and Kuwait University (KU) (n = 8) about what they believed pre-service art teachers should know and be able to do in order to teach the enameling arts, and (2) to use this information to inform and guide the development of a content outline for an enameling course for pre-service Kuwaiti art teachers that is educationally (how to perform enameling arts skills and how to teach what they know), practically (safety issues, workshop management, etc), and culturally (its relation to Islamic culture) suitable. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. Most of the respondents revealed limited knowledge and skills and modest experiences in the enameling arts. All interviewees in the study expressed positive perceptions and attitudes about the enameling arts. Most agreed that a revision to the current art education curriculum at the CBE was needed and made suggestions about how the curriculum should be revised. It was clear that there is a disconnection and miscommunication between the MOE and the CBE with regards to the information about enameling that should be covered and taught in the art education classes. All respondents expressed support for the inclusion of a course in enameling in the art education curriculum at the CBE. Because of the limited knowledge of the participants in the study, they were not able to provide guidance in shaping the content for a course in the enameling arts. The researcher had to rely on the literature review and his expertise as an enameling artist to develop a content outline that was educationally, practically, and culturally suitable for the pre-service Kuwaiti art teachers. Further study was recommended in regard to curriculum issues, especially those related to the inclusion of Islamic culture, and methods of delivering instruction in the enameling arts.

International teacher migration has emerged as one of the key policy challenges confronting many countries, particularly in Southern Africa, with Botswana, South Africa and Zambia experiencing variable degrees of the cross-border movement of teachers. The aim of this research was to develop a strategy for managing teacher migration in Southern Africa, and balancing the right of individual teachers to migrate internationally, while protecting the integrity of vulnerable education systems and their human resources. The research comprised a literature review and an empirical study based on a mixed-methods research design combining the quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The literature study examined international teacher migration, including its main concepts, theories, causes and effects, while the empirical study assessed the statistical scope of teacher migration in Southern Africa (Botswana, South Africa and Zambia), its causes, effects, and management. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data from education officials, school principals and migrant teachers, while personal in-depth interviews were used to elicit complementary qualitative data from some experts on migration, education officials, teacher union leaders, school principals and migrant teachers. The results of the study revealed that teacher migration statistics and data were generally patchy and incomplete in Southern Africa; that international teacher migration in the region was driven by three main causes related to economic, political and salary conditions; and that teacher migration had both positive and negative effects on the education systems of Southern African countries, migrant teachers and their families. The findings further revealed that improving the management of teacher migration in Southern Africa required a systematic and coordinated approach involving sending and receiving countries, with reference to a common policy and legal framework supported by comprehensive teacher migration data. In this regard, and based on the identification of key principles and guidelines for teacher migration management, a model is proposed for the viable management of teacher migration in the Southern African region. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This dissertation explores the types of professional communities that are built when teachers work in initiatives that, in various forms, link them to teachers from other countries. In doing so it explores the types of knowledge that may be exchanged by the building of these communities and the value that teachers put upon these different forms of knowledge. Therefore, this study is situated in the broad theoretical context of discussions related to the building of professional communities but explores this within a specifically international context. The most significant findings that this dissertation identifies are: that the teachers involved built the professional communities that are most important to them in more exploratory ways and with more agency than is suggested by other related research, and in connection to this that those professional communities that the participants attached most significance to were consistently alternative to the immediate workplace. It was also found that whilst the teachers involved in this study problematised the possibility of directly transferring specific classroom strategies, stories about teaching were seen by all to be useful vehicles for exchanging other forms of knowledge, for enabling affirmation and for co-constructing moral purpose. These findings have potential implications for policy and practice as they indicate that structures that focus exclusively on developing communities within schools may need to be enriched by those that provide teachers with the flexibility to discover and build communities in alternative ways too. The primary data collection method used when conducting this research was interview. The participants who were interviewed came from two countries, namely England and Macedonia. This entirely qualitative approach is positioned within an interpretivist paradigm. However, it is argued that contributions to theoretical debates regarding the nature of professional communities can still be made.

International teacher migration has emerged as one of the key policy challenges confronting many countries, particularly in Southern Africa, with Botswana, South Africa and Zambia experiencing variable degrees of the cross-border movement of teachers. The aim of this research was to develop a strategy for managing teacher migration in Southern Africa, and balancing the right of individual teachers to migrate internationally, while protecting the integrity of vulnerable education systems and their human resources. The research comprised a literature review and an empirical study based on a mixed-methods research design combining the quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The literature study examined international teacher migration, including its main concepts, theories, causes and effects, while the empirical study assessed the statistical scope of teacher migration in Southern Africa (Botswana, South Africa and Zambia), its causes, effects, and management. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data from education officials, school principals and migrant teachers, while personal in-depth interviews were used to elicit complementary qualitative data from some experts on migration, education officials, teacher union leaders, school principals and migrant teachers. The results of the study revealed that teacher migration statistics and data were generally patchy and incomplete in Southern Africa; that international teacher migration in the region was driven by three main causes related to economic, political and salary conditions; and that teacher migration had both positive and negative effects on the education systems of Southern African countries, migrant teachers and their families. The findings further revealed that improving the management of teacher migration in Southern Africa required a systematic and coordinated approach involving sending and receiving countries, with reference to a common policy and legal framework supported by comprehensive teacher migration data. In this regard, and based on the identification of key principles and guidelines for teacher migration management, a model is proposed for the viable management of teacher migration in the Southern African region. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)