It is estimated by the International School Consultancy in October 2017, there are 9,200 international schools and over 5 million students studying in these schools with staff strength of 463,000 around the globe. The increases in the number are driven by the rise of International Baccalaureate schools both in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Despite the growth in the school number, research leadership in these schools is yet to make an impact.
Some of the key features of leadership practice as seen in international schools located in various regions are discussed. The discussion is on the perspectives of leadership and its practices in schools. In case of International Baccalaureate schools in Southeast and East Asia a range of leadership strategies are adopted to address the challenges in implementing innovative curricula like International Baccalaureate programmes. Some of the leadership strategies used by International Baccalaureate schools in Asia is the five disconnection points namely intellectual, instrumental, professional, communicative disconnections and cultural. The actions are addressed through two faces of distributed leaderships; one is the distributed leadership and teacher leadership.
International mindedness is the most significant goal in the formal curriculum in many international schools and it suggests the most difficult goals for school leaders. The leaders engage authentically in the International Mindedness in international schools. The leaders enact IM authentically and the discussion moved onto the emerging literature and ethical leadership.
The complexity of leadership challenges affects international schools in Chennai conceptually and empirically. There is a pattern set between leadership practices and academic achievement confirming the research carried out in non-IB schools in different school systems. The IB exam scores are associated with Strategic Resourcing and Encouraging Teacher Learning and Development. On the contrary monitoring classroom teaching and curriculum has a negative effect on the IB exam scores. The common features of learning affect the status of both international and local schools.