When it comes to children’s education, parents always want the best for their children, and the best are often in international schools.
Attending an international school is a unique, complete, and global learning experience for students, especially students in secondary education levels looking to understand themselves more and find what they want to do in the future, as they are near going to college.
At international schools, students can enjoy a global and multicultural environment that will expose them and let them understand the world. It will help develop them to be people with a wide horizon and knowledge.
Furthermore, enrolling your child at an international school doesn’t need you to be an expatriate family, as international schools are just as welcoming of local students looking to enroll as they are of students from other countries. In this article, you can learn the differences between studying at an international school in your home country versus sending your children to an international school as an expatriate family. This is to help you understand and evaluate if sending your child to an international school is the right way to go.
Cultural influences and a multicultural and global learning environment
At international schools, children from different native countries fill up the school population, leading to a student body that is globally diverse and multicultural. When you allow your child to enroll at an international school, they can spend a good part of their developmental stages in an environment that will show them different values and cultures from various parts of the world. It can lead them to become more global citizens.
Furthermore, international schools often have international topics as part of their discussions in the classroom to allow the students to understand, and most importantly, respect each other’s culture. They will know that the world doesn’t end in the classroom, or in their countries. It’s a big place with room for everyone and all cultures.
Of course, when your children study at an international school in your home country, their life will still be dominated by your country’s culture. It’s only natural, as the country they live in outside school is still your native country. For students who study at an international school in another country, it’s highly different, as they will be exposed to entirely new cultures both inside and outside the school, allowing them a longer amount of time to be a part of a new community with different cultures and beliefs that they aren’t necessarily used to.
An international community of friends
Since some of the students studying at international schools are from expatriate families, it’s only normal for students from different countries to make up a significant part of the student population in most international schools. For students who study at international schools in their home country, they can have the unique chance to meet other students from different countries and cultures, and a chance to have some of them as friends. Most students will probably be locals, but the student community will surely be more diverse than other local schools.
What’s great with an international community of students is that your children will meet people of different backgrounds and stories, which should help the community be diverse. Since the community isn’t mostly filled with students from the country, all students, especially students from expatriate families, will be welcomed into an understanding and welcoming community. In such an environment, all students can be who they want to be.
Bigger and better opportunities for growth and development
Here is where the real difference between studying at international schools in your home country versus in another country really shows itself.
For students who study at international schools in their home country, they can enjoy the comfort and advantages of being in their home. Overall, there’s less risk for them, and the environment is close to normal. While this may make education easier for them, it doesn’t necessarily give them all the growth and development they can get from studying at an international school. After all, they are still in their home country, and while some of their classmates will be from other cultures, it still has many similarities with going to a regular local school.
On the other hand, students studying in international schools in another country will have it all to deal with, as the environment is very different. Inside and outside the school, the community and the culture are entirely different from what they’re familiar with. While it’s trickier, they can have bigger and better opportunities to learn the local culture and be a part of a new community. They can also learn the culture and beliefs of other students from various countries that they interact with at school.
Why international schools are good for your children
It doesn’t matter if you’re in your home country or not. The fact is that international schools, like Bangkok Prep International School, offer some things that regular local schools can’t provide, and it’s an environment and community that’s multicultural and will allow students to be in a community with students from other cultures.
Of course, going to an international school abroad can be a much more unique and global experience, but there’s also a lot of value and development available for your child if you can enroll them in an international school at home. In conclusion, whether you’re at home or abroad, letting your child study at an international school is something worthwhile to consider.