Governing International Schools: Polarities, Networks and Actors in Governance Systems

Expansion in international schools globally has created a sector that is a significant force in global education. With over 14,000 such schools worldwide, serving a student cohort standing at almost 7 million, the sector has a similar number of students to a country such as Italy. Despite their increasing presence, the governance systems of these schools are under-researched. This paper contributes to this space, by focusing on international school governance structures through Actor Network Theory. We analysed data from online interviews with four educational leaders with extensive experience of governance in the international school sector. This process identified five governance network polarities (local-global; mission-money; anchor-agility; stakeholders-capabilities; authority-advisory) that outline the complex interactions between various governing body actors (both human and non-human) and how these interactions shape strategic leadership. We argue that understanding how often competing push-pulls act on these polarities provides insight (and potentially a blueprint) for international school governance networks. We conclude that if governors, chairs of governors, governance professionals and school leaders can identify the polarities acting on these networks, then they can better support the students they ultimately aim to serve.