How do you know you
are developing global
citizens in your school?
Turning Point School (USA) describes their journey towards
achieving CIS International Certification.
M
any schools have this goal of
that the teachers are doing. The teachers are always
encouraging global citizenship in their
looking for ways to embed global citizenship and
students, yet up until now the task
the competencies into their curriculum.” Richman
of measuring the impact has been
recalled that the lower grade classrooms (including
daunting in its ambition and often also vague in
preschool) demonstrated this evolution in teaching.
its structure. To answer this strategic question,
“The teachers better understand now that the focus
The Council of International Schools developed a
now is not necessarily on flags and festivals and
service to help schools better understand, advance
such, but on the community. That really helped [the
and measure the development of global citizens.
teachers] feel more comfortable about what they
The service was piloted starting in 2014 and CIS
were teaching and how to go about it.” One young
invited nine schools to undertake the year-long
International Certification process in which
they delved deeply into their school’s
international capacities. One of these
pilot schools, Turning Point School in
California (USA), successfully achieved
CIS International Certification in June
2015 and the Head of School Deborah
Richman recently reflected on the
experience.
Looking back on the year-long
process, Deborah Richman remarked,
“It exceeded our expectations. I knew
that we would be responsible for
looking closely at our programmes and
how well we were doing as far as global
citizenship, but I did not expect the projects
to take us into so much depth.” To schools
familiar with the CIS International Accreditation
process, they might recognize similarities in the
student echoed the change in their own words at
focus on global citizenship, but the International
the school’s International Village, one of the projects
Certification process is working towards a
used for the certification process, “It wasn’t boring
completely different end. This service provides a
this year like a bunch of facts. It was plays, songs,
focused roadmap for schools to better understand
and stories and I really liked the face painting.”
and develop global citizens. The magnitude of
Other projects included data-driven environmental
the investigative process sustained a focus that
initiatives like the Carpool Challenge and Compost
encouraged the entire school community to take
Program, which involved the school community
stake in Turning Point’s process towards achieving
beyond the classrooms, and a collaborative effort
CIS International Certification.
on behalf of the staff to develop
Richman explained, “The faculty
Global Citizenship Standards and
“The teachers better
and staff and community at large
Benchmarks.
understand now that
took it very seriously because of
In all networks in the school—the
the focus now is not
how in-depth it was.”
classroom, the administration, and
The international competencies necessarily on flags and
even interactions with the parents
instilled as a result of achieving
festivals and such, but on and larger school community—the
CIS International Certification
vocabulary in practice has been
the community.”
have spread throughout the
transformed as a result of this
school and the Head of School
investigation into global citizenship.
declared that one only has to “walk into the
Discussions of diversity, previously framed in
classrooms or walk down the hallway to see how
common institutional definitions, have been
International Certification has informed the work
broadened. Faculty meetings have continued the
International Certification practice of identifying essential questions.
Staff faculty development sessions host speakers with a focus on
global citizenship and 21st century skills. This new toolkit has
allowed the school to revisit and revise their core values, which
now includes global awareness. The process and outcomes
have also served to inform the school’s new strategic plan.
Individuals outside of the immediate school community have
taken note of Turning Point’s achievement. The school has
experienced an increase of admission inquiries, as well more
employment inquiries from outside of the United States than
ever before—an outcome that Richman did not expect.
Richman foresees any school that incorporates projectbased learning and has a history of full-term accreditation by
a state or national agency would manage the requirements
of the CIS International Certification process. She recalls, “I
thought the workload was heavy, but I liked it…It beautifully
integrated into the work that [the staff] was already doing.
So it was, more than anything, making us focus our attention at
most of our meetings and when the teachers were planning their
lessons.” With efficient feedback from the CIS staff and evaluators,
the International Certification committee at Turning Point found the
momentum to complete the process within one year.
Visual
system
What should
you
know about CIS International Certification?
•
International
The foundation
of the certification is built around
Certification
the International Certification criteria: Student
Graphic 1: The Domains
Growth, Leadership Commitment and Support &
Collaboration.
• International Certification is a catalyst for wholeschool development.
• Schools reflect, take action and move forward
with a focus on students and their outcomes.
• International Certification focuses on translating
the community’s values on international
education into authentic learning across the
community.
• Each school chooses their own theme and service
learning opportunities within the project-based
approach.
STUDENT
GROWTH
LEADERSHIP
COMMITMENT
SUPPORT &
COLLABORATION
• Progress is evaluated with project rubrics and an
over-arching continuum.
Sign-up online to learn more about CIS International Certification!
www.cois.org/internationalcertification
CIS is a membership community working collaboratively to shape international education through professional services to schools,
higher education institutions, and individuals. The CIS community includes more than 697 schools and 508 colleges and universities
representing 112 countries. As a global non-profit membership organisation, CIS works with educators with a desire to provide
students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to pursue their lives as global citizens; and a commitment to high quality international
education.
Schipholweg 113 | 2316 XC Leiden | The Netherlands | T +31 (0)71 524-3300
Shaping the future of international education