International schools as sites of social change

Abstract

This article examines the potential of international schools to act as agents of social transformation in developing countries. The method comprises a case study at two international schools in the Philippines. The case study explored ways in which schools foster host-national students’ sense of social responsibility, particularly through community connections. It found important social links were forged through school service learning programmes that sometimes augmented family or church outreach activities. However, among students in the study, noblesse oblige attitudes prevailed over identification with agency for significant social change.