Policy Challenges for Administrators and Teacher Librarians in International Schools

Abstract

Policy development stands at the heart of running a successful library and having a positive impact on student literacy and overall achievement. This paper reports on the policy challenges that face librarians, teachers and school administrators in international schools, and provides the results of a case study from the Quality International School in Tirana, Albania. More over it provides a synthesis of the literature review on policy standards in international schools and the United States, and their impact on third world culture student achievement and success. Most of the achievements of students in international schools have more recently been studied under the scope of “third culture.” This paper, examines student access to policy and overall achievement within the context of “third culture” as a phenomenon. The paper also focuses on the importance of media selection, censorship, copyright and technology, as evidenced from interviews of school librarians, teachers and administrators at the Tirana International School. One of the central challenges in international schools remains the lack of centralized guidelines that support the institution’s library mission and vision. In order for libraries to thrive in an international school setting, communication at the onset of policy development between staff, teachers, librarian(s) and administrators is key.