Internationalization assessment in schools: Theoretical contributions and practical implications

Cosmopolitan, international capital has become an integral ingredient in the set of competencies considered to provide a competitive edge and to be required for affective citizenship in the 21st century. Recently, internationalization of education has become a more common phenomenon in local schools around the world, serving as a tool to provide youth with cosmopolitan capital and relevant capabilities for the future. Although the academic debate on international schools and internationalization is flourishing, few attempts have been made to characterize and measure the intensity of the internationalization process at the school level outside the International Baccalaureate (IB) context. This article focuses on the need for internationalization assessment in schools, and presents a theoretical framework and an initial set of indicators for such assessment. The purpose of this study is to propose a new direction in educational policy research, which reflects the increased political and economic salience of internationalization in schools.