ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of international political engagements by state-funded secondary schools, based on research conducted within three schools in England and analysis of the websites of 50 additional schools. Schools are not required to take part in ‘international’ activities and projects, they derive no obvious and overt benefits from it, and yet it is expensive and time consuming; so why do they do it? We uncover complex and sometimes contradictory reasons why schools engage (or indeed do not engage) in international activities. To a limited extent, the notions of ‘global citizen’, ‘global worker’ or ‘cosmopolitan capital’ were articulated in our findings (where expensive school trips were rife—see Ferguson, 2014 and Weale, 2018). However, this was far from the whole picture. More commonly, we found less overtly strategic intentions that often reinforced notions of neo-colonial ‘charity’ in the ways English schools engaged with overseas (particularly African) partner schools, and yet also frequently suggested a more nuanced, humanistic and ethical engagement with ‘others’.
