Inside the bubble: English as an additional language policy in British international schools

Responding to the observation that there has been limited policy research in the field of international education (Hayden and Thompson 2008; Lehman 2018), the current article presents a theoretically grounded discussion regarding how British policy actors in Council of International School (CIS)-accredited British international schools may be constrained by the dominant English as an Additional Language (EAL) discourse in England and also serves to highlight why such constraints could be problematic. A modified version of Schwab’s (1973) commonplace framework provides the conceptual framework. It is argued that there are four key factors which influence the ability of policy actors in these schools to reduce the degree to which they are constrained by their home countries dominant EAL discourse. These factors include the extent to which: differences in school contexts are recognised; alternative approaches to EAL provision are considered; senior leadership buy-in is acquired; and, policy entrepreneurs are cultivated.