What is the preferable future for your community?

Preferable Future for International Schools in Asia

The international school sector in Asia is experiencing rapid growth, with over 14,833 K-12 schools globally, 58% of which are based in Asia (ISC Research, 2025). Families across the region view Western-style education as a gateway to elite universities and career success, often investing up to $60,000 per year in tuition. This economic pressure places high expectations on schools to deliver not just excellence in education, but also elite post-school opportunities.

Despite this, international schools operate within complex local regulatory environments, often at the whims of shifting government policies. For example, in China, The 2021 Regulations on Privately-Run Schools fundamentally altered the landscape for foreign providers, limiting autonomy and imposing new ideological and operational constraints (Farrer & Co., 2021). International schools in Asia are therefore both aspirational and vulnerable — positioned as global beacons while highly dependent on national legislation.

Given these realities, our preferable future recognises both the constraints and possibilities that define international education today. Following a detailed PESTLE analysis and critical reflection, we have identified six core trends that chart a course toward a more equitable, human-centred, and sustainable future.

1. Quality Education

In our preferable future, quality education remains deeply human in its foundation. International schools protect and elevate the role of the teacher, prioritising relationships, pedagogical expertise, and reflection over technological substitution (Biesta, 2010; Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012). Models like Oxford-style tutoring may even re-emerge as premium pathways, built on one-to-one mentorship rather than digital automation.

Success is measured holistically, integrating character development, creativity, and critical reasoning, alongside academic growth.

2. Successful Integration of Technology

Technology is integrated ethically and intentionally—enhancing, not replacing, human interaction. In line with Selwyn (2016) and Williamson & Hogan (2020), EdTech and AI are used to reduce workload, expand access, and personalise learning, while ensuring transparency and safeguarding data. Schools adopt a PedTech approach (ISC Research, 2023), evaluating every digital tool against wellbeing, inclusivity, and educational value.

3. Data Management

Students and teachers retain control over their data. Informed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and research on datafication in education (Sadowski, 2019), we advocate for transparent data practices, clear opt-ins, and diverse assessment methods. Data is a tool—not a surveillance mechanism. Schools promote digital literacy and embed student data rights into their values and curriculum.

4. Values-Based Education

Schools must resist becoming pawns of politics or marketisation. Grounded in Biesta’s (2010) three purposes of education—qualification, socialisation, and subjectification—our preferable future positions schools as ethical, inclusive spaces where diverse voices are represented and community values upheld. Leadership formed by student needs, clearly recognising the host country, and anchored helping the community around it (UNESCO, 2021).

5. Post-School Pathways

We promote multiple routes to success and reimagine what success means. In this future, schools promote personalised pathways, recognising that university is only one option among many. Students engage in micro-credentialing, work experience, entrepreneurship activities which are embedded from the early stages of curriculum development, and digital portfolio development (Wheelahan, 2015). Schools partner with alumni, businesses, Chambers of Commerce and NGOs to prepare students for a dynamic world, equipping them with life long skills that are needed for a fast paced techno-world.

6. Sustainability

True global citizens understand their ecological and digital impact. Schools integrate sustainability across all levels—from campus infrastructure to curriculum and digital use policies. In line with Sterling (2012) and Orr (2004), students tackle real-world issues such as biodiversity, food waste, and ethical tech use, cultivating the skills and mindsets to lead systemic change. There is also a transparent message and clear drive of actions of how to live in a digital world effectively and purposefully (similar to the recycling movement).

Summary

This preferable future is not only aspirational—it is possible. It requires that international schools in Asia:

Protect pedagogical integrity amidst technological change,
Assert ethical leadership amidst politics,
Prioritise values
And expand definitions of success beyond university admission.

It is a future that prepares young people not just to navigate the world, but to shape it.

Read the full futures report here.

References

Biesta, G. (2010). Good Education in an Age of Measurement. Routledge.
Farrer & Co. (2021). A new regulatory landscape for international schools in China. Retrieved from https://www.farrer.co.uk/news-and-insights/a-new-regulatory-landscape-for-international-schools-in-china/
Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. Teachers College Press.
ISC Research. (2023). PedTech White Paper. https://iscresearch.com
Orr, D. W. (2004). Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect. Island Press.
Sadowski, J. (2019). When data is capital: Datafication, accumulation, and extraction. Big Data & Society, 6(1).
Selwyn, N. (2016). Education and Technology: Key Issues and Debates. Bloomsbury.
Sterling, S. (2012). The Future Fit Framework: Teaching and Learning for Sustainability. Higher Education Academy.
UNESCO. (2021). Futures of Education: Reimagining our futures together.
UNCRC. (1989). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Wheelahan, L. (2015). Not just skills: What a focus on knowledge means for vocational education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(6).
Williamson, B., & Hogan, A. (2020). Commercialisation and the pandemic: EdTech & data infrastructures. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(9).