The international education agenda
The Scottish Government's international education agenda has two main areas of activity:
- International policy and benchmarking against other high performing systems in school education
- International promotion of tertiary education
International education is very broad and can involve a wide range of activities including:
- Learning about different cultures, traditions and languages within the classroom
- Communicating with teachers and students in another country through collaborative activities and joint projects
- Visiting other countries or hosting international visitors
- Student and staff exchanges
- International research and broader institutional links
- International conferences
The experience gained through such international education opportunities helps young people acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes and skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world. International education is a core part of current educational approaches to developing young people as responsible Global Citizens through a Curriculum for Excellence.
International benchmarking in schools education
Comparing Scotland's education system and performance with other countries provides an insight into the country's strengths and weaknesses in an international context. Such international comparisons are promoted in various ways, for example:
- Participation in international attainment studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
- Engagement with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
- Development of bilateral and multilateral links that encourage co-operation and the sharing of approaches between learners, practitioners and policy makers
- Encouraging ad hoc contact between officials and practitioners in Scotland with systems that are displaying particularly good practice in priority policy areas
- Welcoming education professionals from overseas who come on study visits to explore aspects of Scottish education - such as assessment and curriculum development - and engage in professional dialogue
International promotion
The Scottish Government is involved in a number of initiatives to attract and retain young, talented people. These include funding university scholarships, international exchange programmes and the EU Erasmus+ Programme. Other initiatives include funding for collaborative promotion of Scottish universities abroad through education fairs and media campaigns. Additonally, Scotland is also involved in UK wide programmes with key countries such as China and India.
As a devolved administration, Scotland has no representation in European and international inter-governmental organisations. However, the Scottish Government feeds views to UK Government Departments to contribute to a UK position and is an active and highly respected participant in the Bologna Process. Scottish Government officials sit on a number of groups and committees as part of the UK delegation. Examples include the Bologna Follow Up Group, Eurydice, and a number of EU working groups.
In general, Scottish education policy is initiated according to national needs and in consultation with national stakeholders, not from priorities set at a European or international level. While an international dimension may be incorporated into the policy making process, this is as part of the general evidence gathering to seek examples of good practice in other countries and regions.
The Scottish Government has published a number of European and international strategy documents which include objectives relating to education. The International Framework (published in March 2015), and Action Plan on European Engagement (refreshed in March 2015), provide the overall structure. There are individual plans relating to China, North America and South Asia. In addition, the Scottish Government's response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the progress of the Europe 2020 growth strategy can be found here.