International School Award (ISA)

The British Council International School Award (ISA) is a benchmark scheme that accredits school as having an outstanding level of support for:

1. Nurturing global citizenship in young people
2. Enriching teaching and learning

ISA was introduced in India in the year 2003 and nearly 1300 schools across the country have joined this exciting journey since then. The range of schools participating in ISA varies from the well-resourced private schools to government schools from rural areas and schools for the less advantaged communities. The ISA now has a presence in 31 countries worldwide.

School across the world are grappling with the challenge of providing relevant education in face of rapid technological advancements that are changing the way we live and work. It is widely accepted that the traditional chalk and talk model of content oriented teaching cannot adequately prepare young people for the future.

A change towards process and value oriented experiential learning is not easy. Sustainable, transformational change is hard to bring about by discrete workshops or even extended staff achievements difficult to measure and success rarely celebrated.

The ISA approach to school development is holistic and mirrors the approach we are encouraging teachers to use with their students. It is rigorous and evidence based. The process of acquiring the information, Students working on information acquired and the actual activity and wider dissemination of the information, should be well documented.

ISA is a leadership challenge and fosters team building, Innovation, and project management. Putting together the action plan and the portfolio of evidence encourages collaboration and critical thinking. Keeping the staff motivated and enthusiastic through the year puts the head teacher and ISA coordinator’s leadership skills to test. There is a little doubt that good leadership is second only to good teaching in raising standards in school.

ISA is a content free and schools are encouraged to embed it within their own curriculum. ISA gives context to practice new skills in information & communication Technology (ICT) and pedagogy in a safe and structured manner. Participating in briefings and workshops, online community and the award ceremony brings together a large number of schools across the country fostering rich exchange of ideas and creating a vibrant community of education professionals.