Six ways that safeguarding challenges change overseas

Safeguarding is always a complex topic.

School policies, usually underpinned by legal requirements, have to be understood and adhered to, of course, but there are also cultural mores to understand - from how children act and talk, to how parents may react to lesson topics or a new curriculum focus - all of which will need due consideration. 

And for teachers moving to work overseas, this can mean having to adapt quickly to a whole new set of laws and cultural norms that underpin how safeguarding issues are approached. 

Tes spoke with a school leader from the United Arab Emirates for insights on how common safeguarding topics in the country can differ from the UK and to highlight some of the differences that can exist around these topics.

Mental health awareness

The leaders says that, over the past few years, talking about mental health in the UK has become far less taboo: “Kids in the UK wear their hearts on their sleeves a little bit more because society and culture are a little bit more open, [so] kids can talk about anything and everything.”

However, in other parts of the world, such as Dubai, this may not be the case, which teachers need to be aware of. “

”I would probably say people try and keep things under wraps more as opposed to the UK,” the teacher continues. 

“And, actually, some cultures are averse to getting help for mental health reasons, so [there is] that cultural barrier to cross as well, where it’s OK to talk about it and it’s OK to have mental health issues.”

Culturally permissible vs acceptable

The importance of understanding the culture of a new country you are teaching in is, of course, vital but school policies also have to be adhered to - and sometimes this can be at odds with more traditional views of parenting and education in the host country, or what the diverse mix of parents with students at the school may expect from teachers.

“One of the biggest things that I say to members of staff is, just because it’s culturally permissible, it doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable. I’ve got kids from 49 countries here and, in some cultures, [you are allowed] to beat your kids, but it’s not acceptable.”

Most teachers would agree with this but, when interacting with parents, may feel reluctant to share their cultural views.  It’s important to understand that explaining why the school rules have to be adhered to may have to be handled with sensitivity and tact.

“While we recognise that there are differences in the way that they feel is acceptable to bring up their kids, these are the rules of our school. We are a British school overseas. It’s about what’s right for young people, irrespective of where you’re from or what you do.”

Pressure to perform

Teachers around the world are no doubt used to working with the occasional student who is under a lot of pressure to succeed - either from their family or themselves. 

But this can often be a lot more prevalent within international school systems, the safeguarding lead explains.

“In many international schools, students want to get the best grades and get to the best universities. Parents here can often be high flyers. They’re highly ambitious, a lot of them are in powerful jobs and therefore they expect [results].”

As such, they say, teachers need to be aware that there can often be higher incidents of mental health conditions as a result of the anxieties the students are facing because of this pressure to perform.

External services 

One of the biggest safeguarding differences in an international school is the lack of external support services, says the leader.

“As a designated safeguarding lead back in the UK, you’ve got lots of external services that you work with on a daily basis to facilitate specific interventions that are needed for children at risk.”

However, such support might not exist in the same way in other countries, which means schools are more likely to be dealing with everything directly themselves, through in-house support systems.

“We’ve employed two full-time counsellors in school as a result of not having any external services to use. So the cost implication falls to the school, rather than external services, because I need to know that the students are seen when I need them to be seen.

”This can have a big impact on parents with regards to the ability to access any further support.“

If you’ve got mental health issues with students, you’ve not got the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service to refer them to; that doesn’t exist - it’s all private practices. If it’s long-term assistance, they need to pay for that, so that needs to be part of their health insurance - there is a big cost implication for that.”

Enforcing regulation

Teachers around the world are no strangers to rules and regulations governing their job.

But working internationally means learning to adapt to different rules and how the organisations that oversee them enforce them, as the safeguarding leader outlines.

“Dubai is probably one of the most regulated education systems in the world. We have an annual inspection by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, which is our local regulator.

“They come every year, typically between October and November, and one of the major parts of that is safeguarding.”

Not only that but working as an international school means there are also international organisations to work with.

“We are British Schools Overseas (BSO) and Council of British International Schools accredited as well, so we do have to adhere to all of that rigour and those standards.”

And this can be intense, says the teacher.

“The scrutiny of Ofsted would be similar to your BSO inspectorate but obviously, with Ofsted, it’s less frequent.”

Every international school will face a similar mix of inspection and auditing, so teachers need to be ready for this challenge.

Preparing students for life

Safeguarding in an international school can extend to life skills that children may not learn organically outside of school, given the unique nature of being an international school student.

“We do a ‘home alone’ sixth-form programme, which up-skills them in life skills, because a lot of kids have got maids and nannies and drivers in their households, so they might not necessarily learn life skills like kids in the UK learn life skills,” says the leader.

Sometimes this even extends into touching on issues that are taboo in a host country but that teachers deem crucial for children to learn about before they head off for university - which will most likely be in another part of the world again.

“There are things that sometimes we shouldn’t talk about but we do it to help them prepare for university. We think it would be remiss of us not to do that because they’re massively exposed when they do go to countries that have laws that are less restrictive than here.”