The Denationalization of Education and the Expansion of the International Baccalaureate

This study explores the expansion of international education focusing on International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in England, France, Israel, Argentina, and Chile. As a whole, conditions such as economic globalization and neoliberal education policies favor the expansion of IB schools. Certain national contexts and educational traditions encourage the adoption of IB programs, while other traditions hinder their propagation. The increase of IB schools results from strategies aimed at insertion of the IB into national education markets and its adaptation to different national systems. There is also an unintended percolation of the IB worldview and activities within national curricula and policies. These strategies and mechanisms are uncovered by tracking the embeddedness of the global IB in national education systems.