East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS)
Professional development is a key part of every teacher’s career. No matter how experienced we are or how knowledgeable about our subject areas, there is always room for growth and improvement and change. A good school will pay lip service to professional development; an excellent school will actively promote it, encourage it, and nurture the teachers who lead the push for professional development.
As you go through each of the reviews that I post here each week, you’ll notice that I always mention the school’s professional development program. One of the indicators of a school committed to excellence is the amount of opportunities they give teachers for professional development. This is especially important for teachers who teach in small or remote schools around the world. We can get isolated and stuck in a rut without outside stimulation. I’ve been attending EARCOS and SEATCCO conferences for many years, and I always look forward to them. I won’t be attending this year as the school decided to spend their PD money in another way, but some of the best ideas that I’ve come up with as a teacher have been as a result of the conferences that EARCOS holds each year.
If you work at a school which is an EARCOS member, make sure that you take advantage of the opportunity to attend the spring conferences. If you work in Asia and your school is not an EARCOS member, push them to join. So now that I’ve made my plug for EARCOS, let’s see what it is.
EARCOS is an organization of 108 member schools throughout East Asia. Membership in EARCOS is open to elementary and secondary schools in East Asia that offer educational programs with English as the primary language. The member schools have over 69,000 students from Pre-K to Grade 12. There are also 87 associate members – universities, financial planners, insurance companies, textbook and software publishers and other organizations. Additionally, there are 27 individual members.
EARCOS was founded in 1968 as a result of the growth of U.S. schools in the East Asia region. The organization’s purpose was to serve these schools and their needs. EARCOS serves primarily to support schools in their professional development activities. This is particularly important for schools which are geographically isolated from one another as well as from the mainstream of U.S. education
The first EARCOS conference was held in 1969 at the Hong Kong International School. There were four sub-organizations that existed for many years after such as KORCOS (Korean Council of Overseas Schools), CERCOS (Central E Regional Council of Overseas Schools) and SEATCCO (Southeast Asia Teachers’ and Counselors’ Conference) which provided professional development activities to schools in each of these regions.
EARCOS holds one administrators’ conference a year in November and one teachers’ conference in March. They also fund several weekend institutes hosted by member schools throughout East Asia. EARCOS also organizes a spring meeting for EARCOS heads of schools every April.
The objectives and Purpose of EARCOS are:
* To promote intercultural understanding and international friendship through the activities of member schools.
* To broaden the dimensions of education of all schools involved in the Council in the interest of a total program of education.
* To advance the professional growth and welfare of individuals belonging to the educational staff of member schools.
* To facilitate communication and cooperative action between and among all associated schools.
* To cooperate with other organizations and individuals pursuing the same objectives as this council.
Recent Comments