After 2000 there was a remarkable worldwide increase in international schools and a diversification of this educational field. Transnational education organisations, such as the International Baccalaureate® (IB), are key actors in this process. Globally, the growth of IB in the public education system has had a huge impact on the broader dissemination of international schools.  

In Portuguese-speaking countries, the dissemination of this school model is hitherto modest (with the exception of Brazil) and the schools are private and mostly located in global urban centres. As research on international schools in the Lusophone space is very limited, the research question of the project is: How did the implementation process of IB evolve in these countries and what is the position of different educational and school actors in this process?  

The research project aims to (1) develop an overview of the structure of the field of IB World Schools in three different countries: Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique; (2) analyse the implementation processes and different perspectives of IB-related educational and school actors based on case studies in an urban centre in each country (Lisbon, São Paulo, Maputo); and (3) create comparative dimensions for this school model in the Lusophone space and other international contexts.  

The research programme has a global comparative approach and combines concepts of research into transnationalisation in education, such as the concept of transnational spaces of education, with critical theories on elite education. The comparison focuses on the development of IB under different social, economic and political contexts in each country, especially in relation to their national education systems and takes account of issues such as the implementation of IB in countries of the “global south” in comparison to other international contexts.  

This programme is based on a qualitative multimethod research design which includes semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from IB-related institutions and with school boards. It also draws on group discussions with students and teachers, participant observation of everyday school life and analysis of IB World School websites, IB websites, weblogs and forums and other (online) IB-related documents. The data analysis draws on reconstructive, qualitative empirical approach with a great potential for cross-cultural research.