Courses & Certifications

Included as part of ECIS School Membership. Click here to learn more. Establishing a successful safeguarding culture in a school results from professional learning that includes everyone who works in or for a school — from teaching staff through school leadership and governing stakeholders. Understanding and applying the best safeguarding practices and behaviours is not for teachers alone; nor is it for school leaders alone, nor for trustees or governors alone. It is for everyone!

Middle leaders, from teacher-leaders through coordinators and assistant principals (and more!), are crucial partners in facilitating school change that has a direct and meaningful impact on student learning. The middle leader certificate programme translates quality research around middle leadership into a credible professional pathway.

Elevate your school’s potential through our bespoke training designed for teachers, leaders, and associate staff in international or internationally minded schools. Whether face-to-face or online, our dynamic workshops, led by expert facilitators go beyond the ordinary. Every bespoke piece of work begins with a conversation to understand your context. With a commitment to building strong relationships, we deliver customized training solutions, not silver bullets. Our partnership for growth approach enables us to listen so that we can design and deliver training that meets the unique needs of your school, group or organisation.

Unlock your potential and elevate your impact with the ECIS Global Pedagogy Certificate for teachers; a dynamic, future-focused professional development journey designed for K-12 internationally minded educators across the world.

This unique certificate series empowers teachers to lead in the classrooms with cultural intelligence, evidence-informed innovation, and a spirit of global-minded collaboration. Whether you’re new to international education or an experienced and expert practitioner, each course in the certificate series will stretch your thinking, energise your practice, and connect you with a global network of passionate, forward-looking educators.

ECIS is welcoming a new cohort for the Early Career Teachers programme in 2026–27, designed to support international school educators in their first few years of teaching. Led by experienced educators and coaches Anja Junginger and Brianna Gray, this year-long programme fosters community-building, peer coaching, and research-informed professional learning.

Beginning in November, the programme comes at a valuable point in the school year: early career teachers have had time to settle into their roles, experience the realities of their classrooms and school communities, and begin to recognise where they would like to build confidence or develop their practice further. Through interactive learning, reflection, peer coaching, and connection with colleagues at a similar stage of their careers, participants will have space to explore the questions and challenges that are emerging from their own experience, strengthen their practice, and continue growing as international educators.

The ECIS Preparing for International Teaching Certificate is a 6-hour, online course which will help your teachers develop their skills and deepen their knowledge around the intersection of intercultural awareness and global competence. For more than ten years, the Preparing for International Teaching Certificate (PITC) has empowered teachers from across the world to change their schools, themselves, and the lives of their students. The International Teacher Certificate (PITC) comprises four courses, designed to help you develop the competence to be an effective international teacher. All participants are recommended to have English language competencies comparable to Level B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

At ECIS we believe that increased global understanding and engagement is imperative for all school leaders and teachers. As we work together to seek a better understanding of our world, and each other, we create opportunities for impact; empowering current and subsequent generations to create positive and sustainable change. This course is available to all ECIS members. Learn more about School Membership.

Board members—whatever their title: trustee, governor, director, shareholder or owner—working in partnership with the head of school—whether called general director, CEO, headteacher, superintendent, or rector—play a vital leadership role in ensuring the international school they serve thrives in pursuit of its mission.

This self-paced course builds a shared understanding of effective governance and leadership in international schools worldwide.
Grounded in principles of good governance drawn from independent-school associations, accreditation standards, global experts, and current research, it explores the fiduciary, strategic, and generative dimensions of governance, with special emphasis on the partnership between those who govern and those who lead.

We are delighted to offer our member schools an excellent professional learning opportunity–an online course developed by members of our own community, Rachael Thrash and Ellen Heyting as a toolkit for transformational teaching. In addition to the course, ECIS will host open forums with Rachael and Ellen throughout the year.

We know there is value in pushing students outside a protective academic bubble to personalise their learning through real-world experiences and connections, but teachers and schools struggle to find time, resources, and assessable outcomes. This online course, organised around 6 stages for connection, walks teachers and curriculum designers through practical and reinforcing approaches that transform the classroom into a student-centered laboratory for growth! Teaching and learning becomes an active collaboration for all group members. Drawing on evidence-based best practice, this course guides educators to find the potential for learner growth within their content and subject areas. Teaching is a joyful practice when the learners are eager to engage and find meaning through their participation.

This course is included as part of ECIS School Membership packages.

Alternatively, you can take the course via the ECIS Learning Hub:

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