For more than 60 years, ASCD's members have acted on the belief that educators have much to learn from and share with one another, regardless of where they reside on the globe. In the early years, ASCD's members built enduring relationships with educators around the world by sponsoring study tours behind the Iron Curtain and forming the World Council of Curriculum and Instruction. Our strategy then was to bridge perceived differences in a very personal manner, facilitating relationship building among practitioners—one educator at a time.
Expanding Our Presence
Beginning in the early 1980s, ASCD shifted from facilitating individual relationships to growing its organizational presence outside the United States. Using individual educator relationships as a base, the Association engaged with groups of educators who shared our values and beliefs. The Association sought out affiliates in countries as diverse as Curaçao, Israel, Singapore, and Trinidad and Tobago. We began a translation program and now have books in languages ranging from Arabic to Turkish. We hosted institutes at sites such as Sydney, Australia, and Wellington, New Zealand.
In addition, we placed ASCD leaders on conference agendas in Asia and Europe. We invited representation from members around the world on committees ranging from the Executive Council to the Annual Conference Planning Committee. We began holding Executive Council meetings at sites outside the United States, such as Canada, England, Germany, and New Zealand. We developed relationships with policy and research groups in a variety of countries, including the United Kingdom's National Foundation for Educational Research, the Australian Council of Educational Leaders, and New Zealand's Learning Media.
In 2004, ASCD is a respected international organization:
- ASCD is a worldwide community of 164,000 educators from 135 countries.
- ASCD has 12 affiliates based in eight countries outside the United States.
- Translations of 158 books and seven video programs have been published in 21 languages in 24 countries.
- ASCD's Web site provides constituents access to information 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
- ASCD engages with constituents in multiple languages, using bilingual staff and an interpreter service.
For ASCD, being a respected organization is not enough. Our membership expects the Association to be both successful and significant. In July 2004, our Board of Directors adopted a set of guidelines for our worldwide initiatives designed to move us from respected to influential. Developed in response to the Review Council's two-year study of ASCD's internationalization work, the guidelines provide a rationale for our investment in work around the globe:
- ASCD will be an influential organization; viewed as both a resource and a forum worldwide.
- ASCD's constituents will benefit both professionally and personally from worldwide learning.
- ASCD's investments will result in sustainable, mutually beneficial activities.
The guidelines build on ASCD's rich history of professional and personal relationships and reinforce our core competencies of influencing policy and practice in learning, teaching, and leadership. They also endorse our focus on both learning from and sharing with others. Because our work extends throughout the world, these guidelines further define ASCD's scope as worldwide.
Making New Connections
How will this change our work? ASCD will expand its collaborations with colleague organizations worldwide to cosponsor events and disseminate content. We will work with educators in regions where there are no existing affiliates to create connected communities of professional practice. We will redouble our efforts to identify and publish seminal thinkers from around the world.
Now, more than ever, professional communities of educators must create opportunities to advocate sound policies and share best practices if we are to ensure that each learner achieves his or her full potential. As ASCD's early members understood, we are more alike than different, and we have much to learn from one another. ASCD will build on that rich legacy to ensure the success of each learner.