The IBTeacher Awards

Contents1 The International Baccalaureate

2 IB professional development

3 Expanding the range of IB professional development

4 Formally acknowledging teachers’ knowledge and understanding

6 The IB teacher awards

8 The significance of holding an IB teacher award

9 More about the university courses

10 The recognition framework

12 Opportunities for research

The International Baccalaureate

Mission statement The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

The International Baccalaureate® (IB) offers three high quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools. Over 40 years the programmes have gained a reputation for their high academic standards, for preparing students for life in a globalized 21st century, and for helping to develop the future citizens who will create a better, more peaceful world.

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IB professional development

These have been designed to help teachers and school leaders gain an understanding of the programme authorization process, how to implement the three IB programmes more effectively, and to provide opportunities to explore and share best practices. Many of these workshops are offered by the IB’s regional centres, which are based in The Hague, Maryland and Singapore, although an increasing proportion are being offered in collaboration with external professional development providers. Working in cooperation with external organizations, such as local associations of IB schools and universities, can expand the range of professional development activities on offer, ensuring that the

ever-changing needs of teachers within the IB community are continually being addressed.

IB online professional development workshops have been created to complement regional face-to-face workshops, widening access for teachers from all IB regions. Workshops are available online for the Primary Years Programme and all subject groups in both Diploma and Middle Years Programmes. The workshops are taught mainly in English, however there are a growing number of workshops offered in French and Spanish.

To support teachers and school leaders in implementing its three programmes the IB offers a comprehensive annual schedule of conferences and face-to-face and online workshops.

“IB professional development encourages our community to be critical, self–reflective educators, dedicated to lifelong learning and continuous improvement.” ANTHONY TAIT Global Professional Development Director IB Americas Global Centre

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Expanding the range of IB professional development

Universities can offer initial teacher education programmes at undergraduate and graduate level that prepare the IB teachers of the future.

They can also offer continuing professional development graduate courses of study for qualified teachers that focus on improving the understanding of the educational ideas that underpin the IB programmes. Drawing upon the experience, expertise and resources of universities ensures these courses provide current and prospective IB teachers with greater opportunities, allowing them to reflect more deeply and critically upon their experiences within differing IB contexts.

The IB programmes are interpretive in nature. As curricular frameworks, and not prescribed syllabuses, teachers are expected to engage in curriculum and instructional design within the parameters set by the governing principles of the specific programme. This reliance on the creative professionalism of teachers, together with a commitment to being internationally minded, is often seen as the factor that makes IB teaching unique. The need for teacher education programmes to effectively prepare new teachers to be confident in implementing an IB programme is essential.

Research indicates that as teachers progress throughout their careers

their professional development needs and expectations change. As their experience grows and their expertise develops, the teachers’ desire to explore their practice, the context in which they work and the ideas that underpin these result in an increasing interest in undertaking investigative work involving deeper levels of inquiry and reflection. Working in cooperation with universities to offer courses at masters level or higher, the IB can provide opportunities for experienced IB practitioners to engage in their own inquiry with all the support of an academic faculty.

Working with higher education institutions opens up the possibility of establishing a whole range of new initial teacher education and continuing professional development experiences for current and prospective IB teachers.

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Formally acknowledging teachers’ knowledge and understanding

By completing courses of study offered by universities they gain academic credit. However, the IB is finding that increasingly teachers want a form of certification that confirms proven knowledge and understanding of the IB programmes in order to gain better access to the IB community of schools around the world. The IB has established a certification framework, the IB teacher awards, based on teachers’ capacity to implement one or more of the three IB programmes and to reflect critically upon their experience. Teachers become eligible to gain certification by completing university courses of study that have been formally recognized by the IB as meeting a series of academic requirements that focus on the IB programmes.

Two levels of certification have been established as part of this framework to formally acknowledge teachers’ understanding of the principles and practices associated with each of the three IB programmes: IB teacher award – level 1 and IB teacher award – level 2. The awards, gained through completing academic courses, require participants to

demonstrate a commitment to their own professional learning by incorporating significant elements of critical reflection within the context of the IB programmes. Upon completion of certain academic courses of study recognized by the IB, teachers become eligible to register for an IB teacher award applicable to their level of study.

One characteristic of professional educators is the desire to seek continual improvement through ongoing professional development. Understandably, teachers want formal acknowledgement of the commitment they make, and the achievements they gain, through this professional development.

“Little did I know how beneficial it would actually be! Not to mention how inspiring I found this course in general while also being beneficial for my development, both personally and professionally.” SAM ROSS Primary Teacher Zurich International School, Baden, Switzerland

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This is to certify that

has met the requirements of the

IB Teacher Award Level 2

President Director General

This is to certify that

has met the requirements of the

IB Teacher Award Level 1 (IB Middle Years Programme)

President Director General

The IB teacher awardsIB teacher award – level 1 The level 1 award is designed primarily to meet the needs of newly qualified teachers, qualified teachers new to the IB programmes, and student teachers. The award certificate signifies a proven practical understanding of curriculum, pedagogical and assessment issues related to the implementation of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) or IB Diploma Programme (DP). In effect, the level 1 award certificate indicates that the holder is sufficiently prepared to effectively implement that programme.

Alternative pathways to the level 1 award for more experienced IB educators will also involve the completion of an assessed portfolio of evidence gained from undertaking formal IB-related professional development or IB teaching experiences together with requisite critical reflection and analysis.

IB teacher award – level 2 Courses of study linked to the level 2 award are aimed at masters level scholarship, or higher. They are designed for experienced IB educators, many of whom will be in leadership positions, who want to engage at deeper levels of reflection through completing rigorous and systematic investigative work in the areas of curriculum development, pedagogy and assessment in their own professional context.

In addition to completing a recognized course, eligibility for level 2 award registration requires participants to have taught for five years, three of which must have included teaching within one IB programme in one IB World School.

Figure 1 shows the alternative pathways that can lead to eligibility for the two awards. Pathways 1 to 4 all lead to level 1 award eligibility. Pathways 1 and 2 for individuals not yet qualified as teachers must include a significant period of practicum work with an IB World School. Pathways 3 and 4 are for qualified teachers. The former is achieved through completing a recognized academic course route, and the latter through a professional portfolio route. In all cases further academic work completed through an appropriately recognized masters course will enable them, once they have met the experiential requirement, to register for the level 2 award. Pathway 5 may appeal to some highly experienced IB practitioners who wish to forgo the level 1 award altogether and directly register for the level 2 award. To do this they must complete a full masters or higher level course of study that meets the requirements of both the level 1 and level 2 awards.

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7

5

4

3

2

1Undergraduate initial teacher

education course (including IB practicum)

Level 1 award Level 2 award

Graduate initial teacher education course

(including IB practicum)Masters extension with formal investigative component for

experienced IB teachers

Graduate course for qualified teachers

Professional Portfolio option for qualified teachers

working in IB schools

Masters or higher level for experienced IB teachers designed to meet requirements of the level 1 and level 2 awards

fig.1

The significance of holding an IB teacher award

This confirms to prospective employers and the wider IB community that the holder has a proven knowledge and understanding of an IB programme and its implementation, and it will give the holder better access to a career in IB education.

To become an IB World School a school must agree to ensure that its teachers have received sufficient IB professional development for the programme that they have been authorized to offer. Normally, teachers new to an IB programme are required to complete an introductory workshop. While the

exact requirements vary slightly from programme to programme the possession of either of the two teacher awards is deemed to meet the professional development requirements for authorization and thus open up the possibility for attending more advanced workshops. Crucially for schools this will reduce the cost of sending staff to required introductory training events.

All holders of IB teachers awards are entitled to become active participants in the IB’s online community, the online curriculum centre (OCC). During their period of study and for two years after registering for

an award, participants are given individual access rights to all the current curriculum documentation, resources banks, discussion forums and community activities relating to each programme.

The IB calls upon the services of an array of experienced IB practitioners for curriculum development purposes, for leading workshops, and as examiners. These IB qualifications, particularly the level 2 award, are viewed as most beneficial additions to a teacher’s curriculum vitae when selecting people to participate in these activities.

The IB teacher awards confer upon the holder a qualification that signifies that they have successfully completed a rigorous academic course of study in the context of one of the three IB programmes.

“We want our students to be reflective, collaborative learners and the experiences of teachers in the Award programme assist them to model the characteristics outlined in the IB Learner Profile.” LESTER SAEGENSCHNITTER Principal, Concordia College, Highgate, South Australia

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More about the university coursesA growing number of universities around the world are offering courses of study linked to the IB teacher awards.

A formal expression of interest,

including a brief written proposal

indicating the intended level of award, the

course structure and the targeted IB programme, is

submitted to the IB for review

The university submits a

formal detailed application along

with stipulated supporting

documentation that demonstrates how the course of study meets the academic

requirements of each award

An evaluation team from the IB

visits the university and reviews the course against sets of quality

standards to ensure that it enables participating

students to develop the required

relevant knowledge and understanding

If the university’s course of study

meets all specified requirements for

course recognition a six year contract is signed by the IB and

the university

The course recognition process

As more courses become available, the possibilities for IB educators to continue their professional learning about IB practice and the ideas that underpin it will grow.

Any university that is interested in offering a course linked to the IB teacher awards is encouraged to approach the IB and find out how this is possible. In broad terms the university must undergo a four-stage process to ensure that the course it intends to offer meets the required IB quality standards.

Having been recognized for a period of six years, the course of study undergoes an interim evaluation three years following formal recognition to review progress.

Given the global distribution of IB World Schools, there is clearly a need to have a wide network of universities offering courses. Over time this network will grow in size and geographical spread in response to the growth in the demand from local, national and international populations.

Universities will sometimes develop partnerships with specific schools to facilitate the delivery of a course of study. This may involve using school teachers as adjunct teaching faculty, and to provide mentors, visiting speakers, and opportunities for school visits and periods of practicum teaching.

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The recognition frameworkA central pillar of the IB teacher awards initiative is the framework for recognizing university undergraduate and graduate teacher education and continuing professional development courses.

The expectation must be that teachers holding the level 1 or level 2 award certificates will be able to participate in an IB school community and have a practical knowledge of how to effectively implement the IB programme with which they are working.

The recognition framework has been designed to be sufficiently flexible to encourage universities to design and offer courses that vary in structure, mode of delivery, length of study time and academic credit. While most universities offer courses with an emphasis on face-to-face teaching, some are looking to incorporate new technologies in the design and delivery of distance learning programmes through 100% online or blended modes of delivery.

The IB has established a set of procedures for recognizing courses of study offered by universities. All courses of study associated with the IB teacher awards are expected to provide participating students with opportunities to engage with four areas of inquiry. To help the universities to design courses that enable the students to demonstrate the necessary understandings, each area of inquiry has been divided into a series of domains of knowledge with associated essential questions. These questions articulate the knowledge and understanding participating students are expected to demonstrate during their studies. Universities offering recognized courses are required to ensure that all the essential questions can be addressed within the parameters of the course of study.

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Courses of study linked to the level 1 award must enable participating students to investigate one of the IB programmes in terms of the structure and the underlying design principles of the curriculum, appropriate

approaches to assessment and pedagogy for the relevant programme, and the various professional learning strategies needed to be an effective IB practitioner. The level 1 areas of inquiry are shown opposite.

Courses of study linked to the level 2 award must enable participants to undertake academic study in an IB context. Unlike the level 1 award, the level 2 award is not linked to one specific IB programme, thus participating students are encouraged to identify areas of interest within their own IB practice or school that they want to explore in greater depth. In broad

terms, their investigative work must be grounded in contemporary IB issues, involve critical engagement with the relevant bodies of literature and contemporary research, incorporate relevant research methodologies and techniques, and be systematically planned, executed and evaluated. These principles are embodied in the four areas of inquiry opposite.

Curriculum processes

(design principles and structures)

Level 1Professional learning

Assessment and learning

Teaching and learning

Contemporary issues in IB education

Level 2Researching practice

Building capacity for practitioner

inquiry

Linking theory to practice in the IB context

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Opportunities for research

As part of the development of the IB’s three programmes, and the continuum that runs between and across them, a research agenda has been developed in line with contemporary education concerns and initiatives for international education.

The programme development research focuses on five interconnected areas: strengthening the IB programmes, supporting curriculum implementation and instruction, promoting the continuum of the three programmes, building capacity for global lifelong learners in the 21st century, and enhancing

research capacity and curriculum development processes. Corresponding research possibilities have been identified and incorporated into a planned series of research projects.

The IB seeks to develop collaborative relationships with universities and individual researchers that have experience in the context of the IB programmes and that are interested in undertaking mutually beneficial research activities.

In addition to the provision of academic courses of study linked to the IB programmes, working with universities offers opportunities for cooperation in the area of educational research.

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For more information or to find out what to do next visit:

http://www.ibo.org/ programmes/pd/award email: teacher.award@ibo.org

http://www.ibo.org/ programmes/pd/award email: teacher.award@ibo.org

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© International Baccalaureate 2010

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The IBTeacher Awards