The DIY IB: The new way to train to be an IB Educator

In March last year, we wrote about how to get IB experience. In the article we addressed the challenge faced by teachers who want to work in an IB school but can’t because they haven’t done so before. These teachers are justifiably frustrated, but there are ways to forge a path in this direction without being hired first. 

A welcome update

Along with the tips we shared before, there is now another option for you since the IB has just introduced some self-paced learning modules online.

At Teacher Horizons we are really pleased to see this, since improved accessibility can only be good news for our community. And it’s good to see that the introductory price tag is lower than other courses at 125USD.

Currently there are fairly limited options, most of which are focused on how to mark internal assessments, but we hope this will be the beginnings of a more developed programme, providing there is enough uptake.

The IB outlines some of the benefits of these modules on their website:

• Accessing professional development from the comfort of [your] homes – no need to incur travel or accommodation costs.
• Self-paced modules can be completed and revisited repeatedly for six months from your date of purchase.
• Self-paced module topics can be hyper-focused and cover topics not normally featured in typical IB professional development workshops and events.

We really like the sound of all this, and we hope you will find the courses useful. 

What’s next

We’re considering putting a webinar together for teachers who would like to explore how to get into IB teaching in a deeper way. If this sounds useful to you, you can either let us know by emailing editor@teacherhorizons.com, or just keep an eye on your inbox for information about it.

As always, you can email info@teacherhorizons.com if you have any questions.

And you can sign up for our monthly newsletter here and hear news of our events as soon as we tell people about them.

Written by Camilla Cook

Camilla has been working in education for the past sixteen years, teaching English in the UK, El Salvador, Thailand, and Tanzania. She participated in the Teach First Programme in 2005, and went on to support another Teach First teacher in her efforts to set up The Literacy Pirates, an education charity working to develop the literacy, confidence, and perseverance of young people referred for extra support by their teachers. As their first Director of Learning, she was responsible for planning, leading, and evaluating the learning programmes. She has worked as the Head of Language and Literature in international schools for the past five years, and is now living in Brighton with her husband and two children, attempting to reacclimatise to the weather by cycling around as much as possible and eating lots of ice cream.