{"id":3687,"date":"2016-06-01T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/?p=3687"},"modified":"2020-09-17T08:16:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T07:16:57","slug":"international-baccalaureate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/international-baccalaureate","title":{"rendered":"International Baccalaureate"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Making the most of the International Baccalaureate at international schools<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Why did you go into teaching? Was it to help students pass exams? I doubt it. Unfortunately, standardised testing and increasing pressure on teachers, students and school has led to teachers becoming overly focussed on exam results, therefore developing short term strategies to boost exam results. Two of the joys of teaching at international schools are the prospect of taking a new curriculum and having the freedom to teach the way you want to teach, developing the student in a much more holistic way.<\/p>\n<p>More and more schools are turning towards the International Baccalaureate (IB) and with good reason too. This post will argue that adopting the IB learner profile in your own teaching, your students learning and in your life is one of the best ways to get the most out of the experience, taking your students beyond just academic success. Isn\u2019t that what we went into teaching to do?!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3688 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/IB-learner-profile.jpeg\" alt=\"IB learner profile\" width=\"226\" height=\"223\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The IB learner profile was developed to be a very core part in the way that IB schools operate. Unfortunately, some teachers moving from domestic teaching can be tempted to adopt the same approach to the IB and it can work in achieving positive exam results. However, those who try and adjust their teaching and approach to learning will see both them as teachers and their students flourish. Here are some ideas as to how you could implement it in your classroom or school:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Put a large poster of the IB learner profile in your classroom.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students stick it in their exercise book inset as a reminder<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Dedicate a month to each strand, maybe even using groups and having them rotate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Develop your own teaching and perhaps even life around the strands.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Encourage your tutor\/year group to evaluate themselves across the learner profile strands.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Encourage them to focus on an area for improvement and then keep an electronic diary as to what they did related to that.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">The following list may give you some ideas to get started with applying the IB learner profile.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>The IB learner profile aims to develop students (and teachers!) who are: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Inquirers<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students to produce a presentation on a topic drawn out of a hat in your tutor group time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Ask students to teach part of a lesson and present a lesson on a topic that hasn\u2019t been covered yet \u2013 they could do it in groups.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Develop a student\u2019s interest in global news, outside of what is happening on their Facebook wall.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Knowledgeable <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Integrate Theory of Knowledge (TOK) into your lessons.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>It is so tempting to cast it aside but teachers who do embrace it will see students reap the rewards.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Carry out initiatives to encourage reading.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Learn about the local culture and history.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Make sure you integrate local issues within your teaching \u2013 don\u2019t just stick to case studies from your home country.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Thinkers<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Encourage students to ask the Why?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Question.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Teachers won\u2019t always be able to answer it but either them or the student themselves can then go and find out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Build in subjects like Philosophy, Law, Theology and Psychology into your teaching: these are subjects that are not typically taught as stand alone subjects but will help develop deep thinkers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-3689 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/the-thinker-489753_640.jpg\" alt=\"the-thinker-489753_640\" width=\"456\" height=\"303\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Communicators<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students give a one minute sales pitch.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Encourage students to participate in IMUN (Model United Nations) conferences<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Integrate debates within your lessons<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students carry out a social media marketing campaign for a school event.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Try speaking to local staff only in their language for a week.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Set a good example for your foreign students by making an effort to learn the local language yourself.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Principled<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students come up with a set of class rules and have them involved in implementing them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Encourage students to get their hands dirty on a local level by helping out at old people\u2019s homes, homeless shelters, with recent migrants, environmental projects, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Give job titles out to students with scenarios where they\u2019d need to think about their own personal gains versus those of the wider community.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students evaluate their own carbon footprint, put it in perspective if everyone were to live like that and help them identify ways they can reduce their impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-3694 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/nelson-mandela-539834_640.jpg\" alt=\"nelson-mandela-539834_640\" width=\"467\" height=\"310\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Open-minded<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Assign roles to students to discuss in the classroom where perspectives of the same issue may vary and will affect their local community.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Ask students to take the Myers Briggs test, share the results with the class, explain how it affects and explains our differences in behaviour at times.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Bring in different newspapers each morning \u2013 have students compare how different media sources have different perspectives.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Caring<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Encourage your school to have vertical tutor groups where the older students act as the role models for younger ones.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have older students run tutoring sessions for younger students.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students run a project together: a charity fundraising and support initiative for example.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3690 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/o-NED-FLANDERS-facebook.jpg\" alt=\"THE SIMPSONS, Ned Flanders, 1989-present. TM and Copyright \u00a9 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.\" width=\"464\" height=\"232\"><\/p>\n<p><b>Risk-takers<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Encourage students to try a new writing style or approach solutions to problems in a different way to usual<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students attempt things they\u2019d never think they\u2019d be capable of doing: a 1 minute stand up comedy routine, carry out a major challenge such as a 30 km hike \/ half marathon<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Try experimenting with a new teaching strategy for a module: adopt a flipped classroom, take your students outside of the classroom to explore real life applications for example.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Make the most of your weekends \u2013 try something new!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Balanced<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Have students assess how much time they spend on their mobile phones.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Have a no mobile phones week and ask them to document what they\u2019ve done during that time and reflect upon it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Set students challenges for the weekend, have them right a bucket list of the things they\u2019d like do within the next two years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Get fully involved in your school\u2019s IB Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) programs.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Being involved in extra-curricular activities is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching at international schools.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Reflective<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Ask students to take Gallup\u2019s strength finder test to assess their strengths and weaknesses. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Set them targets to work on specific to their weaknesses and provide <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Carry out a daily self-evaluation of your own teaching.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Carry out a 360 appraisal system within your department<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3691 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/21236602793_116a2fd452_m.jpg\" alt=\"21236602793_116a2fd452_m\" width=\"402\" height=\"266\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">If your school don\u2019t offer the IB programs there is nothing to stop you using some of these ideas \u2013 they\u2019ll be welcomed by your students and school leaders!<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>The ideas above are just a starting point to get your creativity juices flowing.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>It may appear overwhelming but try a couple of them and persevere with them.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Some will fail but some will enhance both yours and your students enjoyment of their education.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; <\/span>Worst case scenario: you\u2019ve ticked the box of being a risk-taker!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Talk to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/\">Teacher Horizons<\/a> about your placement in an exciting location where you can use your skills to your full potential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making the most of the International Baccalaureate at international schools Why did you go into teaching? Was it to help students pass exams? I doubt it. Unfortunately, standardised testing and increasing pressure on teachers, students and school has led to teachers becoming overly focussed on exam results, therefore developing short term strategies to boost exam&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/international-baccalaureate\" title=\"Read International Baccalaureate\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[875],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-samaraagenstvo-feeria-2399097.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Krhd-Xt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3687"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9106,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions\/9106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}