IB Training Questions

[justlooking]

Just accepted a job at a school in Dubai. The school will be going full-on IB (if the IB visit works out as planned) next year. They are sending me for training, but it's up to me to make the arrangements. I'll be teaching DP English A and possibly MYP English A. So my questions are:

1. Are there places that are better for the training or should I just take something that's close to my home base? (Egypt now, NYC in the summer)

2. Are the online training sessions any good?

3. It would be hard to squeeze in both MYP and DP. If I can only do one, which should it be?

4. This sounds stupid, but is it best to start with category 1 classes?

Any other guidance/advice for a new IB teacher is appreciated. By the way, I have 15 years experience and have taught AP for 5 years.

Thanks in advance.

[wherenext]

I would start with the DP one, go MYP next year. Getting to know how DP works is important as you have only 2 years to prepare the kids well, and there are some internal assessments that come early in the program.

What workshop to attend?
I would certainly check who is the workshop leader and post a question here. I went to 3 workshops so far: 2 great (MYP in Basel, and DP in Bangkok), one USELESS (a ≈ë“{‘ waste of time and money! that was the one in NYC, at UNIS. I thought that was a guaranty of good standard, but: the workshop a level 2: out of 14 teachers, we were only 3 teachers with DP experience. The workshop leader was also very bad, an example: she gave examples of assignments she practices that where like samples of what Subject reports present as bad practice!)
Double check who the workshop leaders are, that is really important.

Online workshops? there nothing like the contact with other teachers, from a variety of schools. I wouldn't do the online ws.

Good luck in Dubai!

[witness]

I do not work for an IB school. However, I am looking ahead to recruitment next year and thought I would do a course this summer, if possible. This may not be true, but is it possible for teachers to do an introductory course, if you do not currently work for an IB school?

It seems like someone told me a while back that they only allow teachers to do PD, if schools pay for it. Just checking. I would think they'd be happy to take money from anyone. I am looking at MYP, the category 1 I guess, from what I understand. Please clarify if I can pay out of pocket for this workshop and whether you think it's worth the investment. Even though I have a graduate degree and much experience, I am just trying to make myself more marketable.

[wherenext]

I'd say, if you can pay for it, yes, go! If you're lucky you'll get a good workshop/w. leader, and [b]it will look good on your resume[/b] anyways!

[Gemini72]

Witness: I wouldn't pay out of pocket for the IB course, I'd wait and get it part of the deal of signing with my next school. Schools have PD funds for this kind of thing, and I doubt they wouldn't hire you just to save money on an IB course. Basically I think if the school wants to hire someone without IB experience, they're usually willing to pay to send that teacher on the IB course - it's part of the package. Good luck with your job search next year.

[justlooking]

I think I have to disagree with the poster above me. In this round of recruiting, schools who had IB positions were mostly interested in teachers with IB experience. But I was able to talk myself into a few interviews because I had familiarity with the program- through reading and self-study by a school I worked at. I think having the training would have also helped in terms of getting the interview- at least at the better schools.

It seems schools will try to get teachers with IB experience first, but having AP or A level experience helps, and knowing what the IB is all about gives you a leg up too. I think if you're interested in the IB and will be looking for a job in the near future, why not go for it?

[witness]

I appreciate the comments. Apologies if I hyjacked the thread. I have a feeling this topic will be important as people return from job fairs. Personally, I would prefer that a school pay for me to get IB training. I know a few people who have the good fortune of getting this training paid for by a school. However, I also know some teachers who, like me, are very experienced and did not even get an interview because they had no IB training.

So, am I correct to believe that IB will allow me to take a course, even if I don't work for an IB school? I seem to have this in my head that they only allow IB-registered schools to send teachers to IB training.

I am a middle school teacher and looking at humanities. I have spent some time looking at their website and it appears I would sign up for a category 1 course. This seems to be the initial course for those who have no training or background.

[wherenext]

In your choice of workshop, I strongly recommend to go to a subject specific workshop, not a "general myp introductory workshop"... that will be bla bla bla and there's so much of that in the myp... really, go to subject specific!

[Crgallen22]

Please post if you are able to sign up while not teaching with an IB school. I keep hearing that this is not allowed. Thanks!

[mandolin]

I tried to sign up for an IB course despite not having any IB experience, nor any affiliation with an IB school. I was told that you could only take an intro course (I took MYP Assessment & Curric) and I did it online. If you try to register for any other level, the admin will e-mail you to tell you that you cannot. It's expensive (almost $700 US) and there was nothing particularly innovative/different. Very holistic, very inquiry-based, very "best practices" approach...all of which seems to be common sense teaching anyway.

[redrider]

I did this: paid to get myself into an IB workshop. Last year, I was at an IB school but it was only a one year temporary position & therefore they wouldn't pay but I did have to have them "get me in". I had hoped it would give me a competitive advantage since my content area is NOT in demand. In terms of the school I'm at now, no, it wasn't worth it, but I'm hopeful it will lead to something in this next cycle.

When I told my workshop leader that I was paying myself (everyone else had been sent by their school, tuiton was $1,000, and they all knew where they were working in the upcoming school year) when I told her that I was paying myself, she said she felt bad for me. I took that for a bad sign but am still hoping it will lead to something good somewhere. I feel taken advantage of at my current school but again, I have a SMALL amount of work this year when many, many have NONE.