The International Schools Review Forum

I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any schools out there that would offer training to someone who would be willing to learn IB, AP, etc.

You mean, schools that would hire you? American School of Quito is one; they hire a lot of teachers without IB experience; it seems they prefer to train them themselves.

Do you mean training or experience?

You dont need a school to get IB/AP training, there are a number of third . organizations that will train you. You can find the IBO training catalog here:

http://www.ibo.org/events/

Their are a number of both face2face and online training opportunities. Typically being "trained" means youve completed the level 1 workshop for your subject.

You can find the training page (workshops and institutes) for the AP program here:

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/P ... roller.jpf

AP is "easier" in that the workshops focus on teaching you how to construct an appropriate syllabus for your AP course, most schools already have these done. The rest is simply including the material during your classes that will be on the AP exam. I recommend getting an AP study guide (Barons, etc)

If your looking for experience, a number of schools have intern programs, though these are usually employment opportunities. Ive known teachers who were trailing spouses that "volunteered" as aids in IB schools so that they could get experience. There are people who do internships at ISs as part of their field experience (student teaching, practicum, internship, etc) to get certified.

Thanks for all of your feedback. I realize now that I could have been more clear. When I constructed the question I was thinking of international schools who use IB/AP curriculum that would hire a teacher and train them to teach it. Thanks for the tip on the school in Quito. Are there any others? I'm particularly interested in Asia...

Is it worth it to take workshops? I get the impression that it really doesn't do much for your resume. What counts is the teaching experience.... Am I understanding this correctly?

A good IB school typically trains new IB teachers. Some schools mainly tier 2 schools will hold off on it, especially for MYP. Training is usually over the summer so you do it between years in your contract, and they want to make sure you work out.

Your correct, training doesn't impress very much, and no amount of training equals any amount of experience. Still training is better then nothing.

There are usually less IB experienced teachers on the market than there are positions at IB schools, so pretty much all the schools are open to hiring newbies.
Training can take different forms. PYP you have to be sent on a course per their rules, so you either go out for one or the school brings in a trainer for all the newbies at once. MYP and DP you might be trained on the job by the experienced teachers around you. I know PG feels all schools should send you on a training course, but I've seen it be very effective to learn from colleagues, and some of the best schools use this model. They may send you on a course after you've reached a certain point, but not before you arrive.

It completely depends on the school. My school is probably considered tier 3 but they sent me on a DP course as soon as I arrived.

If you have no IB experience or training, it will be tough to get into a good IB school unless you teach a specialized subject (science, math, art). But there's a reason for this. As soon as I arrived at an IB school I realized that I would not only have to learn all this IB stuff, but teach at the same time. Not easy to do, so I can understand why schools are hesitant to hire teachers without IB experience.

There are IB schools out there that will hire and train you for free. Other schools will hire you on the condition that you do IB training before arriving, at your expense. I interviewed with a school like this, but ultimately got hired by an IB school who trained me in-house.

The above post is correct - there is a huge investment of time and resources for a school to hire someone without an IB background and train them. Many schools won't (or can't) do it. That first year of IB is also quite draining for the teacher. I didn't feel comfortable with it until my second year.

I would argue that it depends on what your teaching. If your new to PYP, then your first year is really a training year for you, and for a school it means a year of you basically being an intern, while your learning what to do. DIP, depends what your experiences are before you get there. For MYP, its not so important, it depends how much the school has implemented IB philosophy, pedagogy, and methodology. There are a good number of MYP programs, that you cant tell are IB at all. Teachers will talk about the IB learner profile, but aside from that its no different from any other lower secondary school anywhere, and unless the school is solely IB, their MYP program is going to look a lot like what ever national curriculum they are using.

Personally I never get the "so different with IB" thing. Ok for DP you have to get over the crazy random IA and EE criteria based on potluck with examiner. And the fact it's become a faceless corporate entity run by consultants who think visual art can be assessed with a jpeg upload.

Good teachers know how to teach and the IB learner profile isn't radical. It is embedded in western education systems these days. I found the IB level one course next to useless (had to do it) so did all my colleagues with experience. I can read the info read to me by the "trainer"!

Basically it depends on your understanding ofmodern teaching methods and subject knowledge. What is a problem in general is getting good maths and science teachers. Loads of really bad ones get jobs as no choice. They need training in general and of course lots of non western didactic focused teachers out there in maths and science who need training in general. IB not great at training so I am not surprised schools do it in-house.

What seems to happen is that IB is a "badge of honour" in the international tea hong circuit!

And in case anyone thinks I am anti IB I love the IBDP. I don't like the quality of Ibo delivery at the moment. Also MYP is a mess and wouldn't touch with a barge pole.