Online IB courses

[kent]

Hi,

I am an experienced classroom teacher from Toronto (with 2 years teaching in Thailand). I am not the most desirable hire as I have 2 kids and a trialing spouse (who can work anywhere).

I am trying to build my CV as we are hoping to move abroad again in the next year or two and I am thinking of taking the PYP Cat 1 online courses.

I have no classroom PYP teaching experience, but am thinking that these courses might boost my CV and make my lack of IB experience less of an issue.

Do you know if these courses are helpful, or if Admin/Directors like if teachers have these courses without the classroom experience practising PYP?

Thanks!

[expatscot]

If you get a job in an IB school, you will have to go through some training at least to Category 1 level pretty much as soon as you get there, so it would probably be of benefit to get it done (in your case, it's one less thing for the school to pay for!) Certainly at secondary, though, it's experience which counts as much as anything else.

Put it this way - it wouldn't hurt to do it (my wife just did, completed the course before Christmas, paying for it ourselves, before landing a job with a UK curriculum school. Typical....!)

[PsyGuy]

The rule is no amount of training equals any amount of experience. This is especially true with PYP, its a very different means of organizing a lesson and a classroom. You cant teach it in 17 hours. Cat 1 courses are a general waste of time for western trained educators, you will get the IB learner profile and the PYP lexicon of terms, and some introduction to the S&S and the bubble planer, but otherwise it will be a waste of time, and given the training will be online you will get even less out of it. All that and a $800 cost for the privilege. You can get most of the material just looking for it on the internet.
You wont find it very marketable, everyone knows an IB certificate doesnt mean very much.

[expatscot]

@psyguy - that's true (I didn't learn anything on mine that I didn't already know), but is it not the case that (a) you have to get it at some point to teach IB, or at least by when the school is certified, and (b) it would then be $800 that the school doesn't have to pay out?

[PsyGuy]

@expatscot

In general at some point someone needs to be trained. Its technically true that an IS than wouldn't have to pay for your training. No amount of training equals any kind of experience, but training is better than nothing. The utility to an ITs resume just isnt worth the cost. In the bubble where you can create IT candidates that are in all ways equal except in IB training than yes the training has value, that scenario just isnt found. Recruiters know the training isnt worth anything in so far as increased performance in the classroom and what you find is the IB ISs it would matter yet usually cant be picky anyway and will train candidates because they cant attract a strong enough candidate pool, and the ISs that are pursued by IT candidates arent so cheap with PD funding that they wouldnt blink at training an IT they wanted. You just dont walk into an interview with your cat 1 certificate, and kick your feet up, and they have the contract ready because you flashed your certificate. Have 6 years of PYP experience across multiple years and exhibition, then the interview becomes more relaxed, but no one in recruiting/leadership gets excited about a training certificate.

[OzGrad]

Second that. I wouldn't waste money on the course. It would be more impressive to have found out the info via google rather than pay $800 for the privilege.

[kent]

I appreciate your opinions. Thank you for sharing them.

I am currently putting the courses to the side and am planning on getting some other training/qualifications at this time.

I have been talking to my Search Associate and they are suggesting that I take the CAT training.

It is a conundrum.

[PsyGuy]

@kent

If by CAT you mean Classroom Assessment Techniques as offered by the PTC, its junk. Youre an IT your already supposed to know how to do that. If by CAT you mean the Catholic Social Teaching approach, maybe if you were really focused on a religious IS, or that aspect of IE.
If you want something of solid utility and inexpensive work on Google Educator certification the level one course is $10, the level 2 course is $25.

[kent]

Hey Psyguy

Cat 1 - I mean the "IB category 1" courses
International Baccalaureate® (IB) has three categories of workshop:

Category 1, which focus on IB philosophy and implementation
Category 2, which focus on delivery of the four IB programmes of education
Category 3, for educators to build on and enhance their professional development portfolios

I am currently already a google level 2 teacher

[PsyGuy]

@kent

Thanks for the clarification (duh, its an IB PD topic, totally missed that).

[shadowjack]

Kent - if you are a holistic, inquiry based, rubric using teacher, skip the cat one.

[Dredge]

Please don't waste your money. Don't pay for the course yourself... get hired by a school, which is completely possible, and make them pay. Or, work at one of the hundreds of non-IB schools that are just as good.