The International Schools Review Forum

Hello all,

I've been given two options to teach IB. One is with MYP and the other is DP. I teach Language A and am not trained in IB yet. If you were me, which one would you choose? Most of my experience is with middle school, so I believe the transition would be easier. But I ultimately want to teach DP down the road, but right now I'm a novice teacher.

Regards,

I teach Language A in both programmes. I have also taught one year of DP only because I requested to come out of MYP, which in my previous school was not well run. MYP has many detractors but my personal experience has taught me it's the implementation rather than the 'framework' itself than makes or breaks it.

I prefer DP, the students are maturer and most of them soon realise during the first month or so of the programme that the MYP honeymoon is over, the real work has begun.

The subject guides for the three current language A courses in DP contain much more of a structured course than the MYP language A course. I find this useful, but with this come more restrictions, choice of studied texts is one.

There are also greater pressures in DP during internal and external assessment times, this is because grades are externally examined and/or moderated by IB examiners. I know some teachers who like MYP simply because they write the exams and they grade them, and guess what? All students pass and no problems for anyone (apart from the DP teachers who get clueless students down the line!)

Ultimately, I want to focus on DP as it opens up far more job opportunities than MYP. Take a look at the number of schools offering the DP over the MYP, for me, this equates to more career choices down the line.

Thanks for your reply. I'll consider all that.

Regards,

Good Morning.
I am not an MYP detractor, per se, but I do agree with Mr C4ke that the implementation is everything.
It is very frustrating as it is (no matter how you slice it) wildly complex. Next year, there are radical changes afoot which the IBO will deign to let us know by April (if we are lucky.) These are all attempts to streamline and simplify the process. And of course, however you implement it, they will be quick to let you know your shortcomings but extremely slow to actually tell you what to do.
So, from next year, it may be a little less opaque.
As well as MYP, I teach two subjects at DP. I do enjoy DP very much. There is a no-nonsense syllabus, and clear criteria for grading lab work (I'm a scientist.) The lab grading gets considerably easier with practise.
As for one or the other, well, how comfortable are you with older or younger kids? I would always try to teach across the years at it makes you a better prospect as a teacher. Plus the students benefit from your knowledge of what is coming next/went before.
Either way, IB is here to stay and is spreading throughout the IS verse.

I'm also a Language A teacher. I prefer DP to MYP but have taught both programs. In terms of planning and implementation, DP is easier and more clear cut. It's easier to follow the syllabus that you set out. In MYP you've got AOIs, Interdisciplinary planning, and those awful unit planners. Hopefully it will get easier next year when the changes come. DP is harder work, though. More reading and you've got to get the works done in a timely manner to give time for assessments. A class of 20 can take weeks to do their IOCs and FOAs. Saying that, I just like the material more in DP, plus, the kids are older and can (usually) handle the workload.

Over half the IB schools around the world ONLY offer DP.

As such, it's a no-brainer as to what would be most useful for the old CV. Many schools are as likely to offer IGCSEs as they are the MYP as a prelude to the DP Programme.