The International Schools Review Forum

I'm finding myself in a Catch-22. Many international schools want teachers with IB experience. I have AP experience and have taken the Category 1 training for IB but no experience teaching it. How can I get the experience if I'm not currently teaching in an IB school? If you're an IB teacher (I'm specifically looking at DP science), how did you gain your initial experience? I would love some suggestions on how to put myself in a more favorable position.

I'd apply to a tier 2 school in China, Vietnam or the middle east and work my way up.

I see two main options:

1) Lower the standard of school you'll apply to. There are many IB schools that will hire people without experience to teach DP. They aren't the top-tier ones, they are usually mostly local students, they aren't in the best locations, etc. QSI is one that will hire people to teach DP without experience, but they only have DP at their schools in Kyiv, Bratislava and Shekou (perhaps other locations in China as well -- my intel is a few years old).

2) Get a job at a school that offers IB and another curriculum. Land the job in the non-IB section and work your way into DP. Same option could work with middle school (6-10). Get hired to teach in the MYP or middle school and prove you can do DP.

I agree with the above.

The third option is to have AP scores high enough (4.5+) that they don't want to let you get away.

JJBombard,

Are you with Search? If so, go to their database and start searching for schools looking for DP science teachers that are in out of the way places. No need to look as far away as QSI, I suspect.

Then contact them or apply through Search (or Schrole, if they use them, which means a bit of a duplication of requests to your references). In your email section, mention you don't have IB experience, but you have AP and have taken IB level 1 (which is really useless IMHO) on your own dime and initiative because you really want to teach IB. Also, bone up on the IB. Get the guides for your subject and study them. Learn about ATLs and LP and contexts and how they fit. Look at the IB rubric bands and the language of them (most common - state, describe, explain, justify, -, from lower order/level assessment to higher level).

Good luck!

In general:

1) Teach in a domestic IB program. Maybe your current district has an IB DS you can apply for or move into, or guest teach.

2) In DIP best practices are best practices high level AP or A level scores are highly transferable to the DIP, but you have to be really good.

3) Expand your search, many lower tier ISs will train an IT.

4) Find an IS that offers a NC curriculum and IB, teaching in the NC for a period and than request an IB DIP course load. Many ITs break into IB this way.

5) Find an IS that is a candidate IB IS, a lot of the ITs wont know anything about IB, and your training will appear more valuable (though IB training is worthless).

6) Be an IB practitioner within your own classroom even if you arent an IB IS, then document this in your portfolio (especially in MYP or lower secondary courses). If you can talk the talk and "look" like you can walk the walk, you will be above many candidates who dont bother to adapt IB meds/peds.

7) Become an examiner in your subject. You do not need to have taught IB to be eligible to be an examiner.