IB vs. non-IB as a counselor

[trackchk02]

Hello all,

I am in the process of evaluating schools for my first international placement. As a school counselor, is there a significant difference in future school counseling opportunities if I start at a non-IB school with AP, American curriculum, etc. vs. one that offers IB? I see a lot of focus on the forums on IB curriculum as the best placements, but I wasn't sure if that was mostly for general teaching staff so they could be trained in IB.

[reisgio]

As long as it's a strong AP school, I think you should be fine, though, clearly, both those on this forum and many IB school administrators, do like to hire people with previous IB experience. Counseling is somewhat unique; if you are a good counselor you can do a lot of the same good counseling in both IB and AP structures. With that said, if your strong suit is scheduling, IB scheduling is much more complicated than AP scheduling.

[PsyGuy]

The top (elite) and bottom (3rd tier) of ISs are in large part, NC (National Curriculum) ISs. The focus on IB is a result of a concentration of IB ISs that bridge third tier to first tier ISs. It is not impossible to transition from third to first tier through IB, but doing so significantly increases the success of such transitions.

You will find significant variation depending on the pathway focus in IE you are pursuing/appointed too. IB experience is more critical for Uni/Career guidance counselors, and to a lessor extent administration/supervision tasking.
It is less important in Mental Health (MH) counselor appointments, and within MH counselor positions is more desirable in applied interventions (such as LD/SPED/SEN/LS) positions than in crises/behavior management focused appointments.

Regardless what matters most is what leadership views as necessary to carry out a counselors tasking as they envision them, which can vary greatly among counselor ISs.