Authorization | Verification Visit - The Interviews

Meeting with Head, School Administration

The focus of this meeting is to verify what has been said in the documents submitted to the IB. It also assesses the Head of Schools’ commitment to the IB Philosophy (Standard A), Resource support for introducing the programme (Standard B) and Curriculum planning (Standard C).

What are your main reasons for introducing the IB Diploma Programme?

• Were you part of the team that decided to bring the IB to this school? At which point did the School Board decide to do the IB? Why then (i.e. where does the decision fit into the development of the school)?
• To what extent is your school philosophy and mission aligned with that of the IB philosophy and mission? Are there any specific differences?
• Have you read the booklet IB Standards & Practices? What implications do these have for your school?
• Where does the Diploma Programme fit within the strategic development plan of your school?
• How have teachers been involved in the decision to adopt the Diploma Programme? What has been the role of parents, students, community members and the school board in the decision?
• How have you resourced the implementation of the programme (personnel + financial resources)? What resources are available and which potential additional resources are required (e.g. science laboratory facilities, additional library resources, coordination time for CAS and TOK)?
• Are you aware of the IB Learner Profile booklet? How will you ensure that students will have sufficient opportunities to develop the attributes of the IB Learner Profile? How have you made the IB Learner Profile your own within the school?
• Who provides pedagogical leadership within the school? How will the school leadership team support the programme? Do you have regular senior leadership team and/or pedagogical leadership meetings at which the Diploma Programme is discussed?
• How often do you meet with staff to discuss the implementation of the programme? What opportunities do you create for collaborative working and curriculum planning?
• What resources have you made available for the on-going professional development of staff to implement the IB Diploma Programme? Have you been to an IB Administrators workshop? If so what were the key points of learning?
• When you become authorized to offer the Diploma Programme you become an IB World School. All your students belong to this IB World School. How will students who are not taking the Diploma Programme or its courses have access to the IB philosophy and mission? What will belonging to an IB World School mean to them?
• How does the whole school community model the values and behaviours associated with education for intercultural understanding?
• How has the Board shown interest in the implementation of the IB? Is their support long term?
• What has the biggest challenge been in trying to put in place a really good quality Diploma Programme?

Meeting with the School Board

The focus of this meeting is to decide the extent to which the school is committed to the IB. Because the School Board finances the school they need to know what that commitment means.

• Why do you want to offer the IB Diploma Programme? Can you give us background information as to how the idea came about to be an IB World School?
• Part of the authorization process is to consider your level of commitment to the IB. From the point of view of the Board you have two key responsibilities: to financially support the programme and to hire a Head of School / Administrator who can put the programme in place. Are you happy that the Head of School / Administrator knows what to do to implement the Diploma Programme? Do you have a good understanding of what is happening in the school regarding the implementation of the IB?
• Do you have any concerns of where the school is in its preparation to implement the Diploma Programme?
• How will you as a Board judge the success of the implementation of the IB at the school? (The School Board should be encouraged to use the IB Standards and Practices as evaluation criteria in judging the success of the implementation of the IB at the school.)

Meeting with Diploma Programme Coordinator

• Why does the school wish to offer the Diploma Programme? Are other 16-18 courses being offered alongside the Diploma Programme? If so how are they going to run in parallel?
• Will your students have to meet national requirements over and above the Diploma Programme? If so what are they and how will these impact on the demands made on the students?
• What do you understand is your role as coordinator of the Diploma Programme? What are your key responsibilities? Do you have any other responsibilities in the school? How much time have you been given to coordinate and administer the Diploma Programme? Is this sufficient?
• Where do you fit into the pedagogical leadership team of the school? Who are you accountable to and line managed by? What opportunities do you have to relate the IB philosophy and requirements to the Director/Head of school?
• How often do you meet with the Diploma Programme team? How have teachers been involved in the decision to adopt the Diploma Programme? Are teachers committed to the Diploma Programme? What are the key challenges they face? How are you going to support them in facing these challenges?
• How many students have been enrolled in the Diploma Programme? How many of these are full Diploma and how many Diploma course students? Who decides who can do which? How was the Admission Policy drawn up? How will you actively encourage students to take the full Diploma? How will you support those students who are academically challenged?
• What opportunities do teachers have to collaborate together, especially in the planning of the curriculum? What meetings are scheduled for teachers? How often do they take place? How do you help teachers and students make meaningful connections between different subject disciplines?
• How have you aligned the Diploma approaches to teaching and learning with the schools established approach to pedagogy? What have been the key opportunities and challenges?
• Diploma Programme subjects are designed to be taught concurrently over a two year period. Why is this important? Does your teaching schedule reflect this?
• How does the Diploma Programme fit with the curriculum in the rest of the school?  How are students going to be prepared for the Diploma Programme in other years in the school?
• There needs to be a commitment of the school to promote the IB philosophy – so a commitment to engage with other IB schools. Do you link with other Diploma Programme schools?
• How will TOK be delivered in the school? Who will be involved and what expertise do you think they need? How will TOK be scheduled to be taught over two years? How do you ensure that TOK supports the development of interdisciplinary understanding?
• To what extent is the school committed to community service activities? How will this be coordinated in the school? What kinds of CAS activities are planned?
• How will you supervise the administration of extended essays? Who will be involved? How will students choose their topics?
• How will you embed the policy on academic honesty?

Meeting with TOK Coordinator

• What’s your experience of the IB?
• What are your thoughts on how you are going to structure your course? Are you going to use other colleagues or guest speakers?
• How will you develop and promote international mindedness and the attributes of the IB learner profile within theory of knowledge?
• How do you intend to ensure access to information on global issues and diverse perspectives?
• It’s a strong requirement that all subject teachers contribute to the TOK – is there a structure in the school that will facilitate coordination of that process? How will the teachers collaborate together?
• How will you ensure that TOK is embedded in each subject?
• Do you and the teachers use the knowledge frameworks, as illustrated in the TOK Guide?
• Will your students' academic writing skills allow them to write TOK essays as required?
• How much time will TOK get?
• What do you think of the holistic assessment of the TOK essay?
• Has the school asked for your help in building up learning resources (e.g. library)?
• What do you think are the greatest challenges and opportunities in implementing theory of knowledge in your school?

Meeting with CAS Coordinator

• How did you come to be CAS Coordinator?
• Are there CAS-like activities already happening within the school?
• Have you talked to the students about CAS? What do they think?
• Do you think your colleagues understand the importance of CAS to the Diploma Programme?
• Have you met with other CAS coordinators in the country?
• What do you think the big challenges will be here?
• Some of your students are not doing the full Diploma but are doing courses. Will they also do CAS?
• How are students going to record their CAS experiences? How will they record their reflections? (E.g. are you using Manage Bacc?)
• How much time will you have to coordinate CAS?
• Is there a budget for CAS?
• One of the requirements is that students engage in a global initiative project. Have you thought about this? (Most CAS programs will send students away but you don’t have to).

Meeting with Librarian

• What are the school's objectives for learning, and how does the library support them?
• How does the school define inquiry? To what extent do you see the library and your role being integral to inquiry?
• How do you as the librarian build relationships with learners to enhance the inquiry process? How do you help to unteach inquiry habits that do not support academic integrity and deeper research?
• What process has / will the school put in place to get feedback from teachers about what they want?
• Do you attend curriculum planning meetings?
• How do you secure dedicated time with other educators (teachers) to collaborate?
• What’s your involvement in the academic part of the IB (EE/TOK essays etc.)?
• How is the library involved in supporting approaches to learning, e.g. as the librarian are you involved with the development of research skills of students or academic honesty?
• How is academic integrity being taught and reinforced in the school community?
• Who in the school is responsible for the methodologies and processes of inquiry and research (searching for and evaluating sources, citations, copyright and fair use, good practice in collecting data, ethical experimentation)? Where do you as the librarian fit in?
• How does the library support the development of the learner profile attributes?
• Are the books cataloged?
• How has the school defined the multiliteracies it supports, and to what extent has the library and you as the librarian been involved in developing the definitions?
• What is the range of languages used in the school community?
• Does the library provide resources that support reading and interaction on personal; and functional languages and dialects, where appropriate, in addition to the languages of instruction?
• Where can learners go in the school to seek content in their personal languages, whether for reading for pleasure or study?
• Do you have materials (in other languages) that support international mindedness?
• Are learners encouraged to express themselves in multiple languages and modes of communication in both academic and personal contexts?
• How will the collection support students with the Extended Essay? Do you have relationships with universities? Do you have an on-line database?
• How does the library reach out to the wider community for resources | information | collections? Does the school support this both culturally and financially?
• How does the library | librarian gain access to external collections when needed?
• Does the library host and/or monitor virtual communities in the school?
• How does the librarian contribute to which platforms and databases are used to aid and extend learning in the school?
• Who is primarily responsible for technology integration and implementation in the school? Do you as the librarian contribute to purchasing resources for multi-modal learning and teaching?
• How are library spaces designed to accommodate multi-modal learning and teaching?

Meeting with Counselor

• How do you manage the structure of meeting students – do you have an open house?
• Do you have access to the IB Portal (My IB)?  Have you checked out the platform on it for career counselors?
• How do you participate in the IB community at your school and beyond?
• Do you play a role with potential student recruitment? If so, what?
• What role do you play in the induction of students into the Diploma Programme?
• What role do you play in schedule building and course selection/enrollment?
• How do you work to support the programme at all levels—with students, parents, community, teachers, other counsellors, administrators and coordinator? How do you help parents understand the demands of the DP?
• How do you work with students to support them: access the programme, remove barriers to their learning, advocate for them, monitor their progress, time and stress management etc.?
• How do you prepare students for their next stage of life after the Diploma Programme (access to college etc.)? What are your practices for helping students through this process? What about students who want to study internationally?
• Counselors can be the gatekeepers of the IB, so how can you support your DP Programme?

Meeting with SEN / EAL teacher

What does your special educational needs policy say about special considerations you give for pupils with SEN?

• Are you involved in the selection of students for the Diploma Programme? How many have special educational needs?
• What type of students are you admitting to Diploma Programme? What support are you putting in place to meet their needs?(You need to decide what support the school can offer).
• Do you have any role in helping teachers develop teaching practice (e.g. scaffolding, differentiation)? Are you aware of the document ‘Approaches to Teaching and Learning’?
• Did all teachers have opportunities to go through Standards and Practices (especially section C) prior to the verification visit?

Meeting with Teachers

• How have teachers been involved in the decision to adopt the Diploma Programme?
• How will the Diploma Programme benefit the students? What do you think will be the key opportunities and challenges it presents to the students?
• What opportunities have been provided for professional development for both existing and new members of staff?
• Are you familiar with the Standards & Practices? What implications do these have for your subject? Have teachers developed appropriate course outlines? Are teachers now involved in preparing a detailed written curriculum based on the requirements of the programme?
• Are you aware of the IB Learner Profile? How will you ensure that students will have sufficient opportunities to develop the attributes of the IB Learner Profile? How have you made the IB Learner Profile your own? You might like to consider the following: “I am aware that my Subject Guide includes extensive exploration of the relationship between the IB Learner Profile and my subject. I am really interested in exploring this IB Learner Profile attribute of (choose one) and these are my thoughts on the attribute X (the one they have chosen)." Which Learner Profile attribute(s) is particularly relevant to your subject and why?
• Are you fully aware of the assessment requirements of the programme? What internal assessment structures have been put in place at the school? Have you negotiated with the IB Coordinator deadlines for internal assessments? Did you have input into the calendar?
• What opportunities have been provided to plan collaboratively, and also in transdisciplinary teams? What teams have been established? When do you meet? How regularly? Are these meetings scheduled?
• How will you embed the policy on academic honesty?
• What does international mindedness mean in relation to your subject? Some guiding questions (not exhaustive) could be: What is the international journey my subject has taken? Can the answer to questions sometimes be found in cultures other than my own? Are different cultures more similar than different?  What are the dimensions of shared humanity? How will you develop students’ intercultural understanding in your subject?
• TOK is about exploring multiple perspectives. How does your subject explore multiple perspectives?” The two key questions at the heart of TOK are: “How do we know?” and “How do I know?” How is knowledge created in your subject? What are some of the problems with this? What is the methodology underpinning your subject? To what extent does my subject area tolerate ambiguity? Are you aware of the knowledge framework for your subject as contained in the TOK Guide?

Meetings with Students and Parents

Meetings with students and parents are opportunities for them to ask questions of the IBO visiting team, especially about the philosophy of the programme, what CAS, extended essays and TOK involve and explore what the differences between the Diploma Programme and national programmes are. They are also an opportunity for the visiting team to assess how involved students and parents have been in the introduction of the programme.

• Why does the school want to be an IB School?
• Is it your choice to take the full Diploma Programme / Diploma courses, or must you take the full Diploma Programme / Diploma courses?
• Have you been given lots of information about the Diploma Programme? Do you know that it is not easy? What’s hard about it?
• Have you heard about the Learner Profile?
• Have you read the IB Mission Statement? How do you make the world a better place?
• What do you understand TOK and CAS to be? Why do you think they are important in the Diploma Programme?
• Have any of you spoken to another IB student in another school? What have you found out?
• Do you trust in the school to be able to deliver the programme?
• Do you have any questions for us?