Tips for authorization
Prior to becoming an authorized IB World School you are a Candidate School.
Introducing any new programme involves you in a significant change process. This page looks at some of the challenges of introducing the IB Diploma Programme and provides you with top tips of how to be successful.
A case study raises some of the key issues that need to be considered.
Challenges of introducing the IB
During IB workshops administrators raise some common challenges that occur when introducing the IB Diploma Programme. The following list is not exhaustive and some of the challenges will depend on specific contexts.
- Create 'buy in' from key stakeholder groups (leadership, staff, community)
- Resistance to change - instructional change, scheduling change, philosophical change
- Negotiating union resistance due to perceived extra workload
- Negotiate the non-negotiables
- Cost ($): resourcing, training
- Aligning IB with state standards, district mandates and expectations
Activity 1 - Tips for implementing the IB
Read the following article written by Julian H Jefferys when he was IB Coordinator and Assistant Head responsible for preparing the school to introduce the Diploma School in Canberra, Australia.
- Individually or as a group review the paper and then:
highlight a sentence that helped you understand the paper and contains the 'big idea'
underline a phrase that resonated with you - in a meaningful or provoking way
circle a word that stood out to you and captured your attention - Each person or group shares their thoughts with each other. What is highlighted? What is at the heart of the paper?
- What are the key lessons for you?
Activity 2: Case Study - Implementing the IB
- Read the case study in a focused way.
- Identify the key issues.
- Discuss strategies the school did or could employ in addressing the issue(s).
The story of an Australian independent school
Background
An independent school was experiencing a gradual decline in enrollments and had lost its way from being a very reputable school. For fifteen years, the school had failed to identify a key selling point/point of difference while other schools around it were developing and delivering exciting offerings and were more often than not less expensive. The school considered the IB as an option but found numerous ways to torpedo the option.
A new Head of School
A new head of school was appointed and this person came with considerable IB experience and implementation experience. The decision was taken to position the school as the key “international” and forward-looking school in the region and nationally. The IB was seen as a key piece of that strategy. The head appointed a new director of studies and a new IB Coordinator, plus a small number of staff.
Implementing the programme
The newly appointed IBC and director built an implementation team with some of the new staff plus some of the enthusiastic existing staff. The team worked well to bring in the new programme but perhaps worked on a narrow “crash through” approach with a longer term strategy to broaden the appeal of the programme. The school was authorised and the early cohorts were healthy. In some ways the implementation had been successful but there were very strong pockets of resistance and some of this was found in the senior leadership of the school. The middle management of the school also had some reservations as much of the hack work and accountability rested with them.
The issue
The school and the implementation of the programme had a fairly clear strategy. This was published and well written. Accountabilities were established and timelines kept people on task. The problem, in my view, was getting the culture to go with the strategy. The vested interest was in the “old” way of doing things and the “old way” was more intrinsically valued than some new system. Perhaps initial arguments about the need for the introduction of a new vision and strategy were not won. Perhaps the issue is one of time as the school may well have embraced the programme and all it took was for it to live in the school and have people engage with it in time.
Teaching Notes
Issues arising from this case study include:
- Marketing: clear articulation of reasons for implementing the IB.
- Stakeholder involvement: Communication with all stakeholders at all stages of planning and implementation so they all feel involved. To what extent has the planning and implementation stage been a consultative process and a means of collaborative learning? Is understanding shared or led by the IB Coordinator? Have policies been worked on in a collaborative fashion so there is a high level of 'buy in'?
- Potential staff resistance to change: the IB requires a degree of preparation and submission of plans ahead of verification from teachers who are not yet secure in their confidence of delivering the IB. Some teachers may have spent a good career within the national system and see no good reason to change - they might perceiving it as a challenging experience.
- Dividing the staff faculty: If a school runs parallel systems how do you bring coherence both in the staffroom and classroom?
- Mission and Culture: To what extent will implementing the IB challenge existing philosophy, mission and assessment? To what extent will the culture of the school be challenged? How does one merge, for example, the Learner Profile with existing culture - for leaders, staff and students?
- Governance: To what extent has the School Board bought into the IB mission and philosophy?
- Collaboration: Have there been ample opportunities for collaborative planning, for example in embedding TOK and international mindedness within subjects?
Tags: candidacy, authorization