Regional Office Newsletter Africa, Europe, Middle East November 2012
Welcome from Adrian Kearney, Regional Director I had the pleasure of meeting many of you during the recent regional conference held in Madrid and as I said in my closing remarks, it truly was the most successful regional conference ever, not just because of the number of attendees, over 1000, but by the quality of the workshops presenters and the plenary speakers. Our two pre-conference leadership workshops were extremely well received and we will repeat the experience at our 2013 conference being held in The Hague. We also plan to hold a pre-conference workshop for coordinators and would appreciate receiving your input as to what you like to see in this session. Presentations and photos from the conference are available on our website here. Thank you again to all of you who made it such a success. This edition of our regional newsletter will give you greater insight into the activities of our Professional Development team and the new initiatives they are putting in place as we continue to strive to improve the level of service to you and provide a range of professional development workshops to suit your needs. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you again to make sure that your school’s details are entirely up-to-date in IBIS to help ensure that we can communicate with you on a regular basis. Best wishes Adrian
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2012
Spotlight on Professional Development in the region Jonathan Renaudon-Smith Head of Professional Development, Africa, Europe, Middle East
The IB has always been dedicated to supporting the ongoing development of a worldwide professional learning community and as part of this we are seeking to innovate and develop new models which will provide ever greater flexibility and options for schools. Published in November 2010, the revised Programme Evaluation Guides for the DP, MYP and PYP include requirements around professional development that became effective from 2012. Schools submitting their self-study questionnaire in 2014 will need to demonstrate that they meet the professional development requirements as outlined in the documents. We would therefore urge schools to consult these documents (available on the OCC) to ensure they fully understand the requirements and have ample time to plan their professional development schedule. The ultimate objective of course is to improve the learning experiences and outcomes for all our students. If you have any questions about these new requirements please don’t hesitate to contact Richard Henry, Head of School Services. In-school workshops Often recommended by site visitors or consultants as a means to fulfil the professional development requirements to be a successful IB World School, an inschool workshop is requested by schools for on-site training of their own staff. It has become apparent that, for reasons that can be understood, many schools have had a tendency to request these workshops for the same time of year. This then has enormous implications for recruiting the IB Educators required to run the workshops.
In order to improve the service to schools and to be able to deliver in-school workshops at the quality level that we require, it has been decided that some modifications to the way we book workshops were required: • a limit will be put on the number of in-school workshops that can be organised in any one month in order to ensure that workshops are better distributed throughout the year. • requests for in-school workshops will be taken by the regional office on a “first come, first serve” basis, and according to these deadlines: - 1st March: workshops taking place in the following full academic year (from August of that same year until July of the following year). - 1st October: additional deadline for workshops taking place in the second half of the same academic year (January-July) • for languages other than the official IB languages (English, French and Spanish), workshop requests can estimate a maximum of 50 participants. For in-school workshops planned for April to August 2013, schools can expect confirmation of the leaders assigned to their workshop as of 8 weeks before the start date of the event.
Subject-specific seminars for 2013 The IB publishes new subject guides at the beginning of the calendar year, and then offers subject-specific seminars to help educators understand and implement the changes. Subject-specific seminars offer an important opportunity for experienced teachers to fully acquaint themselves with changes to a particular subject area. They explain and exemplify the teaching and learning framework, the guidelines and requirements for implementation, the objectives and criteria, and the assessment tools and task types. Academic staff from the programme development team and/or a member of the curriculum review team will be on hand throughout the workshop to answer questions and participate in discussion. Subjectspecific seminars will be held at face-to-face events within the first three months of publication of the new guide. All workshops held after the subject-specific
seminars (online and face-to-face) will use the new guide; any workshops held before the subject-specific seminars will continue to use the current guide. More information is available on the website . 2013 Subject-specific Seminars being held are: • Diploma Programme - Theory of knowledge (TOK), 1-3 February in Brussels Middle Years Programme: The Next Chapter – special seminars This special seminar will take the place of any subjectspecific seminars in 2013 and we will resume subject seminars in 2014 when all subject guides will be republished. This seminar will summarize the changes being made and provide an update on progress in the project so far. Participants will explore new elements, such as the move toward a more explicit concept based curriculum that encourages idea-centered teaching and learning through global contexts. Middle Years Programme: The Next Chapter – special seminars in 2013 • 1-3 February Brussels • 5-7 April Marrakech • 21-23 June London. Selecting a workshop The 2012-13 catalogue of professional development opportunities for IB educators, and in some cases, also for educators who work outside the IB teaching and learning environment, is now available. The new catalogue dozens of workshops broad swath of subject learning activities. The is available online.
describes across a areas and catalogue
Each workshop included in the catalogue describes its recommended audience: workshops are targeted for administrators, teachers, librarians, heads of school, counsellors, career guidance officers, and specialist teachers; others are introductory for teachers from non-IB schools.
Planning your professional development programme A series of wall calendars has been produced to make it easier to plan the workshops for your teachers. These handy calendars unfold and can be displayed in your office or staff room. The PYP and MYP calendars cover workshops through to the end of July 2013 while the DP calendar will be issued twice a year.
If you did not receive a copy and would like one, simply email pd.ibaem@ibo.org. As changes may occur, we suggest you refer to the latest schedule of workshops which is available on our website. Online workshops Registration for all 2013 online professional development workshops is now open and the first session will begin on 30 January, with 6 more sessions throughout the rest of the year. There will be a number of new workshops for all IB programmes in 2013 as well as more workshops in French and Spanish. Visit the website to view the full schedule of 2013 online workshops.
gain a flexible, internationally recognized education while advancing their careers in their chosen sport. This sports pilot aims to provide a flexible offering of IB education whereby student athletes are provided with a timetable combining their sport and educational commitments over a period of up to 4 years. The target group is student athletes who would have undertaken the full IB Diploma if it were not for their time commitments to sports training and competition. The press release is available here. In the sports pilot, student athletes will complete 6 IB Diploma courses (any combination of SL/HL courses) and the IB Diploma core. Candidates will receive IB Diploma course results after each exam session. A transcript of their results can be sent to the universities the student athletes are applying for. However, the student athletes will not be eligible for award of the IB Diploma due to the extended programme of study. It is anticipated the student athletes will be provided with the same university access as that of an IB Diploma graduate. The Pilot Project is seeking expressions of interest to participate from IB World Schools and any school wishing to be included should contact Adrian Kearney, the Regional Director.
Access to an IB education for competitive athletes Director General Jeff Beard, accompanied by Regional Director Adrian Kearney, announced a new initiative at the London Paralympics in September in collaboration with ‘The World Academy of Sport’ (WAoS) that provides athletes with the opportunity to
Left to right: Jeffrey Beard (Director General IB), Sir Philip Craven (President Intl Paralympic Committee), Frank Fredericks (IOC member & former Chair IOC Athletes Commission), Katrina Webb (Intl Paralympic Athlete Ambassador)
IB Educator Network update We continue to focus on improving our services to you and hope that initiatives such as the online invitation system have made the process more simple and efficient. Importantly this new process helped ensure that Heads were fully involved in the process. The IBEN team provisionally selected the workshop leaders for Professional Development events, and worked with Programme Managers to make the initial selection for school visitors. Once the provisional selections had been made Heads were sent a link where they could see the selections for all their staff and were therefore able to confirm or reject the selections. With close to 1,000 educators in the AEM region the regional office is proud to have such substantial professional support for the wide diversity of schools and teachers across the more than 80 countries in our region. There have been extremely high levels of enrolment for training for school services and professional development roles as well as the response to calls for training of educators with specialist language skills such as Arabic and Spanish. Thank you for your continued support.
The new models continue to be built around the learner profile, with an underpinning theme of international-mindedness. Approaches to teaching and learning are now embedded within all four programmes, which are further aligned by each one culminating in a learning experience. You can find more information and details of how the changes affect each programme together with downloadable versions of the new models on the OCC, IBEN and the public website. A brochure explaining the changes is available to download.
New programme brochures To coincide with the launch of the new programme models, a major revision of all the existing literature is being undertaken. During November the 4 programme brochures will be available and a new brochure covering the IB continuum of education will also be available shortly. Updates of other literature are also underway.
More details are available in the regional IBEN newsletter distributed in September which is available here .
New programme models In November the IB introduced new programme models for all four programmes. The design is no longer hexagonal but circular, illustrating the
All these brochures are available for purchase from the IB Store or download ( DP / IBCC / MYP / PYP ). French & Spanish versions will be available here shortly.
IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) alignment of structure and terminology across all four programmes and a seamless, holistic and integrated continuum of education for students aged 3-19 years old.
There are now over 45 schools across the world offering the IBCC with 14 authorised within the Africa, Europe and Middle East region. There are a further 29
interested schools and six candidate preparing to deliver the IBCC in 2013.
schools
Our first regional AEM graduates fared well in their recent placement at Higher Education Institutions in July. As an example, at the Anglo-European School in the UK, all students gained their first choice HEI places. The IB regional office is actively supporting recognition by HEI of the IBCC in those regions where an interest in the fourth IB programme is currently shown. Our pilot school project allowed us to preview where that interest is coming from and we are monitoring the new interest and emerging trends. To that end, our priority is to offer support to those students graduating each year and to work directly with schools and those institutions targeted by our graduating students. We now have a regional team with representation and recognition support in the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Middle East and Africa. More The new IBCC brochure is available to download here .
MYP: Next Chapter updates on the OCC Lots of exciting development is underway as the Next Chapter of the Middle Years Programme hits many of its developmental milestones. Here is a summary of items to be aware of: 1. On the OCC you will find a detailed development report on MYP: Next Chapter. This details the shape of the new curriculum and assessment, and gives information for plans to support schools in terms of authorization and evaluation, subject choice, and professional development. Ongoing professional development events support teachers in starting gradual implementation of some of the changes.
2. Four expert advisory group meetings were held in 2012, involving leading global thinkers in assessment, in order to prepare for the introduction of e-assessments into the MYP. Trials will be conducted throughout 2013-14 using materials currently being designed by Chief Examiners. The eassessments will be provided to schools electronically; candidates will sit for the eassessments using computers in either offline or online environments. 3. Ongoing professional development for MYP educators contains aspects of MYP: Next Chapter changes for the remainder of 2012. New offerings can be found on regional calendars as well as in the 2013-14 IB catalog of workshops and resources posted online. Events such as “Global context for teaching and learning,” and MYP: Next Chapter seminars are recommended for all IB educators involved in the transition from MYP to MYP: Next Chapter. 4. Messaging about new subject group flexibility was sent to IB School Coordinators and Heads in October. Starting September 2013, new flexibility related to the number of subject groups required for MYP students, years 4 and 5 will be introduced. The IB prefers that schools offer all 8 subject groups to all students in years 4 and 5 and this is made clear in the new rule. If this is not viable for a school, the IB strongly encourages offering all 8 subject groups to allow students to choose a minimum of 6 subject groups (which must include Language A, Language B, Science, Math and Humanities). The new flexibility recognizes that some student choice is appropriate for students aged 14-16. With the new flexibility, it remains a requirement in MYP 4-5 that a minimum of six subject groups be studied concurrently at all times. Please visit the OCC and review the development report for further explanation of the new rule. It’s an exciting journey to the MYP Next Chapter! We’ll keep you informed all along the way. If you have questions or need more information, please contact us on the OCC.
Recognition The recognition team continues to work closely with Ministries of Education and Higher Education Institutions regarding the recognition of IB qualifications across the region. In the last months, the team has held a series of meetings with Ministry of Education officials in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Jordan and United Arab Emirates regarding the status and implementation of the IB programmes in the respective countries. In addition, the team in close cooperation with the IB World Schools in Kazakhstan is currently finalizing the recognition statement of the Diploma Programme in the country. Moreover, we have increased the number of HEIs recognizing the IB DP in 20 different countries across the AEM region and we continue with these efforts in raising awareness about all the IB qualifications. The team is also working on a strategic plan regarding the recognition of the IBCC on a global level.
HEI recognition in the UK With over 8,000 IB Diploma students applying to UK universities each year, we continue to be proactive and work closely with HEIs and UCAS in the UK. In the past few weeks alone meetings have been held with admissions teams in University College London, the University of Warwick, The University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church. A key part of this strategy includes the strengthening of recognition for IB Courses and the IBCC. We are pleased that the acceptance rate for IB students to UK HEIs in 2011 was 87% (compared to 82% for A levels and 70% for all qualifications combined). We will report on the 2012 Admissions Cycle early in 2013 when data becomes available. Having welcomed Oxford to the AEM Regional Conference in Madrid last month, Cambridge’s new Director of Admissions will speak at the annual IBSCA Higher Education Advisors’ Conference in June. Also presenting will be the Director of Admissions at King’s
College London and the Associate Dean for Medical Admissions at HYMC. We very much appreciate the support offered by IB World Schools who provide us with important information and contacts. If schools have further information they would like to share please contact us at ibaem.development@ibo.org.
Middle East Symposium The regional office in collaboration with the Middle East IB Schools Association (MEIBA) is organising a Symposium entitled “Connecting, Strengthening, Developing the IB community in the Middle East” to be held in Dubai on 4th - 5th March 2013. In addition to the symposium for IB schools on the 4th and 5th March, we will be hosting a Higher Education forum on the 3rd March as well as orientation seminars for schools to find out about the 4 programmes. The symposium will be an ideal opportunity for representatives of IB World Schools in the Middle East to come together and discuss their experiences implementing the IB programmes in the region. The objectives of the symposium are to inform the development of a strategic plan for the Middle East and to share and discuss the challenges and opportunities for IB in the Middle East. At the same time we will engage with schools, Ministry and HE officials in the Middle East concerning recognition and accreditation of IB programmes. Members of the regional team will inform schools of programme updates and new initiatives. Orientation seminars are being organized in Dubai during this time for interested schools and to engage with the HE community. Details arel be made available on the regional pages of our website. For more information about the symposium please contact Eleni Kanava .
Orientation seminars The regional development team are organising a series of events in the region designed for schools that are new to IB programmes or for existing IB World Schools that are interested in learning about a programme they may wish to offer in the future. Orientation events will be offered in different ways to suit your requirements and details are available here. Half day orientation seminars will be held on the Friday afternoon of planned three day professional development workshops. The seminars will include an overview of the IB mission and learner profile and an enquiry based approach to learning and an overview of all 4 IB programmes. Events are planned in conjunction with regional professional development workshops in: • Johannesburg • Cape Town • Brussels • Zurich • Marrakech • Berlin • Florence • Dubai One day seminars will include programme specific breakout sessions. Please consult the website for information about these sessions.
2013 World Student Conferences The 2012 IB World Student Conferences were a resounding success — so much so that the IB is offering not two but four conferences for DP and IBCC students in 2013! To be eligible to attend, students must be entering the first or second year of an IB Diploma or IBCC Programme in the 2013 school year. The 2013 conference venues, dates, and themes are: • Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, 23-28 June - Social Justice: Contemplating the Past, Confronting the Future
• University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 21-26 July - ECOnomics: Creating a Sustainable Future • University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, 4-9 August Utopian Visions: Employing the Arts for Social and Political Change • University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 11-16 August iResponsibility: Exploring our Engagement in the Online World. Registration is now open here and we would also urge you to consider supporting your students by serving as a chaperone at an IB World Student Conference. See how past conference attendees enjoyed and benefited from the conferences through their blogs, videos, and photos on the WSC web page. Each conference program will build on its theme, provide collaborative learning and CAS support, and lots of fun for each participant. A limited number of scholarships will be available - look for more information on the website or contact ibwsc@ibo.org.
Research on the impact of IB programmes in our region The IB Global Research Department collaborates with universities and independent research organizations worldwide to produce rigorous studies examining the impact and outcomes of the IB’s four programmes. In addition, many researchers - independently of the IB - produce quality studies on the effects of IB programmes. A sampling of both independent and IBcommissioned journal articles and research reports is available here.
Global Research
IB Educator Certificates
There are 3 new programme development research papers available on the OCC.
Universidad Camilo José Cela, near Madrid, Spain has joined the growing list of universities in the region offering IB educator certificates. The university may now offer both the IB certificate in teaching and learning and the IB advanced certificate in teaching and learning research.
Academic honesty in the IB by Jude Carroll This paper outlines conceptual aspects of plagiarism and challenges that learners face in demonstrating honesty and integrity, and indicates how teachers, schools and learners can share responsibility for supporting academic honesty in the IB programmes. Curriculum integration in the IB Middle Years Programme: A literature review by Kimberley Daly, Gordon Brown and Chandra McGowan. Aims to define interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity in education and identify common ground between these approaches in the MYP. Discussion document for the curriculum review of creativity, action, service by Catherine Elliott, Cheryl Keegan and Cathryn Berger Kaye. Aims to revisit the theoretical and practical perspectives embedded in the DP creativity, action, service (CAS) framework, and explicate the implications and applications of service learning for the development of the course.
International Education Research Database now live The IB’s newly redeveloped International Education Research Database (IERD) is now live! The site has hundreds of new references and a number of new features which allows the database to be kept much more up to date as well as make for a more user friendly experience. You’ll now be able to sort references and save favorite searches and results. The IERD is not only a great resource to find references on international education, but you can also find loads of published and unpublished research and writing on the IB and its programmes. http://research.ibo.org
Four courses have been approved including a Bachelor of Education Early Years, Bachelor of Education Primary Education Teacher Training Degree Course, Expert Course in International Education, and a Master in International Education and Bilingualism. A full explanation of educator certificates and universities offering them is available here .
Synchronised IB-CIS school evaluation and accreditation The Council of International Schools (CIS) and the International Baccalaureate (IB) have developed and agreed a joint understanding to synchronise IB school evaluation processes with the CIS Accreditation Protocol. Incorporating IB programme evaluation as part of the CIS School Accreditation Protocol enables schools and visiting educational peers to work closely together to streamline the CIS and IB processes, so that educators can focus on the quality of the international education the schools offer. More >
The region in the news There has been much coverage of the IB and its programmes in the press across the region. While the vast majority of coverage is from the UK, you may find this useful for events such as parent and students
evenings and press extracts are available on the regional press page here. Don’t forget to join us on the AEM LinkedIn pages.
Webinars The first series of webinars was successfully held in October and November. Our webinars allow you to focus on a specific professional development need via a 40-minute live webinar session. You can ask questions in the session and network with other participants, much like at a conference or training event - but without leaving your desk! Webinars give the opportunity to cover some aspects of workshop topics in more depth. We’d love to hear what topics you’d like us to cover - get in touch by emailing ibid@ibo.org.
IB Journal of Teaching Practice seeks reviewers The IB is entering the world of journal publishing in 2013 with the first of two annual editions publishing online early in the year. This journal will share the best ideas in teaching and learning practice: written by teachers, reviewed by teachers, published for teachers. We are very pleased with the number of submissions received for the first issue and would like to invite more peer reviewers to join the existing panel. If you are interested in joining the panel of reviewers, you can find more information and an application form on the dedicated website .
New publications Primary Years Programme: Ways to Learn Through Inquiry Middle Years Programme: IB Skills: A Practical Guide To ATL and IB Skills: A Practical Guide To ATL (Teacher
book), MYP Inquire, MYP Taskbank Online: Humanities, English B and Spanish B Diploma Programme: CAS illustrated, 10 monografías excelentes, Preparados para el IB: La evaluación al estilo del IB Monografía and Academic honesty poster, May 2012 examination and markscheme DVD Professional development: Journeys in Learning Across Frontiers and Ways to Learn Through Inquiry now available to buy as individual e-chapters You will find sample pages to download for many of these publications on the product page on the IB store. Contact sales@ibo.org with any queries.
Regional Council The IB Africa, Europe, Middle East Regional Council serves as a strategic advisory board for the Regional Director and provides information and assistance related to IB issues in various parts of the region. There are 13 members, elected by the Regional Council including 2 members appointed by the Heads Council. A list of members is available on our website . The regional council met in Madrid following the regional conference and a report from the Chairman is available here .
Association News Many IB World Schools have chosen to form local associations with other IB World Schools at a national or sub-regional level. These associations provide a forum for school collaboration, informal gatherings and the exchange of good practice. Associations are often active in negotiating university and government recognition for IB programmes and can be an indispensable resource for schools discovering the IB for the first time.
Currently of the 82 countries offering IB programmes in AEM, over 60 are represented by an association. See the list here . During the Annual Regional Conference in Madrid, the regional development team had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the existing AEM IB Associations and discuss the priorities for the next academic year. In addition, meetings were held with representatives of IB World Schools in West Africa, Morocco, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina to discuss the possibility of forming Associations in the respective countries or sub-regions. The IB is happy to support schools in initiating such discussions and we encourage you to get in contact with us for further information at ibaem.development@ibo.org
Newly Authorized Schools
IB
World
We congratulate and welcome these schools in the region who have been authorized as IB World Schools since the 1st of May 2012:
DP North Liverpool Academy, UK DP Nymphenburger Schulen, Germany DP Agora Sant Cugat IS, Spain DP Colegio San Patricio, Spain DP Dubai Modern High School, UAE DP Guernsey Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre, Guernsey DP Institut D'Educacio Secundaria Son Pacs, Spain DP The English School Kyrenia, North Cyprus DP Victoria International School of Sharjah, UAE DP Stonyhurst College, UK DP Colegio El Valle II – Sanchinarro, Spain DP School-Lyceum N6, Azerbaijan DP Jumeira Baccalaureate School, UAE
DP Deptford Green, UK DP International School Breda, Netherlands DP American Intl School in Egypt West, Egypt IBCC St Mary Magdalene Academy, UK IBCC Westminster Academy, UK IBCC IS Geneva Nations, Switzerland IBCC The British School Brussels, Belgium IBCC Anglo-European School, UK IBCC Berlin Brandenburg IS, Germany IBCC Dallam School, UK IBCC Dane Court Grammar School, UK IBCC Deira IS, UAE IBCC George Greens School, UK IBCC Greenfield Community School, UAE IBCC RSA Academy, UK IBCC Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School, UK MYP 1st IS Ostrava, Czech Rep. MYP Aga Khan Academy Nairobi, Kenya MYP Bavarian IS e.V., Germany MYP European School, Georgia MYP La Cote IS, Switzerland MYP Oeiras International School, Portugal PYP Aga Khan Nursery School Nairobi, Kenya PYP Aga Khan School Dar es Salaam, Tanzania PYP Alexandria International Academy, Egypt PYP Broadgreen PS, UK PYP Eyuboglu Atasehir Primary school, Turkey PYP Ibn Rushd Academy, Jordan PYP Internationale Friedensschule Koln, Germany PYP International Kids Campus, Germany PYP Iringa IS, Tanzania PYP King Faisal School, Saudi Arabia PYP New Cairo British IS, Egypt PYP Raffles World Academy, UAE PYP Rome IS, Italy PYP St Mary Magdalene Academy, UK PYP Westminster IS, Italy