The IB Teacher Awards
The rationale for the awards
The IB teacher awards were established in response to the growing demand of teachers who increasingly asked the question, “How do I become an IB teacher?” There was no professional development and related qualification that these teachers could undertake to help them gain employment in the IB schools that often looked for previous IB experience in the recruitment process.
Additionally the IB teacher awards were established to satisfy the demand from experienced IB teachers who wanted to continue IB focused professional development, leading to IB certification, through undertaking graduate courses of study at universities.
Piloting the IB teacher award initiative
Bethel University is the latest university to have a course recognized by the IB.
To respond to these growing needs a pilot project was developed by the IB working in collaboration with a number of universities including the University of Melbourne, George Mason University and the University of Bath. As a result the courses of study that were developed during the pilot phase were formally recognized by the IB and are now offered on the universities’ prospectuses. Today six universities are offering recognized courses of study to teachers around the world:
- Flinders University (Adelaide, Australia)
- University of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia)
- University of Bath (Bath, U.K.)
- Bethel University (Minnesota, U.S.A.)
- George Mason University (Virginia, U.S.A.)
- Oakland University (Michigan, U.S.A.)
The Award structure
Teachers who successfully complete a course of study at one of the six universities listed above can register for one of two awards:
- The Level 1 award has been designed to meet the needs of teachers new to the IB programmes by formally recognizing teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the IB programme they intend to teach. Currently eligibility for the Level 1 award is achieved by completing an IB recognized graduate course. Teacher education services are also exploring the possibility of recognizing undergraduate teacher preparation courses in the near future.
- The Level 2 award is aimed at experienced IB teachers and those currently in, or wishing to take up school leadership positions. The Level 2 award formally acknowledges teachers who have further developed their understanding of IB education through undertaking systematic and rigorous inquiry at Masters level or higher into international education with reference to the IB programmes. Individuals who register for the Level 2 award must have completed five years teaching experience, three of which have involved continuous teaching on an IB programme within one school.
How do teachers and IB schools benefit?
A one-off fee of £150 is required when teachers register for each of the two awards. In return, holding an award certificate offers the holder a number of benefits.
1. The Level 1 award certificate is formal affirmation by the IB that the holder has demonstrated a:
- proven knowledge and understanding of an IB programme.
- commitment to professional learning and development.
- capacity to contribute to the implementation of an IB programme.
In addition to the above the Level 2 award certificate signifies that the holder has demonstrated a:
- deeper knowledge and understanding of IB education and contemporary IB issues
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capability to undertake investigative work at a high academic level
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capacity to contribute to supporting schools as professional learning communities.
The certificates will support teachers in their career development as they will become an important piece of evidence that schools will consider when recruiting new teachers.
2. Holding an award certificate indicates that the teacher has achieved the IB’s minimum professional development requirement for programme authorization and evaluation. This will reduce the costs for schools of sending teachers to professional development events. Please note that schools will still be encouraged to provide IB teacher award holders with relevant IB related professional development as holding the Level 1 award certificate only indicates that the minimum professional development requirement has been met.
3. Award holders, who are granted access to the online curriculum centre (OCC) once they have enrolled on their course, receive continued access to the OCC for a two year period if they are not yet working in an IB school.
Recognizing university courses of study
A course of study recognition visit.
The university course recognition process includes an application stage and an evaluative visit that ensures that the course of study meets the requirements of each award. More information about the recognition process and the recognition requirements will be communicated in the near future.
All recognized courses hold the ‘formal recognition’ status for a six year period. An interim evaluation of the course of study is carried out after three years to ensure that the award requirements continue to be met and to review any developments and/or enhancements in the nature of the structure of that course that may have taken place. At the end of the six year period the university will be required to apply for renewal of the course of study recognition.
In return for recognition the university pays an annual fee of £2500. This gives the university access to specified licensed IB publications for the purpose of planning and delivering the course and it gives them the right to use the IB’s ‘in cooperation with’ logo for marketing purposes.
More information on the universities that have had courses of study recognized so far visit
Queries about the IB teacher awards?
The email address teacher.award@ibo.org has been set up to ensure that individuals, schools or universities can contact the teacher education services department, IB Cardiff, directly.
The following are the most frequently asked questions:
Teachers:
- What professional development needs to be undertaken to become ‘qualified’ as an IB teacher.
- How to obtain the Level 1 or Level 2 award.
- Can a Masters be used as evidence of relevant learning when registering for an award.
Schools:
- How the award will benefit staff in your schools.
- What the awards mean to you.
- If schools are already working collaboratively with a university with no IB recognized courses how can they become involved with the IB teacher awards.
Universities:
- What needs to be done to have a course of study formally recognized by the IB.
- How the university will benefit.
Flyers promoting the IB teacher awards are now available
If you would like some flyers for your school please contact us at teacher.award@ibo.org with your request.
Resources for workshop leaders
In 2009 a resource pack for workshop leaders will be produced and posted on the workshop resource centre. The pack will include presentation slides with guidance notes and an information flyer that workshop leaders can use at IB professional development events.
The first award holder
Tanya Priest-Willimot was the first person to register for the Level 1 IB teacher award after graduating from the University of Melbourne’s Postgraduate certificate in educational studies (PYP). In feedback to the IB Tanya reported “Undertaking this study has resulted in an enrichment in my professional and personal values, knowledge and understandings of the purpose of education and how therefore to give children the best opportunity to develop into lifelong learners.”
