Professional Development Highlights
IB Diploma Programme subject specific seminars
Subject specific seminars introduce curriculum changes to experienced teachers. The faculty will include master teachers and those involved in the curriculum review. Staff from IB’s curriculum and assessment centre will be available to answer questions.
For 2011, groups 1 and 2 and economics are the revised subjects, with teaching beginning in September 2011 in the northern hemisphere, and February / March 2012 in the southern hemisphere. Subject specific seminars for groups 1 and 2 will take place in early 2011. A summary of changes to the curriculum is detailed in the document “Guidance for Language Provision in Groups 1 and 2” which can also be found on the occ.
The new guides for group 1 and 2 courses (first teaching September 2011) which were developed during the recent curriculum review, will be published in December 2010. To support the launch of these guides and provide valuable professional development for experienced teachers, each IB region will be hosting subject specific seminars in early in 2011. Subject specific seminars are unique category 3 workshops which are designed to address the curriculum changes to Diploma Programme courses as part of the review cycle.
2011 Dates and locations for subject specific seminars are as follows:
Dance - New group 6 course
Dance will be offered as group 6 subject starting in September 2011, with first exams in May 2013. To support the transition from pilot to mainstream subject, there will be professional development opportunities in February 2011 (Category 1, New Orleans 10-13 February. Any school interested in offering dance should consult the online curriculum centre to review the guide and supporting materials, as well as the workshop descriptors that highlight participant expectations.
Global Professional Development team visits IB World Schools in Lima, Peru
In September the IB Global Professional Development (PD) team travelled to Lima, Peru for an opportunity to visit IB World Schools and hear first-hand from heads of school, faculty, and students. The team enjoyed learning more about the International Baccalaureate in the context of Peru. The most important priority that resulted from the meeting was the need to clearly and regularly communicate the IB’s global alignment, improvements to current PD offerings, and new PD products and services.
New Category 3 Workshop proposal process coming in 2011
In early 2011, we will begin rolling out the application process for new category 3 workshops. If you have considered developing a category 3 workshop for experienced IB practitioners, now is the time to begin thinking seriously about submitting a proposal. We will keep you informed about the launch of this new process, and we hope you will consider sharing your innovative ideas and perspectives with teachers around the world.
Workshops in Spanish
The IB continues to add more workshops in Spanish, both face-to-face and online. Visit our website to download our 2011 calendar of online offerings. For information on face-to-face workshops, please visit ibo.org/events.
