Are IB teachers different?

New study explores what it means to be an IB teacher

Researchers at the International Baccalaureate (IB)recently set out to learn what ingredients go into making an IB teacher an IB teacher. Their findings support the assertion that IB teachers approach the whole student with inquiry-based instruction and the intention of shaping their students into socially responsible citizens. “This study supports what we in the IB community have long known: IB teachers are themselves lifelong learners who aim to develop the same keen interest in their students. IB teachers approach their students with creativity, flexibility, openness, care and compassion,” says International Baccalaureate Chief Academic Officer Judith Fabian. The survey sample included 3,184 IB teachers who completed a widely used instrument of self-examination, the Teaching Perspective Inventory, which allowed for comparison with a group of non-IB teachers. A profile of the average IB teacher identified dominant and recessive perspectives from five perspectives characteristic of teaching practice: transmission, apprenticeship, developmental, nurturing and social reform. To learn more, find the research summary and the full report about IB teachers here.