AEM Regional Office Newsletter

Regional Office Newsletter Africa, Europe, Middle East Our strategy for 2012 includes improving ministry

Welcome from Adrian

and government relations within the different

Kearney, Regional Director

recognition agreements to allow students to be

This

issue

of

our

markets offered

regional

newsletter will give you greater insight into the activities of our Regional Development team. The team has been established to enable, facilitate and support the sustainable growth of the IB programmes in Africa, Europe and Middle East. The team supports the strategic direction of the work of the IB in 83 out of the 141 IB countries in the world with IB programmes. In future issues we will give you more details on the activities

of

School

Services

and

Professional

Development. In the meantime you can find organisation charts for the regional office on our website http://www.ibo.org/ibaem/regional_office/

education

in

a

establishing national

or

international context, through a state, private or public

partnership.

Governmental

educational

change takes time. Building close and trusted relationships

with

ministries,

brokering

relationships between schools and the ministry are key components of Regional Development.

As a team, we work in close cooperation with our regional counterparts and global colleagues in Communications

and

Marketing,

Recognition,

Curriculum Development, Assessment and Access and Advancement departments. The Africa, Europe and Middle East region is unique in its diversity and represents the historical heart of the IB. This region celebrates the origins of the IB in Geneva, with Geneva International School being the first IB

of projects developed through the Access and Advancement team.

Our work is guided by the IB strategic plan and regional priorities, but the sometimes of

unpredictable working

with

governments and ministries means that at times, we have

IB

and

shared in the region, along with a significant group

Development

Theresa Forbes Head Regional Development, Africa, Europe, Middle East

an

strengthening

School. Around half of the world’s languages are

Spotlight on Regional

nature

and

to

respond

to

opportunities and challenges at short notice.

Currently there are 847 schools in the AEM region, authorized to offer: IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) 176 schools IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) 156 schools IB Diploma Programme (DP) 762 schools In addition, there are 17 AEM schools from six countries currently being authorized to offer IBCC from September 2012 onwards.

We categorise our work in the different countries

Current Government initiatives include confirming

that we are focusing on in the following way:

cooperation agreements in Jordan and Dubai; securing recognition in another 10 AEM countries

- We sustain and develop mature markets with steady or stabilizing growth.

for DP, securing recognition for IBCC in five countries and five Higher Education Institutions

- We secure our presence in potential countries

(HEIs) within those countries.

where economic studies tell us there is further room for growth, for example the Middle East.

In addition to having country representation in our

- We focus on emerging new markets such as

two largest markets, the UK and Spain, we have

Eurasia and some African countries.

recently secured regional representation in Africa

-

We

monitor

those

countries,

where

we

and the Middle East.

sometimes see unexpected interest arise, because of an EU grant, or where educational reform opens

Ghana Symposium

up a new opportunity.

On April 25th the AEM regional office organized a Symposium in Accra, Ghana with the objective to

Recent achievements

develop

the

IB

strategy

in

Africa

in

close

In the last 12 months, seven government policy

consultation

changes

IB

Representatives from 19 IB World Schools joined

programmes, including the significant recognition

the IB delegation

of the MYP in Germany, to allow schools currently

to

offering

needs of schools

were

MYP

made

to

in

gain

favour

of

equivalence

the

with

the

with

IB

schools

in

the

region.

discuss

the

secondary leaving certificate (this has taken over

on

three years of cooperative advocacy and lobbying

continent and to

to achieve).

identify

the

African the

opportunities and The accreditation of IBCC in England, Wales and

challenges for implementing IB programmes. An

Northern Ireland was achieved in October 2011.

orientation seminar was also held for schools in

In the last year, the Italian ministry has agreed to widen the choice of IBDP courses to students, thereby allowing for a fuller and more authentic diploma

experience.

The

Dutch

Ministry

of

Education now allows Dutch students attending dual stream Dutch/international schools to take the IB diploma.

West Africa and other key stakeholders to learn more about the IB programmes and how schools can benefit from delivering an IB education to their students. In addition, representatives from IB World Schools in West Africa took steps towards the formation of an Association of IB World Schools in West Africa. The recommendations and outcomes from the discussions will be published and shared

with representatives of IB World Schools across the region.

2012

-

2013

Professional

Development Workshops The

latest

edition

catalogue

of

Development

of

Online Professional Development This

newsletter

from

the

Online

Professional

Development team will bring you up-to-date with our

Professional

what’s happening with IB online Professional Development, available here

workshops

scheduled from August 2012 to July 2013 in the Africa, Europe

MYP Coordinators Notes

and Middle East region is now

MYP Coordinator’s Notes have been published on

available online.

the OCC and are available in English and French and Spanish. The notes give you the latest

The catalogue includes all the PD events that are

information about the Middle Years Programme.

planned to date.

There are many more new category 3 workshops on

offer

that

experienced

IB

will

give

Educators

the to

opportunity deepen

for their

knowledge about the different IB programmes. In addition, we have increased the regional spread of our workshops as well as increasing the number of languages our workshops are provided in.

DP Mathematics Courses

The review of the group 5 mathematics courses is complete and the first year of teaching for the new courses is September 2012 (May session schools) or February 2013 (November session schools), with first examinations in 2014.

The pool of trained workshop leaders is constantly

Throughout the review process for all subjects,

being grown and we are innovating with new

teachers were encouraged through items on the

models of in-school and cluster based workshops

Online

to help reduce costs for schools.

Diploma Coordinator Notes to provide feedback,

Curriculum

Centre

(OCC)

and

in

the

starting with questionnaires on the current courses Visit http://www.ibo.org/events regularly for the

and

latest updates.

Suggestions for syllabus change in each subject

then

comments

on

proposed

changes.

varied tremendously and were all considered by the review team. More information available here

dynamic platform of good practice (Learner profile

The Learner Profile Review

in action), all available from the OCC. The IB also

Originally developed as the ‘student profile’ in the IB

Primary

Years

Programme (1997), the IB learner profile was adopted by

the

Middle

Programme

and

Years Diploma

Programme in 2005 as the centrepiece of the IB continuum of international education.

Like

all

aspects

of

its

curriculum

frameworks, the learner profile is subject to review by the IB learning community. Because of its importance

to

programmes

IB

and

World

Schools

certificate

and

offerings

the they

implement, this review claims a special importance and calls for high levels of participation and widely-dispersed, creative, critical reflection.

This year’s regional conference in

Madrid will be an important venue for input and discussion among IB educators in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Late in 2012, a culturally-

diverse group of thinkers will study results and make recommendations about the learner profile’s future development. In September, IB educators will be able to apply to be part of the process.

schools in their exploration of the IB learner profile, including the IB learner profile booklet, a literature of

the

learner

profile

in

light

and

online

professional

profile.

Last year, a group of IB educators helped to organize The IB learner profile: Resources for reflection, published on the OCC in March 2012.

This document contains ten learning engagements designed to be ‘user-friendly’ and ready to use ‘off the shelf.’ Where possible, the packet contains materials that can easily be reproduced. It is available in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.

Groups and individuals are invited to contribute to the review by completing a brief survey online.

‘virtual focus group’ is available for contributing more extended comments.

Update on the IBCC Seventeen schools from six countries in the AEM region are currently being authorized to offer the IB

Career-related

of

contemporary learning theory, a personal position paper by former IB Director General George Walker (East is East and West is West), and an online

programme

(IBCC)

from

September 2012.

A number of resources are available to support

review

face-to-face

The survey is accessible until October 2012. A

This review of the learner profile is underway through 2013.

offers

development workshops focusing on the learner

The

IBCC provides new opportunities for schools to give students access to an IB Education and its framework allows for implementation within different educational

systems. The application round for September 2013

they apply. All Heads will receive access to a portal

is now open and a briefing for all existing and

in the next month that will allow them to see the

schools considering IBCC schools will take place in

assignments that have been made for staff in their

London on June 13 2012. The day is directed

school regarding both workshops and school visits.

towards existing and potential IBCC coordinators,

This new service will make the process both more

teachers and senior school leaders.

transparent and efficient for all concerned.

As well as a keynote speaker there will be

In view of the increase in schools requesting

workshops led by experienced IBCC teachers and

authorization for the Primary Years Programme, we

school leaders including sessions on:

are actively recruiting candidates to be trained in the following roles as IB Educators for the PYP. You



Approaches to Learning

will find a full description of the roles on our



The Reflective Project

website or apply here.



Vocational learning



Developing vocational links with industry.

This event is hosted jointly by the IB and IBSCA.



Workshop Leader – PYP



Team Member – PYP



Application Reader – PYP

Details available on the IBSCA website .

IB Educators Network (IBEN)

Associations Associations

Across the IB community, thousands of education

educator network and the IB has been built on this spirit of collaboration among educators.

participants for school services and professional development assignments in the AEM region, we launched a new and greatly improved process.

any

assignments

good practice. Associations are often active in negotiating university and government recognition for IB programmes and can be an indispensable

they

time.

Expanding access to an IB Education is an integral part of the IB mission and associations play an important

This new process is designed to ensure that all discuss

gatherings and the exchange of

resource for schools discovering the IB for the first

In order to simplify the process for inviting IBEN

educators

important

for school collaboration, informal

and collectively form an important resource in of the IB programmes. These people form the IB

an

role to play by providing a forum

professionals give their time and support to the IB sustaining the operation, quality and development

have

are

considering applying for with their Heads before

part

in

helping

this

come

about.

Recently the regional office has participated in meetings with the Dutch, UK, Middle East, CIS, Nordic and Polish associations, as well as the Saudi

Arabia IB coordinators. We know that there is

meaning, purpose and greater personal expression

interest in forming an Association in many other

to the lives of young people and to Leaders.

countries such as Italy, Morocco, the Danube area and West Africa. For more information on forming

Additionally, there is a full-day Pre-conference

an

Professional Development Leadership workshop for

Association,

please

contact

us

at

ibaem.development@ibo.org.

Heads of School and Senior Leaders Leadership and a half-day academic workshop for Heads and

Regional Conference

Teachers.

It should be noted that places are limited for both these workshops. Full details are available on our website.

Registration is open for the Regional Conference

Recognition

being held in Madrid from Thursday 4th October

The recognition team continue to make sure that

to Sunday 7th and ‘Early Bird’ fees apply until 15th

universities

June 2012. Register here .

Programme and are making offers to students that

We can already announce some of the speakers and more details will be available on the website as they are confirmed.

Veronica Boix-Mansilla is Chair of the Future of Learning at Harvard Graduate School of Education and is a Principal Investigator at Project Zero.

fully

understand

are deemed to be fair.

the

Diploma

The UK is a significant

destination for many of our IB students across the world and we can report that many meetings have been held with universities and we have worked closely with UCAS in the Qualifications Information Review consultation and participated in UCAS conferences. Adrian Kearney, Regional Director, wrote personally to the Vice-Chancellors at the Russell Group and also the 1994 Group and received many positive expressions of support

Lance King is an internationally

including letters from Cambridge, the London

recognized author, teacher and

School of Economics (LSE), Exeter, Birmingham,

workshop facilitator who, in the

Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool and York.

last 17 years, has worked with over 150,000 students worldwide.

Our University Liaison Officer in the UK continues to meet with a wide range of senior admissions

Ben Walden’s passion is using

staff in UK universities, and we are working to

theatre as a medium to bring

provide a more ‘data-driven’ approach to our

recognition work. Events are being organised such as a one day conference for University Guidance

Press Coverage

Counsellors with speakers from experienced IB

We continue to monitor the image of the IB in the

schools (state and private) and the Director of

media to ensure that the correct messages are

Admissions at Oxford University.

conveyed and to this end have hired a Public

Across the region we appreciate that many of you are also in contact with your local and senior government and university officials as well.

Relations

agency

to

supplement

our

internal

resources. In the last few weeks alone we have had extremely positive coverage in major national newspapers in the UK and elsewhere.

Orientation Events

We seek every opportunity to be present in the

The regional office will be offering 6 one day

when required. This will include the release of

seminars in AEM regional hub cities in 2012-13.

statements following the publication of IB Diploma

The likely locations for these events will be

Programme

Netherlands, Dubai, Qatar, Jordan, London, Madrid,

continuing to issue press releases about the

Poland, Eurasia and Southern Africa (Cape Town

positive IB stories in your school is also an

and Johannesburg).

essential

media and to rapidly respond to press coverage

Half day orientation seminars will also be held on the

Friday

afternoon

of

planned

three

day

professional development workshops.

results

component

mission and learner profile and an enquiry based approach to learning and an overview of all 4 IB

public

World Student Conferences students from over

Please review the IB website for information about these sessions http://www.ibo.org/ibaem.

40

countries

confirmed participants

To find out more about these orientation seminars ibaem.development@ibo.org.

strengthening

in

including to parents and student.

With close to 500

Development

support

You may find the regional press web page useful

programme specific breakout sessions.

Regional

to

Your

perceptions of the IB.

programmes. The one day seminars will include

the

July.

as a source of articles and quotes for presentations

The seminars will include an overview of the IB

contact

in

team

at

as in

the

upcoming

World

Student

Conferences, they look to be of great interest. The registration deadline has been extended to 31 May 2012, full details here: http://www.ibo.org/wsc/

Call for submissions - IB Journal of Teaching Practice An online research journal sharing the best ideas in teaching

The council met in March 2012 in The Hague and the report from the Chair is available here.

A list of members is available on our website .

Out and about

and learning practice; written by

Regional or academic staff have taken part in many

teachers, reviewed by teachers

events throughout the region and in the last

and published for teachers.

months

have

been

at

the

Private

Schools

Association Turkey, UCAS Annual Conference for 

A global, multilingual publication

teachers & advisers, UK; Going Global, UK; ECIS,



Focused on teaching and learning

Vienna; International Association of Teachers of

practices that align to the IB philosophy

English

Particularly relevant to the IB programmes

Scotland;

European

and IB practitioners

Educators,

Turkey;

Multimedia formats, including video, audio

Economics

and

and graphics, as well as traditional written

Netherlands; IB schools association meetings in

articles.

Poland, UK, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Sweden.

 

as

a

Foreign

Language

Association Educational

Business

Conference, of

History

Innovation

Conference,

in The

Interested researchers should submit their work by

Upcoming events include the Council of British

15 June 2012 for consideration for the inaugural

International Schools, London; Association of Dutch

issue in 2013. Submissions received after this date

IB World Schools; Royal Anthropological Institute

will be considered for publication in future issues.

annual conference, London; Association of IB Schools in Turkey; Sunday Times Festival of

Find more information on the journal website.

Regional Council The IB Africa, Europe, Middle East 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.

Education, London; UCAS International Teachers & Advisors Conference; International Conference on Learning, London.

MYP Research A research study examined student performance

Newly Authorized IB World Schools

among IB and non-IB students on the International

We congratulate and welcome

Schools’ Assessment (ISA) and determined that PYP

these schools in the region

and MYP students, in most instances performed as

who have been authorized in

well or better than their non-IB peers across all

recent months:

four ISA assessment domains, including math literacy, reading, narrative writing, and expository writing. Press release available here

King Fahad Academy, United Kingdom, PYP Bradfield College, United Kingdom, DP Costeas-Geitonas School, Greece, PYP

IB Publishing

Bryanston School, United Kingdom, DP Platon School, Greece, PYP Northside Primary School, Botswana, PYP

IB Publishing has recently released some great new

Kristiansand International School, Norway, PYP

resources and have more to release soon that

Ambrit Rome International School, Italy, PYP

compliment the IB’s programmes, mission and

Kristiansand International School, Norway, MYP

values.

International School of Zug and Luzern, Luzern

For MYP    

International School Uwekind, Bulgaria, MYP

MYP Inquire workbook – available now MYP Taskbanks Online for Humanities, English B, French B and Spanish B – available May 2012 IB Skills: A Practical Guide to ATL – available September 2012 IB Skills: A Practical Guide to ATL (teacher’s book) – available September 2012

For DP  CAS illustrated– available now  Developing Skills for Text Types: A guide for Students of Spanish – available now For IB schools and educators in general  Journeys in Learning Across Frontiers: Stories, strategies and inspiration from the IB community – available July 2012  Ways to Learn Through Inquiry: Guiding Children to Deeper Understanding – available July 2012

Campus, Switzerland, PYP King Faisal Pre-School, Saudi Arabia, PYP ATUT Bilingual Primary and Secondary School, Poland, MYP Colegio Montserrat, Spain, DP Aula Escola Europea, Spain, DP International School of London Qatar, Qatar, PYP Espoo International School, Finland, MYP Advanced Learning Schools, Saudi Arabia, MYP Adapazari Enka Private Primary School, Turkey, PYP Naseem International School, Bahrain, MYP Sek El Castillo, S.L., Spain, PYP ISTEK Barış Schools, Turkey, PYP International School Almere, Netherlands, MYP Friends Boys School, Ramallah, MYP Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet, Sweden, DP