Teacher Training Plan

for IB Middle Years Program

Meridian School – An IB World School
EDU 6600 Final Project
Ann Gilcrease
Seattle Pacific University

Goal: I am seeking to create a teacher training plan that will result in 1 full IB Middle Year Program Unit per
educator and 1 interdisciplinary unit for our entire school to qualify for IB authorization.
Meridian School is an International Baccalaureate institution that I taught at in Round Rock, Texas from 2016 – 2017. It
was just starting its Middle Years Program, and I was one of the first teachers in the new building and the new program. It
was my first year teaching in an International Baccalaureate program, and my experience there impacted my teaching in
invigorating and restorative ways.
As a teacher leader, one of the available roles at an IB school is that of IB MYP Coordinator. This person coordinates the
learning of the IB program framework at all levels for the Primary, Middle and Diploma program educators. 8 th grade and
11th/12th grade students complete year-long projects that are also planned out and organized by the IB Coordinator. In
order to facilitate the best possible outcome for my educators as a teacher leader, I will take the perspective of the IB
Coordinator in the planning out of our first school year. I will leave out the Primary Years Programme (K-5 th), as well as
the Diploma Program (11th, 12th) and focus solely on the Middle Years Programme (6 th – 10th) in planning, as that is the
area that I have the most experience and resources.
As is found on their authorization page, the International Baccalaureate Organization allows schools to create the timeline
they feel the most comfortable with, as long as they hit certain ‘milestones.’ (ibo.org) They provide support through
consultants, their website, and communication. There are site visits to check for issues that could constitute roadblocks to
candidacy, required professional development, and a cyclical application and review process that can take years. Ensuring
that it is done right the first year can save thousands of dollars, and makes certain that a school’s use of the IB emblem is
legitimate for both the community and the international community.
With that said, Meridian School was in its initial “candidacy” year. This meant that our Head of School had attended the
mandatory Category 1 Workshop, we had paid and submitted our ‘Application for Candidacy” fee, received our feedback
report and submitted any evidence that we had resolved any matters, launched our in-school Workshop for teachers, and
had finally been granted candidacy. My MYP Teacher Training Plan begins in August, prior to the start of the first day of
school.

What Our MYP Teachers Need:

Most teachers who are starting at this school have years of experience in the classroom, and perhaps even have
a Project-Based Learning background, but the majority do not have any experience teaching the International
Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. The framework of the MYP is different, in that it incorporates 21st
Century Skills, Community Service, and a Global Perspective to each Unit a teacher plans. They must
incorporate the International IB standards in tandem with their State and National Standards. In addition, the
units are centered around a “Big” question, which utilize specific language for each subject that is provided in
the teacher training. All of their training, unit plans, and student-created artifacts must be documented and
easily accessible for both the authorization committee and for analysis and reflection.

So, how do I approach the planning, engagement, and analysis for my teachers? First, I need to set up systems
that encourage teacher-directed inquiry. By having them engage in the first few months in a study of our
school’s vision, the IB Learner Profile Traits, Unit Planners, Vertical Planners, and various IB workshop
trainings, we can create a shared understanding of the direction we would like to steer our academic ship. By
learning in the collective, I can bring all of our staff together to understand the concepts and frameworks
necessary to ensure that we are presenting a united front to our students, parents, and community. I need the
help of my principals and founder, in addition to the support of the board members, to help build a firmament of
support for our teachers and their initiatives.

Teacher autonomy, once the framework and foundation are laid, needs to be at the forefront of our approach as
an administrative team. By providing support for our teacher’s inquiry projects, and our student’s Personal
Projects, we are validating both their accomplishments and their engagement with their school and community.
It is empowering, and will lead to collegial engagement and a focus on challenging preconceptions to go above
and beyond perceived limitations.

My MYP Educators came from a wide variety of backgrounds. From first year teachers fresh out of college, to
30 year veterans. This degree of difference did not mean much as the resounding personality trait that each of
them came with was a passion for learning and engaging in understanding how to implement the IB MYP
Framework and a positive, can-do attitude. They knew that this position would present challenges, almost daily,
but they were surrounded by like-minded people who all brought their own talents and skills to the school. I
need to make sure that I engage with and empower their collective skills to provide the most effective teacher-
led, and subsequently student-led inquiry model possible.

In order to evaluate whether or not our approach to the IB framework is effective and our students are learning,
we are going to keep ePortfolios and design our rubrics as a Learning Collective. My teachers are adult learners,
and need to be present in the guiding of their professional development. Through the portfolios, we will be able
to effectively keep track of our learning and our product artifacts necessary for authorization, as well as our
reflections throughout the year. By having a cycle of inquiry, production, and reflection that provides new
inquiry, we will be creating a community of teacher learners. In order to elicit trust in the process,
communication of intention and goals is key, and the connection of the hopes and dreams of the founder, school
board, administrative team, community leaders, parents, teachers, and students together will help us to
collaborate to create a clear school vision year after year.

As idealistic as this sounds, I have seen again and again how transparency is able to dispel issues before they
arise, and just how effective the empowerment of professionals in the development of their learning experiences
can be. It is my responsibility to be the connecting point between my staff and administrators when it comes to
their learning, and as knowledge is their trade, I think it is the most important role that I could play. Therefore, I
will lay out the year’s PLCs on the next few pages as clearly as possible so we can discern any issues before
they manifest.
August
In order to facilitate our understanding of a shared vision, I would start with the heutagogical approach
mentioned in Carpenter’s research on Edcamp, which discusses how this type of adult professional learning is
marked by its self-directed foundation. Not only does it focus on the acquisition of knowledge through
collaborative learning, but also the “development of skills, competencies, and capabilities, such as self-efficacy,
metacognition, teamwork, and creativity.” Zepeda’s Learning Community model utilizes this core
understanding of the cyclical, and self-directed, learning style. It is imperative that I provide problem-solving
and team-oriented experiences for my educators as the majority of them have not yet had experience in the IB
realm. Due to the relative lack of local Professional Development for the IB Middle Years Programme, as well
as the length of time and distance between any offered workshops, it is the learning community that will take
precedence in my focus for my teachers this year. They will provide the job-embedded PD that my educators
will need in order to succeed in the upcoming school year, and should provide a solid foundation for our cycle
of inquiry, assessment and reflection.

In my first session in August, I would start by providing the teachers with our Mission Statement.

1. As seen on the website:

“Meridian School will provide an invigorating educational environment that develops responsible citizens who
can artfully navigate our complex world and enjoy a good life with others. Each student will engage in
diverse investigations, disciplined inquiry, and integrated service learning to cultivate intercultural
awareness, creativity and mental acuity.”

I would have the teachers break these statements down in small groups and answer the questions:
- What does this mean for our teaching?
- How might you make this statement better?

We would, after 15 minutes of engaging with the mission statement, discuss our group’s findings and look for
ways to embed this statement into our classroom policies and procedures.

2. We would then discuss the IB’s Learner Profile Traits that are the IBO’s 21st Century learning outcomes.
“The learner profile describes a list of attributes that promote academic rigor and the establishing of a
personal value system leading to international-mindedness.” (Meridian, 2016)

Our teachers would be provided with the handout on the following page and would be tasked – in department
groups – to create a set of “School Guidelines” that demonstrate each trait. They would be given poster paper,
markers, and will write their guidelines on the posters to be taped up around the room. After their group is
finished after a set amount of time, we would take a gallery walk and privately vote on our favorite
interpretations of each trait as a behavioral guideline. As we get to know our students, we will revise and revisit
this on a semester basis, then a yearly basis going forward.

Through these collaborative efforts, I hope to provide the “synergy where the power of the group is more
profound than that of any one individual” that Zepeda speaks of in Chapter 6. It was incredibly impactful for me
as a new IB educator to be able to constantly bounce my ideas and questions off of my peers in the moment,
rather than having to wait to speak with an ‘expert’. It was immeasurably more impactful for all of us to be able
to ‘sink or swim’ together, and I would very much like to replicate that for my own teachers. In short, I would
like to create an embedded Professional Learning Network that “offer[s] new spaces in which teachers may
learn and grow as professionals with support from a diverse network of people and resources” (Trust, 2016).

The final product of the voting would be put up in poster form alongside a poster of our Learner Profile Traits
throughout the school so that our behavior and character expectations are visually reminding all of us to present
ourselves in our pocket-sized society in a way that is reflective of our values as a school community.

3. I would then briefly break down what it means for us as educators in this candidacy year. We will have
to work on accomplishing the following in the coming school year.
⮚ All teachers will have to be at least IB certified in
their subject. We will provide the training.

⮚ All teachers will need to create at least one IB unit

that fits within the IB framework.

⮚ As a teaching team, we need to have at least one

interdisciplinary unit for authorization.

⮚ All of this must be accomplished before our first

site visit in May.
-
August
1. Workshop Training Dates for the upcoming school year:
a. IB Coordinators – Category 1: 10/12 – 10/14, 2019 (Atlanta)
b. Individuals & Societies (History) – Category 1: 10/12 – 10/14, 2019 (Atlanta)
c. Sciences – Category 1: 11/2 – 11/4, 2019 (Denver)
d. Language & Literature – Category 1: 11/16 – 11/18, 2019 (Charlotte)
e. Design – Category 1: 11/23 – 11/25, 2019 (Portland)
f. Physical & Health Education – Category 1: 1/18 – 1/20 (Los Angeles)
g. Performing Arts – Category 1: 2/7 – 2/9, 2019 (Kansas City)
h. Mathematics – Category 1: 4/25 – 4/27, 2020 (Minneapolis)
i. Language Acquisition – Category 1: 4/25 – 4/27 (Minneapolis)
All of our educators will be sent to the training as a part of their Professional Development, and their flights and hotels
will come out of the budget. They will have to pay for all meals and transportation, as the training is costly. Teacher
groups will be sent together. It is important that there are at least two educators at each training so they can have a
sounding board during - and when they return from - training. Although expensive, as there are additional costs for
substitutes covering the classes for the absent teachers, this is an excellent Critical Friends Group for them to form
because it provides a foundational space for teacher inquiry and development throughout the year.

2. IB Middle Years Programme Teacher Requirements: www.ibo.org

⮚ At least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group, each year.
⮚ Years 4 & 5 (9th & 10th in the U.S.) students have the option to take courses from 6 of the 8 subject groups
within certain limits. This provides greater flexibility in meeting local requirements and individual student
learning needs.
⮚ Each year, students participate in at least one collaboratively planned unit with at least 2 subject groups
involved.
⮚ A teacher will be assigned as a mentor to a 7th/8th grade student to assist them in their “Personal Project”.
These meetings will comprise of aiding the student in deciding what they want to learn about, identifying
what they already know, discovering what they will need to know to complete the project, and creating a
proposal or criteria for completing it. Students will choose their project in 7 th grade to set it up for their 8th
grade year. Starting after Spring Break in March, we will begin weekly school-wide assemblies where the 8 th
graders will present their final reflections on their project. We will train the teachers in this.

3. Our teachers will need a training on how to prepare ideal IB units, so I will use the templates on the following
pages to help them break down the elements of each unit. As each of our educators need at least 1 by the end of
the school year, this is an essential first step. After each step, the teachers will fill out a sample section in their
departments or in small groups with the goal of creating a single, tangible unit by the end of the training. I will
follow up with them with regards to this at the semester break, then again at the end of the year.

4. Portfolios are the final element of our journey in this first year. Although it could be viewed as just ‘one more
thing’ to add to an already teetering pile of ‘must-do’ items, each month I would like to dedicate one of our
Professional Learning Community times to working on completing our portfolio in the same space. Instead of
giving the teachers autonomy over their time, I would like a structured, in-person time for them to reflect
individually and together on how their year is going with regards to IB understanding, Unit building
comprehension, student’s “long-term projects”, artifact reflection, and collaborative unit ideas and building time.
Resources provided by https://www.rcboe.org/Page/37560.
IB MYP Unit Planner Template
 Resources provided by https://www.rcboe.org/Page/37566.

September
Candidacy Year
 ❏ Administration Side
❏ Candidacy Granted after a summer of applications and our Head of School attending the
Category 1 Workshop in July.
❏ Welcome Letter Received & IB Programme Relationship Manager contact details received
❏ Within 30 days of granting candidacy, we will have paid the candidacy and consultation fees.
❏ Teacher Side
❏ One Year of “Trial Teaching” begins
❏ Teachers are assigned 7th/8th grade students to mentor for their “Long-Term Projects”
❏ Within 14 days of granting candidacy, I will receive consultant contact information and begin working
with teachers and administrators on the requirements of the year. This will be a continued conversation.
❏ Last week in September: Teacher PLC gathering to set up portfolio websites.
Shared Portfolio Website Teacher Training
1. As Zepeda discusses in Chapter 3, “learning in the company of others is a more powerful design for
professional development” than simply learning by themselves. “Schools that embrace the adult learner
purposefully find opportunities for teachers to learn from one another (Zepeda, 2015, 2018)
2. Therefore, prior to this, I would inquire as to the platforms with which the majority of the teachers feel
the most capable. Once chosen, I would partner our teachers up in such a way to ensure that there is
someone who is comfortable with the platform sitting next to someone who is not. This ensures that they
are able to have someone on hand to ask questions. If there was not a consensus, I would have them use
Google Sites: https://sites.google.com
3. During the training, I would have the teachers create similar logins
a. Username: First Initial, Last Name
b. Password: meridianlions
i. The password would be the same to ensure that anyone from our staff with the password
could log in. This could prove problematic as students might get the passwords, but we
will change it periodically to mitigate such events.
4. After they were logged in, I would put up an assignment for them to complete individually, or with
others in the group. This would be a general “Home” page with the following information.
1. Have your Subject at the top of the page
2. Have your First and Last Name under the Subject
3. Choose a page theme that connects with your Subject
4. Choose 3 images to go on your page that have to do with IB or your Subject
5. Choose 2 Learner Profile Traits that you would like to have as your focus this year

6. Create 3 new pages and label them 1. Your Subject Name 2. ATL Skills 3. Reflection Blog

7. Your Subject Name Page

This is where you will put your Unit Planner, Units, Lesson Plans, and Resources

8. ATL Skills Page

This is where you will put your Learner Profile Traits information, and where your log of the ATL
Skills you use throughout the year will go. We will discuss how these will be incorporated into your
lesson as the year progresses.

9. Reflection Blog
 This is a blog page where we write our reflections at the end of each month. These reflections will be
what we use to plan out our next year an are an essential part of lining up our inquiry sessions for the
upcoming school year.

October
Candidacy Year
❏ By the start of the month, I should have paid the candidacy and consultation services fee.
❏ Workshops
❏ IB Coordinators – Category 1: 10/12 – 10/14, 2019 (Atlanta)
❏ Individuals & Societies (History) – Category 1: 10/12 – 10/14, 2019 (Atlanta)
❏ Our “launching” in-school workshop will have been completed. It was done in August during our
teacher training week.
❏ In our weekly assembly, I will speak to our students about the “Long-Term Project”. There are some
important elements to note:
❏ They are service-oriented.
❏ They should have a global-mindedness factor to them, if possible.
❏ They are planned by the end of their 7th and 11th grade year and completed and presented in the
final trimester of their 8th and 12th grade years.
❏ Students are assigned a teacher who will provide mentorship throughout the “Long-Term
Project” process.
❏ This month or the next, the consultant and I will schedule a date for them to visit at least a month in
advance. The consultant will inform IB of the visit dates.
❏ Once the visiting dates were set, an email would be sent to the teachers with the dates and times
their classroom would be visited to help them prepare. I would also include a checklist of items
the consultant is seeking in not only our lesson, but visually in the classroom as well.
❏ Last Week in October: Teacher PLC on Evaluating MYP Unit Plans
❏ We would use resources from https://www.rcboe.org/Page/37563
❏ They would finish by reflecting in their Portfolio Blog and uploading their Unit Plan.

As the portfolio “serves as a formative way for teachers to examine their practices over time,” (Zepeda, 2019) I
believe this could be an exceptional way for our teachers to keep track of what worked and what didn’t within
the confines of this first school year. They will be visual reminders of the previous year, and a great way for us
to reflect in a space that is accessible. By creating a digital portfolio, I hope to engage my educators in
predictable cycles of professional development that both engage and enhance their teaching practice.

November
Candidacy Year
❏ Our consultant visit will be completed this month or next. After they visit, they will have a maximum of
35 days to provide a “Visit Report” to us discussing any issues they viewed as standing in the way of
our authorization as an IB school.
❏ Workshops
❏ Sciences – Category 1: 11/2 – 11/4, 2019 (Denver)
❏ Language & Literature – Category 1: 11/16 – 11/18, 2019 (Charlotte)
❏ Design – Category 1: 11/23 – 11/25, 2019 (Portland)
❏ I will visit each teacher’s classroom to look for visuals and shortfalls in our professional development,
including, but not limited to:
❏ student-led inquiry project artifacts
 ❏ skills teachers are practicing and ones they are struggling to implement
❏ what is working, what isn’t working, and why
❏ what ongoing support and/or resources I need to provide to better support their teaching and
student learning
❏ Unit Plans, Goals, and Learner Profile Traits posted
❏ Here are some resources for classroom decor for our educators:
❏ Teachers will have their first meeting with their “Long-term Project” student.
❏ I will provide guidelines for the teachers as to what they should discuss with their student
❏ Teachers will be able to provide feedback to the student on shared Google documents that will be
filled out every trimester when the student has their “Check-in” meeting.
❏ Last Full Week in November: Teacher PLC on Incorporating ATLs into your Unit Plans
❏ We would use resources from https://www.rcboe.org/Page/37562.
❏ I will get educators together to review the ATL Skills.
❏ We will then go through the ATL Workbook to find 5 lessons they feel would best incorporate
into their classroom.
❏ ATL Workbook
❏ ATL Skills Printables
❏ Then, they would fill out the Google Document with the Skills they are going to teach this year
so that we can keep a running tally for our authorization.They don’t all have to be taught in the
same class, just the same school over the course of their time there.
❏ Finally, they would reflect in their Portfolio Blog and upload any ATL artifacts.

In Chapter 4, Zepeda discusses how classroom observations can inform supervisors of individual teacher needs.
It is through the pre- and post-observations that I can discuss potential professional development shortfalls and
opportunities for my educators. This ‘purposeful interaction’ can help inform my choice of professional
learning in the future, or whether I feel a teacher suggested PD would be appropriate or not.

The IBO also has requirements for teaching, and will do in-class observations. It will be incredibly beneficial
for me to be able to have first-hand knowledge of my team’s teaching style so that I can better prepare for the
candidacy visits.

December
Candidacy Year
❏ I will work with our teachers, administrators, and the IB consultant to set an end date for consultancy
and inform the IB that I would like our Application for Authorization opened. This means we will
receive an authorization fee on the first of the month following our request. It will be billed annually
until the school is authorized, so the sooner we are authorized, the better.
❏ Last Week in December: Teacher PLC on Creating MYP Vertical Planners
❏ Design
❏ Mathematics
❏ Performing Arts - Music, Art
❏ Physical & Health Education
❏ Language & Literature
❏ Language Acquisition
❏ Sciences
❏ Individuals & Societies
 1. I would start by providing them a visual of the Vertical Planner, then break them into their departments
and have them pull out their MYP Subject Guides that I had just emailed them.
a. Individuals & Societies Subject Guide (Example):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IBP0ZysZQzefMba_Ial8EjDrKT_fPkhg/view?usp=sharing
2. They would then create as many Vertical Planners as there are Grade Levels (Years in IB Terms - eg.
Year 1 (6th), Year 2 (7th), and so on) and label them with the same titling as they see on the samples.
3. We would then work in our departments to fill in Unit 1 with the criteria as found in our Subject Guides.
4. I would be there to answer questions and help with locating information in the Subject Guides.
5. They would finish by reflecting in their Portfolio Blog and uploading their Vertical Planners and any
artifacts they feel are necessary.

It will be in the Vertical Planner creation that my teacher leaders will be uncovered. It takes a great deal of
communication, participation, collegiality, and a developmental focus to create a year-long list of units, each
connected to local standards as well as IB standards. Chapter 6 of Zepeda asks our principals to “create
opportunities for more teachers to share their expertise,” as well as “embed leadership as learning opportunities
in the day-to-day work of teachers.” In order for my teachers to create Vertical Planners, they must have a sense
of what a year should look like, and the ability to positively collaborate with their fellow educators to create an
overview that meets the criteria. It is an enormous undertaking, and will require a revisit in the spring to check
in on the details of this required assignment for authorization. This means I will have to be hands-on, but I will
also be looking to my teacher leaders for their expertise and dedication.

January
Candidacy Year
❏ Workshops:
❏ Physical & Health Education – Category 1: 1/18 – 1/20 (Los Angeles)
❏ Last Week in January: Teacher PLC on Creating MYP Rubrics
❏ In this training, my teachers will engage in MYP Rubrics. In order to assess student learning, our
rubrics need to incorporate both local and IB standards.
❏ Rubrics are broken out by Years which coincide to grade levels in most schools.
❏ There is an example rubric on the next page, and here is a link to the document.

Teaching MYP Rubrics

1. First, I will have my teachers pull out their Subject Guide. I will have the links ready in case they have
lost theirs.
2. We will go to the criteria page, and they will find their Year’s Criteria.
a. For example: If you teach 6th grade, you are looking for Year 1. If you teach 9th grade, you are
looking for Year 4.
3. From there, we will get with our Year groups (6th grade - Year 1 group) and create a shared rubric,
using our Subject Guide, and put it on poster paper.
a. After we create a shared rubric, we will hang them up around the room and do a gallery walk.
b. Then, we will come back together to discuss what we viewed, how our interpretations differed or
were the same, and how we might use this information in our own practice.
4. Finally, we will finish by reflecting in our individual Portfolio Blogs and upload any artifacts.

Having my teachers come together to discuss rubrics is an essential part of the “shared vision based upon the
core values of participants and their hopes for the school” (Zepeda, 2019) that we will be seeking to create in
our Learning Community. Although this vision starts at the Principal level, according to Chapter 6, the
implementation of it will rest on my teacher’s shoulders. With so many new teachers to the IB framework, it
will be up to me to provide examples, and the “why” behind each element of the rubrics. Building rubrics is a
daunting task for any PLC, but it is made more complex by the incorporation of the Approaches to Learning
(ATLs) and Service elements that make up the foundation of any IB MYP Unit.
February
Candidacy Year
❏ This month and the next I will be meeting with teachers 1:1 to discuss any inquiries/issues they have.
This option was available all year for educators who might have had questions, but now they will be
planned visits. During these visits, I will be especially checking on:
❏ Complete Unit Plans - at this point, I would like 1 finished one
❏ Vertical Planners - they do not have to be complete, but they should be started
❏ ATL Incorporation
❏ Student-Led Inquiry
❏ Student growth & how they have been monitoring it
❏ Workshops
❏ Performing Arts – Category 1: 2/7 – 2/9, 2019 (Kansas City)
❏ Last Week in February: Teacher PLC - Check-in
❏ During this PLC time, I will have each teacher write a single question on a piece of paper and we
will pull all of them from a fishbowl and answer them as a group, Socratically, of course.
❏ Before they leave, I would ask them to think about the question: How is what you’re doing in
class affecting student learning? Bring in an artifact from your teaching that proves this for our
next PLC
❏ I would have them finish by reflecting in their Portfolio Blogs about their question.

As Zepeda says in Chapter 3, professional development should be a ‘proactive process’, not a ‘fix-it
intervention’. I find that there are often so many PD’s focused on fixing a flaw found in a handful of individuals
instead of allowing educators to ask their own questions. As a perpetually ‘new’ teacher, I know that it isn’t
until about halfway through the year, when I’ve had down time to process, that any actual questions
surrounding the implementation of the curriculum or program are able to arise. New educators do not always
know the questions to ask, so keeping an ‘open door policy’ only does them so much good if they do not know
who to ask what question. So, I think this is a good time for them to have all of the staff together for teacher-led
inquiry time.

March
Candidacy Year
❏ I will visit each teacher’s classroom to look for visuals and shortfalls in our professional development,
including, but not limited to:
❏ student-led inquiry project artifacts
❏ skills teachers are practicing and ones they are struggling to implement
❏ what is working, what isn’t working, and why
❏ what ongoing support and/or resources I need to provide to better support their teaching and
student learning
❏ Unit Plans, Goals, and Learner Profile Traits posted
❏ As mentioned last month, I will be meeting with teachers 1:1 to discuss any questions.
❏ Last Week in March: Teacher-led PLC on Unit Plans, Vertical Planners, and ATL Inquiries

April
Candidacy Year
❏ Mathematics – Category 1: 4/25 – 4/27, 2020 (Minneapolis)
❏ Language Acquisition – Category 1: 4/25 – 4/27 (Minneapolis)
 ❏ Last Week in April: Teacher-led PLC on Feedback - How to provide it and how to receive it.

There are always challenges when working with adult learners, but one of the most challenging is our
propensity to abhor feedback, no matter its form. I think a good place to start with feedback would be within the
Critical Friends Group in an informal manner. Providing feedback to early in the learning process could knock
the confidence of my newer educators (or even the veteran ones!), as I know it does that when I receive it before
I’ve had a chance to work on some of the early issues that come up with learning any new thing. We often, as
professional critics, seek to fix issues immediately instead of allowing our learners to come to conclusions on
their own. Once they’ve been provided a sufficient amount of time to work autonomously

May
Candidacy Year
❏ All mandatory professional development courses should be completed by this month.
❏ Last Week in May: Teacher-led PLC on reflections along with ePortfolio reflections on the year.

June – September
❏ The end of consultancy will be provided a date and a report will be issued by the consultant to our
school.
❏ One year from the day candidacy is granted the candidacy year of trial teaching will come to a close.
❏ 30 days after receiving the invoice from the IBO after a successful candidacy year we will pay the
services fee for our candidacy and Application for Authorization. This is recommended in order for
feedback from the “End of Consultancy” report to be provided prior to the school submitting their
Application for Authorization.
❏ 42 days after receiving our Application for Authorization, we will have a feedback report issued to our
school.
❏ Within 1 day of receiving the feedback, we will start the Verification Visit process which will take place
the following year. That will be mostly an internal audit, and it will continue into the following year’s
professional development.

This process could take anywhere from 3-5 years and is an ongoing Action Research cycle. One of the key
takeaways from Zepeda was the fact that “research suggests that there’s an exceptionally strong relationship
between communal learning, collegiality, and collective action (key aspects of professional learning
communities) and changes in teacher practice and increases in student learning.” (Gulamhussein, 2013) If
workplace conditions create engaged educators, it can also create disengaged ones. This means that if we, as
leaders, do not create educational environments that are conducive to regular teacher interaction and group
professional learning that provide engaging experiences for our educators, then how can we expect our
classrooms to look like that? We must create systems within our schools that encourage, rather than discourage
teacher-led inquiry into the issues that affect their classrooms and communities so they can facilitate solutions
to the issues for which they have a front row seat.

Paul R. Carr provided a template in his chapter from The Social Foundations Reader on Transforming
Educational Leadership that forms a model of collaboration almost exactly the same as the one sought by the IB
programme that is between the individual, the school, and the community. He asks for us to, together, seek to
question how and why we have put our institutions together the way we have, and to continue to have
discussions in a cyclical, and demonstrably democratic, fashion. (Blaire, 2016) It is this kind of ongoing inquiry
that will allow myself, my school, and my teachers to engage our students in the curiosity stream that should be
the classroom experience. I am looking forward to learning and engaging with this material with my teachers,
and am looking forward to the next school year.
 References

Blair, E., & Medina, Y. (2016). The social foundations reader: critical essays on teaching, learning and
leading

in the 21st century. New York: Peter Lang.

Carpenter, J. P., & Linton, J. N. (2016). Edcamp unconferences: Educators' perspectives on an untraditional

professional learning experience. Teaching and Teacher Education, 57(C), 97–108.

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.03.004

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers: Effective professional development in an era of high stakes

accountability. Alexandria, VA: National School Board Association Center for Public Education.

Retrieved from www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/Professional%20Development.pdf

Hughes, S. (2016). Joining the game: Living and learning as an action researcher. The Canadian Journal of

Action Research, 17(1), 3-19. Retrieved from http://journals.nipissingu.ca/index.php/cjar

Ib Organization. (2019). Authorization milestones. Retrieved from

https://www.ibo.org/become-an-ib-school/timeline-and-stages/

Meridian School Home. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.mwschool.org/

Trust, T., Krutka, D. G., & Carpenter, J. P. (2016). Together we are better: Professional learning networks for

teachers. Computers & Education, 102(C), 15–34. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.06.007

Zepeda, S. (2019). Professional development: what works. New York, NY: Routledge

https://www.rcboe.org/Page/37566

Link to my Final Reflection: https://anngilcrease.weebly.com/communication--collaboration/the-end