5 points for new teachers of IB Business Management

Point 1: The contents of IB DP syllabus of Business Management are fairly standard: it

includes the 4Ps marketing mix, balance sheet, motivation theories such as Maslow’s, SWOT,
Ansoff matrix etc – however you need to gradually read/learn/understand what makes it
“particularly IB”, especially:

 the difference between “Standard Level” (150 hours) and “Higher Level” (240 hours)
 the assessment strategy (2 exams, called Paper 1 and Paper 2; the internal
assessment, radically different for SL and HL)
 the conceptual underpinning (with 6 key concepts)
 the IB perspective on most topics, for example about intercultural aspects.
There is nothing fundamentally difficult in the syllabus (though there might be aspects that
you are not familiar with, such as Pink’s motivational theory, or the IB format of the balance
sheet, which may be slightly different from your national model). It takes time to read and
‘absorb’ all this.

Point 2: The course is not linear. There is no expectation that you will deliver it following
the order of the contents (Unit 1, Unit 2 etc). Some teachers do it this way – and this is fine
– but many do not. Like many other teachers, I personally teach using concepts and
contexts (i.e. examples and case studies), following the triangle model that underpins the
IBDP Business Management course:

This model is very empowering; it shows that there is no “starting point” and that you do
not have to teach Unit 1.1, then 1.2, then 1.3 etc. What matters is that, for their exams,
students have covered the whole contents, the concepts and know (at least) one in-depth
case study – but there is no expectation that you will teach, for example, marketing one
term, finance the next term etc. If you want to teach in a linear way – that’s absolutely fine
– but the numbers of sections and sub-sections are not a progression, for example there is
no need to have covered HR to study Marketing….

Point 3: Do not believe everything you see online; it is not because a website says “IB DP
Business Management” that it is reliable and authoritative. For example, a website used by
many teachers gives wrong information about the structure of the HLIA, and another one
wrongly gives a list of 6 tools that must be used in an SLIA – so be vigilant! Just as you tell
your students to be cautious with what they read online, develop the same attitude. The
point of reference is The Guide, not what some websites or what some people may write on
their blogs. Be particularly wary of websites that ask you to pay some fees; a lot is available
online for free.

Point 4: The ATL (Approaches to Teaching and Learning) are at the centre of an IB
education and they help us become better IB educators. To copy the Approaches to
Teaching (source: the “official” ATL website, click here):

In a nutshell, this is what IB teaching should be like…. and for Business Management, it is
actually quite easy – but we need to ensure we do it consciously.

Point 5: Ultimately the Learner Profile is at the core of an IB education. Everything we do,
when we teach Business Management (or any IB subject) must link back to the Learner
Profile.
The key question, for each class, is the following:
What am I doing, today, in this specific class, regarding the attributes of the learner profile?
https://www.ibo.org/contentassets/fd82f70643ef4086b7d3f292cc214962/learner-profile-en.pdf

This list of attributes is important for all aspects of an IB education, including our online
workshop!

Ultimately, what matters is that you gradually gain some insight into teaching Business
Management the IB way. The contents themselves are not difficult (the 4Ps, cash-flow
forecast, SWOT analysis….) but the IB perspective, especially with the triangle model, makes
the course so interesting to teach, as we can use case studies and activities about
innovation, ethics, culture…. The more you discover it, the more you get engaged with it, the
more you will enjoy it, I am sure!

Dr Loykie Lominé, 3 March 2021