What is it about IB experience and expertise that demands such a price premium?

6 comments

1. IB is a specific, niche framework that isn’t as simple as attending a degree mill. Schools and organizations can be reasonably certain, that when they hire an IB certified and experienced teacher, that that teacher has had certain specific training taught in pretty specific kinds of environments.

2. It’s a catch22 situation – it’s hard to get a job without IB experience and you can’t get the experience with a job at an IB school. As an IB teacher with 12 years experience teaching in Japan I got a lucky break but I was a certified teacher from my home country.

3. IB is probably the most widely accepted international curriculum that is recognised by Universities across the globe.

   Schools which teach IBDP (15-18yrs ‘diploma’) are usually private international schools and can lead to admission to universities in Europe and the US.

   The AP curriculum is only accepted in the US as a standard and the more recent Cambridge International is modelled on UK exams. It isn’t just an English based curriculum Spanish and French are among the languages that it can be taught in.

   This is especially significant in Japan as schools are often portals to certain Universities so it mimics that while also opening up prospects for other schools later in the school system as well as Universities.

   From a teaching perspective it can also provide further credentials as you can qualify through experience with certified providers.

4. What do you mean by “price premium”? As in teacher salary or the cost for parents?

   IB in general is just a rigorous curriculum. I’ve taught both national and state curriculums for Australia, IB DP and also have some understanding of A levels. IB DP (no idea about PYP or MYP) is by far the most complex.

   In pretty much most other curriculums it’s like; here’s the curriculum content, here’s how it’s assessed, off you go.

   In the DP you have the curriculum content, the internal assessment (IA) on top of your own assessments, the extended essay (EE), the required links to CAS (creativity, activity, service), TOK (theory of knowledge), and ATLs (approaches to learning), plus preparing for final external exams.

   In previous curriculum, how I structured my year and units were pretty much up to me as long as I covered everything in time and in depth.

   In IB I have to keep track of multiple hard deadlines that are set by the IB and coordinate it with the way I want to deliver the curriculum. And also having to satisfy the recommended hours for each thing. For example currently I’m juggling a unit assessment, IA topic selections, and EE topic selections + individual advisor meetings before winter break. In January we also have mid year exams, so I’ll need to make papers ready for all my classes.

   As for DP positions, it’s the same with most other curriculums but there’s quite a heavy emphasis on having a degree in the subject you’re teaching. In Australia it wasn’t unusual for people to get given ‘somewhat related’ subjects that they weren’t experienced or even familiar with. When I first started IB and did a workshop and met others teaching my subject we all had degree(s) and/or experience working in our subject. The few who didnt had a lot more teaching experience with the specific subject in another curriculum (usually A levels).

5. They have built a brand and standardised(ish) system that universities accept, which schools can easily tap into.

   Those schools get kids into uni.

   Parents pay for that.

   Schools get rich.

   Schools pay for teachers who can make that happen.

   That’s it. So many school leaders and experts hate the IB, but it produces income.

6. IB is the most common framework used in international schools around the world. It’s a convoluted disaster that doesn’t use common standards or structures which means that proper training and experience is essential for teachers to operate successfully in the system. So, tier 1 international schools, which pay the most, can’t afford to fafo and so want qualified successful IB teachers. Tier 2&3 IB schools are more willing to hire teachers and then have teachers qualified but they generally don’t pay as well.