Date of Award
10-2024
Culminating Project Type
Dissertation
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Educational Administration and Leadership, K-12: Ed.D.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Frances Kayona
Second Advisor
Frank Herman
Third Advisor
David Lund
Fourth Advisor
Amy Christensen
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme
Abstract
The qualitative study intended to target three specific areas regarding the implementation of an International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) –the challenges of implementing and successfully leading the Programme, including means of overcoming these challenges; the factors noted by the participants as being effective for implementation of the programme, including structures that aided the process; and advice or considerations the participants would give to schools interested in implementing the programme. The researcher interviewed coordinators from six authorized International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programmes and focused specifically on gathering information regarding these three areas.
For the first area–challenges around implementing the programme–several common themes emerged. They were the need for supportive leadership, teacher comprehension and endorsement of the IB Middle Years Programme, teachers understanding of the importance of mapping out their curriculum using the MYP unit planning process, the necessity for teachers to comprehend the MYP assessment criteria, and the ability of schools to be able to meet the professional development requirements for the programme. For the second area–factors noted by the participants as being effective for implementation of the programme–a few common themes emerged. They were collaboration, training and professional development and commitment from all stakeholders involved in the programme. For the third area–advice that IB MYP coordinators would offer school leaders interested in having their school become an IB World School–several commonalities become apparent. They included vision, strong alignment with IB philosophy and practices; official and unofficial training for staff; knowledge and belief in change management; and networking with other IB world schools.
Recommended Citation
Christensen, Kari S., "Exploring the Efficacy of Strategies and Approaches for Implementing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme" (2024). Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership. 126.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/edad_etds/126
Comments/Acknowledgements
There are so many to thank. A special thank you to my St. Cloud State professors, my committee members, especially my former committee chairperson, Dr. John Eller, who had an enormous amount of patience and who was always there to answer my numerous questions. To my current committee chairperson, Dr. Frances Kayona, who spent every weekend with me for the past five months, working through my dissertation to make it better. To my dear friends, Jan Kuretsky, Kathleen Lahouze and Dr. Cindy Shevlin-Woodcock who spent hours proofing my chapters and giving me invaluable advice along the way. And to all of my amazing friends who supported me in so many ways, particularly emotionally. You know who you are. And finally, to my family that has supported me through all of my crazy professional journeys, this one being the biggest of all. A special and personal thank you to my amazing husband of 40+ years who never gave up on me at any point during the last 10 years. Thanks for believing in me. And to my aunt, Darlene Hoffman, who believed in me, supported me and pushed me throughout this journey.