Date of Award
Fall 8-2-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Barbara Weschke, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Heidi Pace, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Peggy Dupey, Ph.D.
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how teachers perceive, make meaning of, and implement the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Best practices for effectively implementing the IBDP were also explored. A total of 10 teachers and coordinators who were new to IBDP and had implemented the program since 2015 were interviewed. These educators were outside their home countries in Macao, Malaysia, Qatar, and Turkey. The study was designed to answer two research questions. RQ 1 asked, How do teachers perceive, make meaning of, and individually construct their implementation of the IBDP according to Knowles et al.’s (2015) principles of andragogy? RQ 2 asked, What factors do teachers believe best contribute to their implementation of the IBDP? Nine themes emerged from the data analysis: value of the IBDP, understanding assessment, mentoring, collaboration, effective training, continuous reading, insecurity of assessment, applying and refining new knowledge through practice, and time. The strong need for collaboration and mentoring has been clearly articulated by the participants. There is a definite need for more research about the topic of IBDP implementation. However, this study begins to explore the elements of perceiving and making meaning of the IBDP, and suggests strategies for effectively implementing the IBDP while giving voice to the practitioners who do already implement the IBDP.