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.

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