International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes are increasingly prevalent, yet lack systematic study of their implementation and leadership. This enquiry analyses the role of IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) coordinator in implementing the MYP in a variety of school settings. Empirical research involved interviews with experienced coordinators and case studies of an international private, a national private, and a national public school. It focussed on school setting and its impact on coordination, curriculum implementation, key functions of coordinators, and approaches to accountability and professional development. The research found, first, that a primary aim of MYP coordination, facilitating links between subjects and between middle and high schools, was viewed by coordinators as compelling though ambitious. Second, schools' pre-existing organizational, resource, and external accountability settings often presented coordinators, particularly in national public schools, with difficulties, primarily logistical. Third, the subject-based structure of respondents' high schools provided avenues for disciplinary implementation but also presented structural and cultural barriers to collaborative interdisciplinary planning. Fourth, coordinators typically had much responsibility with little formal authority. They sought therefore to overcome above barriers through key functions, termed 'guide alongside', 'facilitator', and 'professional developer'. These functions were effective in developing trust and credibility with teachers, fostering constructive discourse, and enlisting the authority and structural support of senior managers. Fifth, MYP's approaches to accountability and professional development were viewed as complementary and constructive. The MYP emphasized collaborative partnership with participating schools in the evolutionary development of its curriculum framework. Accordingly, coordinators demonstrated 'creative professionalism' with this nascent programme, taking leadership opportunities within their schools and for lB. This approach differs from many depictions in middle management literature, in which subject leaders struggle with conflicting, externally-imposed, responsibilities for collaborative school improvement and teacher evaluation. Significant implications of this study include: for middle management research, the importance of school setting for understanding structural and cultural barriers to curriculum implementation; for education policy, greater consideration of 'collaborative partnership' as a means for school improvement; and for practice, the value of 'creative professional' development opportunities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:555746 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Robertson, John Eric |
| Publisher | University of Bath |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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