On October 2, the first International Baccalaureate (IB) heads of school and coordinators’ meeting of the 2015-2016 academic year was hosted by the Özel Bilkent Schools on East Campus. Heads of school and program coordinators from IB World Schools in Turkey, which run one, two or all three IB programs (primary years, middle years, diploma) gathered to exchange ideas and discuss issues related to program needs and requirements.
The meeting opened with a speech by Dr. John O’Dwyer, the Bilkent Schools’ general coordinator, about the need for inquiry-based teaching and learning, and the positive impact that IB schools are having on the quality of teaching and learning. The program then continued with group-specific meetings for all three IB programs. The discussions included items about effective planning in the primary years, personal projects in the middle years, and CAS (community, action, service) and TOK (theory of knowledge) in the diploma program.
The next IB school heads and coordinators meeting will be held at Bilkent Erzurum Laboratory School (BELS) in December.