Teacher Perception of International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Implementation

The rural, Title I, underperforming, priority schools in the study encounter several challenges when implementing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) framework. Successful implementation is contingent on how the teachers perceive these challenges. This research aims to understand how teachers' perspective on the IBMYP affects programme implementation. Understanding the experiences and perspectives of teachers increased my and the school district’s ability to support the effective implementation of the IBMYP framework. The research questions focused on gathering data to determine teacher perspectives about the IBMYP, how those perspectives affect programme implementation, and the factors that appear to enhance or impede the implementation of IBMYP. The study was guided by two theories that provided a framework to analyze the perceptions of teachers regarding the implementation of the IBMYP. The constructivist theory was applied to the examination of the IBMYP curriculum framework. A growth mindset was applied to teacher perception and implementation of the programme. The study used convenience sampling from volunteers that yielded one teacher participant from each school with an average of 7 years of teaching experience. Data collection included individual semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, review of documents, the IB Evaluation Report, and whole school survey data. Open and axial coding developed categories based on IBMYP factors required for implementation, (1) Approaches to Teaching, (2) Approaches to Learning (3) Teacher Support, and (4) District, School, and IBMYP Alignment. Findings revealed that participants perceive IBMYP as aligned with the overall goals for education, and student achievement, perception of IBMYP does not challenge teacher efforts of implementation, IBMYP is minimally being implemented with challenges in instructional design and assessment, teacher awareness of the need to provide the programme as well as the value the impact the programme may have on student achievement enhances the implementation, and challenges with time and other school and district responsibilities impede implementation. As a result of the findings, recommendations include advancing and sustaining IBMYP teacher efficacy requires dedicated and protected collaborative planning time, consistent training, and relevant professional development to plan the IB content-specific and interdisciplinary unit plans with appropriate integration of district curriculum standards.