Strategic planning deep dive

What are the steps schools take to identify barriers to attracting students to the IB Diploma Programme, and how do they decide what to prioritize. The IB Programme Standards and Practices provide a clear foundation for schools to improve the quality of their programme implementation, which also includes things like a shared philosophy and mission, as well as school culture, and learning environments. In this session, school representatives from around the world explore common challenges, but from within different contexts, which require different actions and approaches to solving them.

Session recording

Session Presentation PPT Strategic planning deep dive [Downloadable PDF.]

More session resources

A working document and exemplar for understanding the complexity of barriers to growth in school context can be found in Milestone 1.1 Conducting a needs analysis

In Networking Session Four, participants shared their biggest challenges and the focus areas they will pursue as they develop their strategy for growing and sustaining the DP.

Highlights:

• The level of understanding System and School Leadership have plays a significant role in how IB programmes are resourced and the extent to which IB approaches and philosophy integrate across the school

• It’s not only important to consider what is communicated to parents and students, but when. It is relevant to consider timing to avoid informing students about the DP at a time when they are at their busiest or under academic stress.

• There are a number of opportunities schools can pursue to consolidate competitive options for students that don’t add to the innovative and unique learning experiences. For example, in some contexts it might be feasibly to adopt the IB courses for one or more subject area, such as Language Arts.

• One of the greatest challenges is identifying exactly what the priorities are, and then unravelling the causing factors that created them. Engaging the community is the best way to explore challenges, so everyone understand what it will take to make positive change, and the part they can play.