Brad Cartwright

Five Tips: Starting Your Journey into Teaching IB Economics

May 10, 2024

This week I’m going to share Five Tips for what to do if you are transitioning into teaching IB Economics for the first time.

Moving into teaching IB Economics transformed my educational career path.

I love teaching it.

Not only was the leap intellectually revitalizing for me as a veteran teacher but also it deepened my ability to teach specific academic skills in a way that I had never before.  

But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of teaching in the IB Diploma Programme is how it has deepened my connection with my students.  

There is something magical that happens throughout the two-year course because as the teacher I neither make nor grade their final assessment.  The result is a flattening of the student-teacher relationship in a way that I had never experienced before.  

Unfortunately, the transition to teaching can be difficult.

Here’s why…

• Lack of training on the overall IB Diploma Programme.
• Lack of training on the specifics of teaching IB Economics.
• Teacher isolation—often there is only one IB Economics teacher at the school.
• Learning the content while simultaneously teaching the skills necessary for success on the IB Exam can be overwhelming.
• The uncertainty of not knowing if your daily lessons are preparing students for success on the IB Exam.
• Lack of sleep while you try to master the diagrams at 4:00 AM every morning.

 

But, with a bit of thought, some wise decisions, and with some good training, you can enter the classroom on the first day feeling as calm and prepared as you possibly can.  

So, here’s my take on how to avoid all of the hassles I just laid out.

  

Tip #1:  Understand the Overall IB Diploma Programme 

Regardless of the school where you are teaching, think of yourself as working for the “IB Diploma School” first.  And you just so happened to be stationed at your particular high school.   

Why? 

Because it is true.  

When you teach in the IB, you are following the same curriculum as nearly 6,000 schools worldwide.  With that in mind, it kind of makes sense that you think of it this way.  

Plus, it’s pretty cool that so many like-minded people out there are teaching, thinking, and striving for excellence in the same way that you are.  

There’s a lot to this, but let’s start with a Big Picture View of the IB Diploma Programme.  

Here are the main tasks every IB Diploma Student must complete: 

• Take Six Core IB Classes 
  • 3 Higher Level Courses 
  • 3 Standard Level Courses
• Take the Theory of Knowledge Course
  • Their 7th class
• Write an Extended Essay
  • A 4,000-word research paper
• Complete their Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) Requirement 
  • Ongoing CAS Activities
  • A significant CAS Project

That’s their lives as students.  Now let’s break that down into more detail.

The Six-Core Courses:

• Every student chooses a combination of six courses in these Six Subject Groups:
  1. Group 1:  Studies in Language and Literature (English)
  2. Group 2:  Language Acquisition (Second Language)
  3. Group 3:  Individuals and Society (Social Studies)
  4. Group 4:  Sciences
  5. Group 5:  Mathematics
  6. Group 6:  The Arts
• Of the six courses, three of them must be taken at the Higher Level and three of them must be taken at Standard Level. 
• Key Point:  While it varies from subject to subject, don’t think of Higher Level as “harder” and Standard Level as “easier”.  Just think of Higher Level classes as having more content to cover.  In general, Higher Level equals more content.

 

Take the Theory of Knowledge Course 

• Every IB Diploma student is required to take one course called Theory of Knowledge (TOK).  This course is often the most misunderstood portion of the IB Diploma Programme.  
• I have taught this course for years and I’ll say one thing very clearly, it is not a philosophy course.  Theory of Knowledge is a course designed to have students better understand why they know what they know—and where that information or knowledge came from.  
• I love teaching this course because it pushes students to think about why they believe what they believe, and then consider if they actually want to believe that anymore.  It is an awesome course.  When taught well, kids really enjoy it.
• The overarching goal of the course is to create what I call “beautifully flexible minds”.  That is, minds that are capable of bringing in new information without judgment, think about it, form new thoughts based on their previous knowledge, and then clearly articulate them.  
• Apart from content of the course, each student must complete two required tasks:
  • The TOK Exhibition
    • This thing is cool.  Students choose three objects that connect to one of the thirty-five prescribed prompts provided by the IB. 
    • The goal is to demonstrate how TOK concepts manifest in the real world through these objects.
  • The TOK Essay
    • Check this out .  Each year, the IB provides a list of “prescribed titles” from which students must choose one. 
    • These titles challenge students to critically engage with different knowledge assumptions they may have and to explore their implications.
    • The essay has a maximum word count of 1,600 words and requires students to develop a coherent argument that is well supported by real-life examples and their own critical thinking.
    • Crazy right?  The IB gives kids titles and then they have to write an essay to serve that title.   It’s a really cool and thoughtful assignment.

 

Write an Extended Essay

• The Extended Essay is a 4,000-word essay that provides students the opportunity to extend their studies into their favorite educational field.
• Think of it as an opportunity for students to investigate a specific question within a subject area that the student is particularly interested in. 
• This could range across a wide variety of disciplines—from the sciences and humanities to the arts and languages.
• I love this journey with students.

 

Creativity, Activity, and Service 

• Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) is the “holistic part” of the curriculum that requires students to engage in a range of activities alongside their academic studies throughout the two years.       
• It is designed to foster students' personal and interpersonal development by learning through experience.
• Here’s a breakdown of each element:
  • Creativity involves arts and other experiences that involve creative thinking. 
  • Activity refers to “physical exertion” contributing to a healthy lifestyle, encouraging students to appreciate the importance of physical activity. 
  • Service entails collaborative engagement with a community or individuals that address the genuine needs of the community.
• And then there’s the CAS Project 
  1. The CAS Project is a requirement within the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) component of the IB Diploma Programme and it involves students in a collaborative or individual project that spans at least one month.

 

That’s a lot, right?

It is, and it is the combination of all of these elements that make the IB a comprehensive curricular program that goes way beyond our role as an IB Economics teacher. 

So, imagine being a 17 year-old kid...

I know.  

That’s a lot for them to manage.  That must always be on our minds too as teachers.

 

Tip #2:  You Gotta Know the Content of the Course

This is perhaps the most obvious of things but it’s true, you gotta know the content.  IB Economics is officially broken down into four distinct parts: 

1. Introduction to Economics
   • This provides students with an overall idea of the study of Economics.
   • Included in here is a unit called the Evolution of Economic Thinking.
2. Microeconomics
   • This includes the classic stuff:  Demand, Supply, and Market Equilibrium
   • It also includes units on Government Intervention and Market Failure.
   • And for the Higher Level Students, there is a section called Market Power which looks at the potential abuse of power in some market structures.
3. Macroeconomics
   • This is the study of country-wide economics.
   • Topics include Unemployment, Inflation, Economic Growth, the Economics of Poverty and Equality, Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Supply-Side Policies, and Demand-Side Policies.
4. The Global Economy
   • This section of the syllabus is the combination of International Economics and Development Economics.
   • International Economics covers Free Trade and Protectionism, Exchange Rates, and Balance of Payments or Trade.  A very cool unit of study.
   • Development Economics is my favorite part of the syllabus and this looks at how Developing nations interact with more developed economies and how the imbalance leads to certain outcomes.  
   • I love this unit!

 So, that’s the content we have to teach, now what about the academic skills we need to teach?

 

Tip #3:  Focus on The Five Essential Skills

When it comes down to it, this is a skills-based course.  

Your first time through the content seems king, but with time I realized it’s the skills that have the biggest impact on student performance. 

Think of the content as the information we teach to get these kids to hone these Five Essential Skills:

• The Language
• The Calculations
• The Diagrams
• The Analysis
• The Evaluation

These Five Essential Skills are built by looking at what skills are necessary for a student to thrive on the IB Economic Exam at the end of the two-year course.  

Teaching these skills is our number one priority as a teacher of IB Economics.  

Why?  

Because students can not learn these skills on their own. 

We must help them.  

Guide them.  

Teach them.   

Hold them accountable.  

Then reteach them.   

Key Point!  These Five Essential Skills should guide your daily lessons.  

 Meaning that every daily lesson should be focused on at least one of these Five Essential Skills.  

Oftentimes, our lessons will hit on two or three of them.   

Yes, this takes thought, work, and good guidance, but they are essential to us serving these kids.

Tip #4:  Get the Proper Training 

This is perhaps the most important tip I can give you.  

Find a teacher workshop or training that makes you feel empowered to begin the journey of teaching this course.   

The number one goal for a new teacher going to training is that they come away feeling like they understand the overall task at hand—meaning the two-year task.  

There are a lot of nuances that come up throughout the two years.  

There’s the Internal Assessment, The Extended Essay, Mock Exams, Predicted Grades, etc.  

Yes, that is true.  But at the beginning that can all be overwhelming.

With time a thorough understanding of those things will come.   As they arise.  You don’t need mastery of any of those things before your first day of class.   

What you do need is an understanding of what they are so that you can avoid being blindsided by anything.  

I too was once at the beginning of this journey.   As a result, I have designed all of my workshops and trainings around what I would have loved to have had when I began teaching this course.  

For new teachers, my IB Economics New Teacher Workshop has proven to be a lifesaver for them.  It’s a two-day workshop in July with eight hours of instruction geared toward giving you the confidence you need to feel empowered on day one.  It includes an annual Teacher Membership, a Microeconomics Teacher Resource eBook, and instant access to a private group of IB Economics teachers via Whatsapp.

When choosing a training, just be sure that when you read the agenda that you feel like you will feel empowered to teach the course on day one.  

That point is huge.

 

Tip #5:  Find a Mentor Teacher

Lastly, find a colleague, a friend, a fellow teaching partner.  

Find a mentor.  

 This is invaluable.  Remember, your first run through this course is two, years, long.   

Two. Long. Years.

 That’s a long time.  Having a trusted person to ask the “dumb questions” to is invaluable.   

While my Mentoring Program is designed for just that, it doesn’t really matter who the person is, just as long as you trust that person and that they too are an IB Economics teacher.  

This is something that I would have loved to have had years ago when I began.  The amount of time and frustration saved would be immeasurable.  

As one IB teacher said to me in a one-on-one mentoring session: 

“Brad, it’s not that the content is ridiculously hard for me to learn, or that teaching the Five Essential Skills is particularly difficult, or that the grading is beyond my grasp of what I’ve done before, but those elements combined with the Internal Assessments, the Extended Essay, and just my general hope that I’m doing a good job, ufffff, it just pushes me over the edge every once in a while.”  

That is so true for nearly every IB Economics teacher.

So, if you don’t have an IB Economics teaching partner, reach out and find one.  

It’s essential.

So, there they are…

Five Tips to help you as you begin your journey into teaching IB Economics:

• Tip #1:  Understand the Overall IB Diploma Programme 
• Tip #2:  You Gotta Know the Content of the Course
• Tip #3:  Focus on The Five Essential Skills
• Tip #4:  Get the Proper Training 
• Tip #5:  Find a Mentor Teacher

I hope you find that they create a manageable path for you towards feeling ready on day one.  

If someone tells you that transitioning into teaching in the IB Diploma Programme is easy, they probably haven’t done it themselves.

But with the challenge has come my most rewarding years in the classroom.

I absolutely love this curriculum and the kids do too.

Congratulations on taking the leap!

You will love it.

See you next week.