Preparing teachers to create the finest learners

Preparing teachers to create the finest learners
Rice involves faculty in unique workshops for International Baccalaureate teachers 

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News Staff

Last week, Rice University had a hand in training 600 high school teachers from 150 schools from around the world. Through International Baccalaureate (IB) workshops offered by Rice’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the teachers learned strategies and techniques for effectively teaching high school IB courses in the sciences, mathematics and languages.

The courses were designed to help those teaching classes in the IB Diploma Programme, a challenging two-year curriculum of international education for high school students that prepares them for the rigor of higher education.

Because of the extremely high level of instruction and multidisciplinary way in which the courses are structured, IB teachers often need resources and training beyond what their home schools can offer. By offering the IB workshops, Rice bridges that gap and in the process fulfills its commitment to the Vision for the Second Century in terms of engagement, K-12 impact and internationalism. 

JEFF FITLOW

Through International Baccalaureate workshops offered by the Glasscock School, teachers learned strategies and techniques for effectively teaching high school IB courses in the sciences, mathematics and languages.

“At Rice, we believe in sharing our resources to improve K-12 education,” said Siva Kumari, associate dean of the Glasscock School. “The IB workshops help teachers learn from master teachers so they can improve the quality within their own classrooms.”

More than 1,400 schools worldwide have adopted the curriculum and many of the world’s leading universities, including Rice, recognize IB diplomas and award college-level course credit.

“Like Rice, the IB program prepares students to be thoughtful civic-minded citizens, critical thinkers and lifelong learners of the finest kind,” Kumari said.

Rice is the only university in the country offering teacher professional development for IB and Advanced Placement teachers.

Rice’s own get involved

In addition to creating, organizing and hosting the IB workshops, Rice offered up some of its own faculty to present and teach. Seven Rice professors led academies designed to give teachers new content knowledge in their subjects.

Alexander Byrd, assistant professor of history, led a U.S. history academy that explored post-Reconstruction times, black politics and the black freedom struggle, among other topics. He also spent a lot of time discussing how history has shaped present circumstances.

In addition to teaching about “Brown v. Board of Education” and civil rights, Byrd used the academy to see how his work as a historian was being put to use.

“My goal was to really talk with the teachers,” Byrd said. “They are in the same field as I am but are a different sort of historian. Talking with them, I get to see and feel how historical knowledge is taught, and that only makes me better in my research and teaching.”

Byrd said in that way, the IB workshops also provide important professional development opportunities for the faculty involved.

“It actually did get me to think about my subject differently,” he said. “When you’re going to teach high school teachers, you’re going to shift gears and reassess — even if it’s the same lesson you’ve taught over and over again. You take it up a notch and question what’s important. You have to look at it again, make new connections and see if there’s new information or stuff you missed before.”

Kumari said that Byrd and other Rice professors have a unique approach to teaching that makes them ideal leaders of the IB academies.

“This is exactly the kind of intellectual exchange that these academies were created for,” Kumari said. “Both sides put mastery of students’ learning needs front and center and learn from each other.”

A growing program

When Rice first offered the IB workshop program in 2005, there were 100 participants. This year, more than 600 participants came from 38 U.S. states and 15 countries, including Canada, England, Zimbabwe, Chile and Turkey.

The workshops are taught by 32 accomplished high school “master teachers” who are selected from an international pool of candidates and are endorsed by the IB North American (IBNA) office.

The academies are led by 23 top researchers and higher education faculty members, including from Rice: Byrd; Frank Jones, the Noah Harding Professor of Mathematics; David Queller, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Joan Strassmann, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor and Chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; John Boles, the William Pettus Hobby Professor of History; Edward Cox, associate professor of history; and Nancy Bailey, lecturer on vocal literature.

“We are excited that so many of our faculty support this program through their participation,” said Jennifer Gigliotti-Labay, program director at the Glasscock School. “We also appreciate the support we have received from the Houston community.”

The courses also include collaborations with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and are supported by an Arthur Vining Davis Foundation grant. In March, the program  received additional funding from the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) which sponsors the Exemplar Program. This program is showcases and support existing secondary school design  programs that are associated with increased student performance in schools serving high-need student populations.

Rice’s academy course format is the only one of its kind endorsed by the IBNA.

More information on Rice’s IB program can be found http://www.gscs.rice.edu/scs/International_Baccalaureate_Workshops.asp. To learn more about the IB program, visit www.ibo.org.