What does IB teaching actually look like in practice?

The six Approaches to Teaching describe the pedagogical commitments that run across every IB programme. But knowing their names and understanding what they mean in your classroom are two very different things.

Many teachers encounter the ATTs through documents, workshops or programme requirements. Yet translating those ideas into everyday classroom decisions — how you plan learning, structure inquiry, support collaboration or guide reflection — is where the real work begins.

This course offers a starting point for exploring what the Approaches to Teaching look like in practice, and how they can shape the way you design learning for your students.

Who this course is for

  • Teachers who are new to the IB — whether you are preparing to join an IB school or have recently started teaching in one — and want to understand what the Approaches to Teaching look like in practice, not just in documentation.

  • Teachers in established IB schools who have encountered the ATTs informally and want a clearer, more structured understanding of how they shape everyday classroom practice.

  • Curriculum coordinators and instructional leaders looking for a coherent, self-paced professional learning option they can offer to staff — particularly when onboarding new teachers.

How this course works

This course is designed to fit easily alongside a busy teaching schedule. Each module focuses on one of the IB Approaches to Teaching and invites you to explore a core idea through short readings, guided reflection and a small classroom experiment.

You can move through the modules at your own pace, returning to ideas and activities as your practice evolves.

Each module takes approximately 45–65 minutes to complete and includes:

  • A short introduction to the core pedagogical idea
  • Guided reflection on your own teaching practice
  • Practical classroom strategies connected to the ATT
  • One small teaching move to try with your students
  • Design tools and planning templates you can reuse long after you complete the course

What you'll gain from this course

Eight short modules designed to help you explore the IB Approaches to Teaching through reflection, experimentation and small deliberate shifts in practice.

  • A clearer understanding of the ideas behind the six Approaches to Teaching

  • A way of examining your own classroom practice through the lens of the ATTs

  • Practical strategies you can experiment with in your teaching

  • A small set of deliberate teaching moves you can try with your students

  • A clearer sense of how the ATTs connect to planning, teaching and assessment

  • A foundation for deeper exploration of IB pedagogy

Course curriculum

    1. How This Course Works

    2. 0.1 What do I already believe about good teaching?

    3. 0.2 Where do I see myself in the ATT framework?

    4. 0.3 What am I curious about developing in my own practice?

    1. 1.0 What do I assume about inquiry?

    2. 1.1 What is inquiry and how does it develop the learner at the centre of all IB programmes?

    3. 1.2 Where does my lesson design create space for student thinking?

    4. 1.3 Where can I create one moment of real curiosity?

    1. 2.0 What do I assume about conceptual understanding?

    2. 2.1 What gives inquiry a destination?

    3. 2.2 What is the transferable idea at the heart of my subject content?

    4. 2.3 How can I make a concept visible to my students?

    1. 3.0 What do I assume about contextualised learning?

    2. 3.1 Why should learning be grounded in the real world?

    3. 3.2 Is my teaching grounded in the world my students actually live in?

    4. 3.3 How can I bring one real-world connection into an upcoming lesson?

    1. What's changing in how I see my teaching?

    1. 4.0 What do I assume about collaboration?

    2. 4.1 When does working together actually deepen understanding?

    3. 4.2 What makes a collaborative task actually work?

    4. 4.3 Where can I design a task that needs more than one mind?

About this course

  • $99.00
  • 32 lessons

Instructor(s)

Angela Johnson

Angela is passionate about helping IB educators move beyond programme requirements and into the pedagogy that makes IB teaching distinctive. She has over twenty years of experience in education — as a classroom teacher, head of department, and MYP coordinator — and has worked extensively within the IB Educator Network. Her background also includes ed tech product development, designing digital learning experiences for MYP students, which sharpened her thinking about how to make online learning genuinely engaging. She is a certified Erickson & Lanning Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction Trainer and author of several MYP and DP textbooks. Through ASJ Learning, her mission is to help IB schools build professional learning that is intentional, coherent and grounded in practice.

Start the course today

Enroll now and begin working through the modules at your own pace.

*Price is per person. Discounts are available for 10 or more teachers from the same school. Email [email protected] with questions.
Enroll now for $99*

IB Disclaimer

This work has been developed independently from and is not endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization. International Baccalaureate, Baccalauréat International, Bachillerato Internacional and IB are registered trademarks owned by the International Baccalaureate Organization.