Deciding to implement the International Baccalaureate (IB) primary years programme: A case study

Globally, decision makers in an increasing number of schools from the governmental, nongovernmental, and international sectors are making the decision to change their curriculum and pedagogical frameworks to implement the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes (Booth, 2015; Doherty, 2009; Gough, Sharpley, Vander Pal & Griffiths, 2014; IB, 2019a; Marshall, 2014). The IB is an international education foundation which provides a continuum of four education programmes for primary, middle and secondary years of schooling. While the IB Diploma Programme (for the 16 to 19 age group) is the oldest, most established and widely recognised of the IB programmes, it is the Primary Years Programme, catering for the 3 to 12 age group, which has shown the greatest growth, at approximately 8%, in the past ten years (IB, 2019a). With the aim of providing a better understanding of why and how school decision makers are deciding to implement the Primary Years Programme than is currently available, the phenomenon was investigated through the following research question: How can we understand school decision makers’ decision to implement the Primary Years Programme? The investigation was a qualitative, single-site case study, which allowed for an analysis of the context in which the site was located, and employed problem-based methodology (Robinson, 1993) as a framework through which the decision makers’ actions, their personal and contextual constraints, and the consequences of those actions, could be viewed, and a theory of action be produced. By relying on interview and document data, and employing constant comparative analysis, categories and themes were generated which then allowed for the development of a theory of action for the decision makers’ decision to implement the Primary Years Programme. The findings of the study indicate that although the reasons for implementing the Primary Years Programme at this site aligned with the reasons reported in the existing literature, the circumstances of the school played a far larger part in the decision than has been previously reported. It was also found that the process of deciding to implement the Primary Years Programme was far more complex and intricate than reported in existing literature. The process involved a number of actions on the part of the decision makers which were designed to prepare the Elementary School to make the decision to implement the programme. These findings suggest that the decision to implement the Primary Years Programme can only be understood in the context in which it is made. It is envisaged that the findings of this study can be drawn upon by school decision makers who are currently considering the decision to implement the Primary Years Programme, as well as the IB consultants who assist interested schools through the Primary Years Programme authorisation process.