The schools in Turkey which teach the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP) come together at particular intervals to exchange knowledge and run professional development conferences. The IB Heads and Coordinators Meeting-which is usually held in Ankara or Istanbul- was held, for the first time, at İhsan Doğramacı Foundation Bilkent Erzurum Laboratory School (BELS) in Erzurum on Friday, December 4th 2015.
A group of around seventy educators, consisting of academics, general directors, school principals, international program coordinators and teachers from schools around Turkey and
abroad, were present at the meeting. The meeting, which lasted all day long, was livened up with the dance performances by primary and high school students. The participants attended a number of seminars and meetings about the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP), Creativity, Action and Service (CAS), Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Extended Essay (EE), Approaches to Teaching and Learning and the IB Diploma Physics course and exchanged strategies, approaches and applications regarding their experiences in the teaching of those programmes. The morning workshops and professional development seminars focused on professional development while the focus of the afternoon sessions was exchanging knowledge and experience.
BELS family showed the warmth of education in their award-winning buildings to their guests, who faced the weather conditions in Erzurum, at the first IB Coordinators’ Meeting held in line with BELS mission.