IB Matters

Epizodes

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  What can IB and India learn from each other? with Gayatri Mehta 28.09.2026 26min

  Send us Fan Mail What does the growth of IB in India tell us about the opportunities—and challenges—of bringing IB philosophy into different educational cultures? In this episode, Jon talks with longtime IB educator Gayatri Mehta about the place of IB within India’s remarkably diverse educational landscape. Their conversation moves from families seeking rigorous, internationally recognized education to the challenges students and teachers face when moving from finding the “right answer” to in...
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  Teaching Mapmakers, Not Map Readers: Rethinking Concepts with Adrian Von Wrede-Jervis 21.09.2026 43min

  Send us Fan Mail In this second conversation about the new MYP themes, Adrian Von Wrede-Jervis takes us beyond the framework itself to a bigger question: How do we help students make meaning for themselves? Adrian challenges the idea that concepts are simply transferable from one subject to another. Instead, he suggests thinking of concepts as places where disciplines—and students—can meet, compare perspectives, and translate meaning. That leads to a powerful metaphor: Our goal shouldn't be t...
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  The IB Student Experience 10.09.2026 34min

  Send us Fan Mail What is the IB Diploma Programme really like from a student perspective? How are IB DP students navigating CAS, the Extended Essay, TOK—and now AI in education? Twin sisters Avantika and Anantika Nair, rising seniors at Washtenaw International High School in Michigan, share an unusually thoughtful look at their IB student experience. They discuss their transition from the MYP to DP, challenging HL courses, Extended Essays in physics, and how IB has encouraged them to think cr...
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  Growing Up IB: Jiana Shah 3.0 24.08.2026 42min

  Send us Fan Mail Four years ago, IB Matters first spoke with Jiana Shah when she was a 14-year-old MYP student. We caught up with her again as she entered the Diploma Programme. Now, Jiana returns for a third conversation, having completed an IB education that began in kindergarten. Jiana reflects candidly on the challenges and rewards of the DP, from Math AA and a surprisingly useful Chemistry IA to her Extended Essay, CAS experiences, and a remarkable change of heart about Theory of Knowled...
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  Using the MYP Themes to Build Meaning with Adrian Von Wrede-Jervis 18.08.2026 34min

  Send us Fan Mail We are re-connecting with Adrian Von Wrede-Jervis to get his thoughts on the changes occurring in the MYP. Specifically, Adrian and I begin a conversation about the MYP themes and how we might think of them in the context of the students' learning arc. We are planning on at least three episodes where we will start to unpack the actual themes. This will allow a little more time to help listeners find out about what's going on in those themes. We will take the first three...
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  Inside the Course: Group 3 (DP Business Mgmt, History, Economics) 17.07.2026 42min

  Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project, we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student experience behind every course. These conversations can support course registration, help colleges b...
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  Inside the Course: Diploma Programme History (2028 guide) 15.07.2026 15min

  Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project, we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student experience behind every course. These conversations can support course registration, help colleges b...
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  Inside the Course: DP Sports Exercise and Health Science (SEHS) 13.07.2026 14min

  Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project, we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student experience behind every course. These conversations can support course registration, help colleges b...
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  Inside the Course: DP Visual Arts 11.07.2026 14min

  Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project, we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student experience behind every course. These conversations can support course registration, help colleges b...
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  Inside the Course: DP Language and Literature 09.07.2026 14min

  Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project, we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student experience behind every course. These conversations can support course registration, help colleges b...
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  Inside the Course: Introduction 08.07.2026 4min

  Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project, we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student experience behind every course. These conversations can support course registration, help colleges b...
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  Creating the Culture of your IB Program with Rohit Vaswani 14.03.2026 44min

  Send us Fan Mail When an experienced IB DP teacher like Rohit Vaswani becomes the new IB coordinator, they bring a certain set of tools to the job. They might know the nuts and bolts of the position: deadlines, exam prep, and compliance issues. But, it takes a special leader to examine the system in place to see where the philosophy of the IB structure and the culture it is meant to create can be improved. Do your IB teachers share in the mission? Do the students just comply with deadli...
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  Creating Autonomous Learners with Taryn Moir 05.03.2026 33min

  Send us Fan Mail Taryn Moir is an educational psychologist focused on bringing research-backed best practices into the classroom. In this episode she describes some of the research she has done and has studied that led to her book, 'How to Create Autonomous Learners: Teaching Metacognitive, Self-regulatory and Study Skills - A Practioner's Guide.' She shares several examples of reading strategies that help students develop their own toolbox of skills that can be used in any classroom an...
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  Supporting DP students moving on to higher education with Leah Thayer 25.02.2026 29min

  Send us Fan Mail Leah Thayer has spent a lifetime supporting people in transition. From her work in conflict zones, developing public health supports, and now in counseling students, Leah has been there to meet the needs of the people she serves. Young people exiting the Diploma Programme are understandably anxious about what comes next for them. What if they don't pass the exams? How do they find a good school? How does the school find them? How can teachers help their students find a match ...
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  Leading in an IB School and beyond with Gavin Kinch 13.02.2026 28min

  Send us Fan Mail Gavin Kinch has been on an IB journey which began as a classroom teacher and has led him to be appointed the IB School Leadership Council chairperson. Along the way, he has developed a philosophy of mentoring younger teachers through their own professional journeys. He talks about the 'classroom teacher' to 'school teacher' transition. Gavin is the Principal of ACS, an IB school in Singapore which has close to 200 IB graduates every year. As he says, there is a great team of ...
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  The impactful IB student with Arjun Malhotra 04.11.2025 41min

  Send us Fan Mail The IB educational framework is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills, and attributes that will serve them throughout their lives. Our guest, Arjun Malhotra, is a high school junior (DP year 1) who has experienced an IB education since elementary school. Our conversation touches on the many ways Arjun has developed his sense of place in the world, honed his academic skills, and initiated his strong desire to make the world better. He gives much of the cred...
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  Growing the IB in Nepal with Maksud Alam 06.09.2025 30min

  Send us Fan Mail Maksud Alam is a dynamic young IB leader working at Swostishree Gurukul IB World School in Kathmandu, Nepal. His school is only the second in Nepal to offer the MYP and one of 7 schools in Nepal to offer the IB, so far. There are several others in the candidate phase right now. We talked about the challenges and the rewards when building a programme from the ground floor in a new school, and in an area without many potential collaborators nearby. Maksud came to his IB coordin...
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  Michael Dunn and what makes TOK special in the IB 05.08.2025 42min

  Send us Fan Mail Michael Dunn, known as the man behind Theoryofknowledge.net is our guest on this first episode of our 5th season. Michael grew the most popular TOK website on the internet, organically, from a wish to share what he was doing in his own classroom in Peru. It eventually became what it is today, a highly respected, and much used, resource for teachers around the world. You'll find teachers in all subjects using these materials to teach critical thinking no matter the age o...
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  The Journey to PYP Authorization at Smart Innovations School 18.07.2025 40min

  Send us Fan Mail Returning guest, Rezuan Chowdhury and the head of his school's governing board, Rifat Abedin, speak about becoming one of very few PYP schools in Bangladesh. They detail the rationale from the parent's perspective and the process from the PYP coordinator's perspective. We also learn about the training their teachers have undergone and the plans for expansion and even future MYP and DP goals for their very new school. Rezuan has been a regional leader even before his sch...
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  Towards IB for all with Phil Evans 13.07.2025 14min

  Send us Fan Mail While this is, technically, a quickcast to promote speakers and vendors at the #IBGC2025 in NOLA, its really an introduction to the IB North Americas' excellent initiative designed to encourage greater IB DP and CP participation. So, please use the overview shared by Phil Evans and the numerous links, to begin exploring how your school community could embrace a philosophy that all students deserve an IB education. Who wouldn't want a student-centered pedagogy with inqui...