The Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education has opened classroom lessons at International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme candidate high schools to the public, ahead of the schools' final certification as IB World Schools.
The education office said Wednesday it is running a series of open classes at four IB candidate high schools — Yeonsu Girls' High School on Tuesday, Gyesan Girls' High School on Wednesday, Inje High School on Monday and Daein High School on Nov. 11 — under the title "2026 Academic Year IB Candidate School Open Classes."
About 90 teachers from 42 middle and high schools across Incheon are taking part in the observation sessions to learn about the schools' teaching methods.
The IB DP, administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Switzerland, is an internationally recognized curriculum centered on discussion, in-depth inquiry, essay and descriptive assessments, and extended essay writing.
The four Incheon high schools currently designated as candidate schools aim to complete a final review this month and earn official certification as IB DP World Schools.
Once certified, students at those schools will formally complete an internationally recognized curriculum.
The certification is also expected to give students an advantage in pursuing diverse career paths, including admission to prestigious universities abroad.
The education office said the inquiry-based teaching approach aligns with the student-led learning and process-centered assessment goals of South Korea's revised 2022 national curriculum.
The open classes were designed to spread the concept-based instruction and descriptive assessment expertise that the IB candidate schools have built up to mainstream schools.
Observing teachers will explore ways to adapt and apply the teaching methods they see to the circumstances of their own schools.
"This lesson-sharing initiative will serve as an opportunity to share the practical experience of candidate schools and drive change in classrooms," an education office official said. "We will spare no support in establishing a coherent teaching and assessment system in which students ask their own questions and express their thinking in speech and writing."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
