Leading international baccalaureate diploma programme schools in developing countries: A review of issues and challenges

Over the preceding decade, there has been rapid growth in schools offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). The phenomenon is global in scope, and increasingly evident in developing countries. This chapter provides a review of emerging leadership issues in the unique and often diverse contexts of IBDP schools in developing countries. More specifically, it outlines the key findings of eleven studies (eight empirical and three discussion based) across eleven developing countries related to the contextual issues and challenges of IBDP school leadership. These include “environmental” factors such as 1) political and policy context, 2) school community context, and 3) external assessments, alongside the “organization” factors of 1) program resource intensity, 2) private self-funded status, and 3) student identities. Implications of these studies for standardization and quality assurance of the IBDP as the program continues to expand across developing countries worldwide are discussed.  Copyright © 2015. Information Age Publishing.