Certificate Programs

IB TEACHING CERTIFICATE IN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

IBDP-IBPYP Undergraduate Teaching Certificate Programs

Yeditepe University – Faculty of Education / Ataşehir – Istanbul

As is known, in our country many schools implement the International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Primary Years (PYP), Middle Years (MYP), and Diploma (DP) programmes at various levels in order to raise children and young people in line with the realities of our age. As Yeditepe University, in order both to train qualified teachers through this program and to provide multifaceted equipment for our own curricula—for now only after graduation—we launched the IBDP teaching certificate program in February 2020 as a first in our country.

The Faculty of Education of Yeditepe University, which was accredited in March 2019 by the IB officials who came from Europe to open this program, is founded on four main principles: research, practice, multifaceted equipment, and internationalization. In such an environment, we strive to raise teachers who learn by researching and discussing, who put what they learn into practice by trying it out in their own practices, who have adopted the principle of continuously improving themselves, and who are open to different cultures without compromising our national values. That is precisely why I am confident that we will duly conduct all the IB teaching programs we will implement; because the four main principles I mentioned also lie at the foundation of the IB programs.

      In addition to being a first, our IB diploma programme teaching program has two more important features. The first is the importance we attach to practice, as in the undergraduate programs. The cooperation we have carried out with İSTEK Schools since the days our faculty was founded continues successfully. Within this framework, for the practical dimension of our IB diploma teaching program, İSTEK Acıbadem Schools and İSTEK Atanur Oğuz Schools, which have an existing IB diploma programme, will provide support to the candidates studying in the faculty.

            Our second feature is that, within the framework of the “Professional Development” course in the program, candidates will conduct an action research related to their own practices and prepare a written report in the format of a comprehensive article, that is, in the English expression, “Extended Essay”. Thus, candidates will experience the “extended essay” experience, which is an important dimension of the IB diploma programmes, in their own practices.

Unleash your potential as a teacher with the International Baccalaureate Certificate in Teaching and Learning (IBCTL). As Yeditepe University, we are excited to announce that we are the first university in Türkiye to offer this prestigious certificate at the undergraduate level. This wonderful opportunity allows our undergraduate teacher candidates to explore the world of international education and to gain unique expertise in the IB Diploma Programme (DP) and the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP).

What is the IB Certificate in Teaching and Learning?

IBCTL is a comprehensive program that enables both teacher candidates and experienced educators to explore the principles and practices associated with the renowned International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes. Focused on reflective teaching and teacher inquiry, this certificate turns educators into inquiring and researching professionals and enables them to make a meaningful impact on their students’ lives.

Why should you choose Yeditepe University?

A Pioneer in IB Education: Yeditepe University is known for its long-standing commitment to providing quality IB education to teachers. Since 2019, we have offered the IB DP Teaching Certificate Program to experienced teachers, and since 2024 the IB PYP teaching certificate opportunity, and now we are the first Turkish university authorized to offer IB’s prestigious IBCTL certificate at the undergraduate level.

Distinguished Teaching Staff: Our Faculty of Education takes pride in providing support with an IBEC unit made up of faculty members who are well-versed in the IB philosophy and pedagogy and who have IB teaching experience. Our faculty members will guide you on this transformative learning journey and will foster a culture of inquiry, empathy, and continuous development.

International Education: As an IBEC institution, Yeditepe University encourages global thinking and develops the ability to understand different cultures, preparing our graduates to contribute positively to a connected world.

Effective and Applicable Learning: IBCTL courses are designed to be practical and hands-on, enabling the development of real-world skills that you can use immediately in the classroom. Get ready to enhance your teaching approach with innovative and effective strategies.

Lifelong Learning: IBCTL is not just a certificate but a path of continuous professional development. You will join the global network of International Baccalaureate teachers and, by gaining access to ongoing resources and support, you will enrich your teaching career for years to come.

Do not miss the opportunity to improve your teaching skills, broaden your horizons, and join the distinguished league of IB-certified educators. Embrace the future of education with Yeditepe University’s IB Certificate in Teaching and Learning.

In 1968, the International Baccalaureate (IB) developed a new curriculum that could be implemented by integrating it with national curricula, with the aim of raising “world people who research, question, and produce.” This program includes different levels for primary, middle, and high school students (PYP, MYP, DP, and CP) and is implemented in many countries today. In our country as well, the IB program is implemented in nearly 70 schools. Students who participate in the IB program and qualify to receive a diploma can have certain advantages when entering universities, both domestically and abroad, or while studying at university. You can access detailed information about IB at www.ibo.org .

In order for a school to be accredited by the IB to conduct one or several of the IB programmes, the teachers on its staff must receive training related to the IB program. For this reason, a certificate named the IB Certificate in Teaching and Learning (IBCTL), indicating that teachers have acquired the competencies to teach in IB programmes, can be granted by the IB, by organizations that have a cooperation agreement with the IB, or by IBEC universities abroad that are accredited by the IB to conduct IB Educator Certificate (IBEC) programs. Teachers who hold this certificate can work as IB teachers in schools domestically and abroad.

At our university, this certificate has been granted to in-service teachers since 2019. Starting from the 2022-2023 academic year, this program began to be offered as a minor at the undergraduate level to English Language Teaching and Elementary Mathematics Teaching students. Starting from the 2025-2026 academic year, it began to be offered as a minor at the undergraduate level to students of English Language Teaching, Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Special Education Teaching, Preschool Teaching, and Elementary Mathematics Teaching. Students who meet the conditions below will be entitled to receive the IBDP teacher certificate upon graduation if they successfully complete the specified courses. Thus, our graduates will have the opportunity to work in IB Schools domestically and abroad.

The program is conducted as a minor and consists of a total of 7 courses that must be taken in the 3rd and 4th years. For detailed information about the program, you can contact the program director and coordinator Assist. Prof. Dr. Meltem İpek Öner ([email protected]) and the IBEC assistants Res. Assist. Şevval Kurt, Res. Assist. Işılay Kolan, and Res. Assist. Pelin Sidal-Aktaş.

Application requirements:

1) Students whose GPA is above 2.50 and who have completed the 2nd year can apply to the program free of charge. However, in order for all students participating in the program to receive this certificate upon graduation, a payment of 295 USD* must be made.

2) When applying to our IBDP Teaching Program, our students must follow the minor application dates and the application process. Minor applications are made during the month of August. (www.yok.gov.tr)

3) The minor application form must be filled out by the students and submitted to the relevant department head together with a petition and an attached transcript.

Please click here for the form link.

4) After the application form and its attachments are approved by the Faculty Executive Board (FYK), a copy is forwarded to the relevant department head, the faculty, and Student Affairs.

5)  Students are not expected to register for IB courses during the undergraduate pre-registration dates. After their minor enrollment is recorded in the OBS system, they can take the courses opened in the program during the add-drop period.

6) Courses are 2 credits (the IBED 400 course is 1 credit) and can be conducted online or face-to-face by the faculty members depending on their availability.

7)  In field-specific courses, lesson observation and teaching practice in IB schools are mandatory.

8) The IBDP teaching certificates will be delivered to our graduates by the IB following the successful completion of this program.

9) Our students can choose one of the IBDP or IBPYP programs.

10) Our students become entitled to receive the certificate if they successfully complete the program at the end of 4 semesters.

*The 295 USD certificate fee is valid for the year 2026 and is updated every year by the IB.

Enroll now and set out on the journey of excellence in education!

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB) PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME (PYP) TEACHING CERTIFICATE (FOR GRADUATE TEACHERS)

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) Teaching Certificate

 

Training Duration: 112 hours (Online)

Training Days: Weekdays

Aim of the Training

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme Global Teaching Certificate Program (PYGTCP) is a certificate program recognized by the International Baccalaureate (IB). The program is designed in line with the IB certificate requirements in education and teaching, which aims to ensure that participants acquire the knowledge and competencies necessary to teach in the IB Primary Years Programme. With this certificate granted by the IB, certificate holders will have fulfilled the professional development requirements related to the IB’s program authorization and evaluation. We await all our participants who wish to develop themselves with the distinctive quality of Yeditepe University, which holds this competency in Türkiye.

Who Can Participate

Teachers who have received teacher training in the Faculties of Education of universities or who have completed the relevant formation training and have teaching experience, or who are about to take their first step into teaching, and who aim to work in International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools in Türkiye or abroad, may apply.

Application Documents

1. Curriculum Vitae

2. 1 reference letter written by your current or former manager (Reference letters should be written in professional language and aim to highlight the candidate’s competencies and
   teaching experience. After being prepared in a Word document, it must be signed by the person who writes the reference and scanned, then delivered personally via e-mail by the person who writes the reference to [email protected]. Since our entire application process will be electronic, reference letters delivered by hand will not be accepted.)

3. Letter of intent (must be prepared as 350 words in a Word document and delivered by e-mail together with the other application documents. It should be informative about the candidate’s teaching experience, educational philosophy, knowledge and experience about IB programs, and the time they can devote to the program over a period of 14 weeks.)

4. In order for your application to be accepted, all documents must be submitted electronically and in full to [email protected].

A 25% discount will be applied for Yeditepe University Faculty Members and İSTEK Schools Teachers.

A 15% discount will be applied for Yeditepe University graduates.

* Courses will be held on weekdays and online.
* Candidates who complete the application process will be admitted to the program as a result of an interview.

Training Content

Along with IB’s mission and philosophy, participants are provided with:

• a total of 4 core courses, 2 courses each term, through which they will gain knowledge and skills about program preparation processes, teaching and learning in IB programmes, and assessment and professional learning in the courses within the scope of the IB Primary Years Programme. In these courses, they discuss the topics and programmes related to that subject-specific teaching and assessment.

Program Content:

• To understand the philosophy, principles, and objectives of the IB Primary Years Programme, including its emphasis on inquiry-based learning, global citizenship, and holistic education.

• To identify the components of the PYP framework, including the learner profile, the programme of inquiry, and the six transdisciplinary themes.

• To understand the purpose of assessment in PYP learning, and what and how to assess.

• To determine the importance of the approaches to learning and approaches to teaching in promoting inquiry-based learning and increasing student engagement.

• To explore effective strategies for integrating approaches to learning and approaches to teaching skills in transdisciplinary contexts

• To explore the role of concepts in organizing content and developing the curriculum.

• To design/review a unit of inquiry or learning experience that develops conceptual understanding

• To evaluate the effectiveness of student-initiated action projects in promoting positive change in local and global communities by examining examples of them.

• To explore strategies for guiding and supporting students, within the PYP framework, in identifying real problems, setting goals, and taking purposeful action based on their learning.
   

Online Interviews

• The exact interview date and time will be announced by e-mail to candidates who have submitted a preliminary application.

This training is conducted in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization.

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB) DIPLOMA PROGRAMME (DP) TEACHING CERTIFICATE (FOR GRADUATE TEACHERS)

IBDP Teaching Certificate Program (DP)

Training Duration: 14 Weeks / 12 Hours per Week

Training Days: Weekdays

Training Location: Online Training

Our Vision

            As is known, in our country many schools implement the International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Primary Years (PYP), Middle Years (MYP), and Diploma (DP) programmes at various levels in order to raise children and young people in line with the realities of our age. As Yeditepe University, in order both to train qualified teachers through this program and to provide multifaceted equipment for our own curricula—for now only after graduation—we launched the IBDP teaching certificate program in February 2020 as a first in our country.

            The Faculty of Education of Yeditepe University, which was accredited in March 2019 by the IB officials who came from Europe to open this program, is founded on four main principles: research, practice, multifaceted equipment, and internationalization. In such an environment, we strive to raise teachers who learn by researching and discussing, who put what they learn into practice by trying it out in their own practices, who have adopted the principle of continuously improving themselves, and who are open to different cultures without compromising our national values. That is precisely why I am confident that we will duly conduct all the IB teaching programs we will implement; because the four main principles I mentioned also lie at the foundation of the IB programs.

      In addition to being a first, our IB diploma programme teaching program has two more important features. The first is the importance we attach to practice, as in the undergraduate programs. The cooperation we have carried out with İSTEK Schools since the days our faculty was founded continues successfully. Within this framework, for the practical dimension of our IB diploma teaching program, İSTEK Acıbadem Schools and İSTEK Atanur Oğuz Schools, which have an existing IB diploma programme, will provide support to the candidates studying in the faculty.

            Our second feature is that, within the framework of the “Professional Development” course in the program, candidates will conduct an action research related to their own practices and prepare a written report in the format of a comprehensive article, that is, in the English expression, “Extended Essay”. Thus, candidates will experience the “extended essay” experience, which is an important dimension of the IB diploma programmes, in their own practices.

Aim

            The Global Teaching Certificate Program (GTCP) is a certificate program recognized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). The program is designed in line with the IB certificate requirements in education and teaching, which aims to ensure that participants acquire the knowledge and competencies necessary to teach in the IB Diploma Programme. With this certificate granted by the IB, certificate holders will have fulfilled the professional development requirements related to the IB’s program authorization and evaluation. We present to you the IB Diploma Teaching program, offered as a “Certificate Program” for the first and only time in Türkiye. We await all our participants who wish to develop themselves with the distinctive quality of Yeditepe University, which holds this competency granted to very few universities in the world.

Who Can Participate

            Teachers who have received teacher training in the fields of Turkish, English, Mathematics, Psychology, Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Computer Education and Instructional Technologies, Physics, Biology, or Business at universities, or who hold a pedagogical formation certificate, and who have teaching experience or are about to take their first step into teaching, and who aim to work in International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools in Türkiye or abroad, may apply.

English proficiency exam certificate:

TOEFL (IBT) 66, YDS 70, YÖKDİL 75, or Yeditepe University Language Proficiency Exam 70

*TOEFL (IBT) 66, YDS/YÖKDİL 60, or Yeditepe University Language Proficiency Exam 60 (valid for Turkish Language and Literature teachers.)

Application Process

In order for your application to be accepted, all documents must be submitted electronically and in full to [email protected].

Official diploma and/or teaching formation certificate showing CGPA

CV (must be prepared in English)

1 reference letter written by your current or former manager (must be prepared in English)

Reference letters should be written in professional language and aim to highlight the candidate’s competencies and teaching experience. After being prepared in a Word document, they must be signed by the person who writes the reference, scanned, and delivered to the address [email protected] personally via e-mail by the person who writes the reference. (Since our entire application process will be electronic, reference letters delivered by hand will not be accepted.)

Letter of intent (350 words)

It must be prepared in English in a Word document and delivered by e-mail together with the other application documents. (Letters written in Turkish will not be evaluated.)

It should be informative about the candidate’s teaching experience, educational philosophy, knowledge and experience about IB programs, and the time they can devote to the program over a period of 14 weeks.

English proficiency exam certificate

It must be delivered by e-mail as an official document together with the other application documents.

Candidates who graduated from Yeditepe University within the last 2 years will not be required to provide a language proficiency certificate in their applications.

Important Dates

Application deadline

To be announced

Yeditepe University Language Proficiency Exam

To be announced (will be held face-to-face on campus)

Online Interviews

To be announced

Quota

Min: 16 / Max: 25

Program Content

            Along with IB’s mission and philosophy, participants are provided with 3 core courses through which they will gain knowledge and skills about program preparation processes, teaching and learning in IB programmes, and assessment and professional learning in the courses within the scope of the IB Diploma Programme. Taking these 3 core courses is defined as a prerequisite for the other courses. Participants also take 2 compulsory courses related to their own subject-specific teaching. In these courses, they discuss the topics and programmes related to that subject-specific teaching and assessment. In addition to these courses, participants take one more elective course according to their own interests.

            The program has two important features. One of them is that, within the framework of the “IB education collaboration” between Yeditepe University and İstek Acıbadem Schools and İstek Atanur Oğuz Schools, participants are provided with opportunities to observe DP courses and to carry out teaching practice. The other important feature of the program is that participants are expected to conduct action research studies in IB schools and present the findings they obtain in writing. In order to increase the likelihood of having rich and diverse experiences in IB world schools, new collaboration agreements will also be signed with other renowned IB world schools in İstanbul.

• Curricula in an international context

• IB learner profile

• IB approaches to teaching and learning

• Teaching, learning, and assessment processes in IB programmes

• Professional development and research skills (within the scope of the graduation thesis)

• IBDP curriculum studies: Turkish A Literature, English B, Business and Management, Psychology, Mathematics, Biology, Physics.

• Learning and teaching strategies specific to IBDP courses: Turkish A Literature, English B, Business and Management, Psychology, Mathematics, Biology, Physics.

• Internal and external assessments specific to IBDP courses

• Preparing and presenting IBDP course content

• Preparing and implementing IBDP lesson plans and learning activities

• Examining and applying internal assessment criteria

• Preparation stages for schools’ IB authorization and evaluation processes

• Core courses within IBDP: Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Extended Essay (EE), Creativity-Activity-Service (CAS)
   

Our IBEC Program Through the Eyes of Our 2020 Graduates

“Thanks to the IBDP global teaching certificate, I had the opportunity to develop my teaching knowledge and skills in teaching in an international context and teaching based on conceptual understanding. At the same time, my horizons broadened regarding teaching approaches such as inquiry-based learning. Even better, I now have the chance to put all of this into practice!” (Graduate ’20 – English Teacher)

“I am very happy to have taken part in the IBDP teaching certificate program, and I definitely recommend this program to all teachers who want to make a difference both for their students and for themselves. This program, which is quite challenging as well as highly motivating, not only helped me understand the essence of IB’s philosophy; it also became a source of inspiration for my future career.” (Graduate ’20 – English Teacher)

This training is carried out in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization. 

You can visit the address below for detailed information.

http://egitim.yeditepe.edu.tr/en/global-teaching-certificate-program

Application details will be announced on the program’s web page and at https://yasamboyu.yeditepe.edu.tr/iletisim.

For your questions about the curriculum, you can contact our Continuing Education Center at [email protected].

 

Contact: +90 (216) 578 0000 (Ext.: 1712 / 1709) or [email protected]