Introducing the IB Diploma Programme

Introducing the

IB Diploma Programme

Marc Abrioux Jill Rutherford Cambridge University Press’s mission is to advance learning, knowledge and research worldwide.

Our IB Diploma resources aim to: •

encourage learners to explore concepts, ideas and topics that have local and global significance

•

help students develop a positive attitude to learning in preparation for higher education

•

assist students in approaching complex questions, applying critical-thinking skills and forming reasoned answers.

cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107606289 Š Cambridge University Press 2013 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2013 Printed in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-107-60628-9 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

This material has been developed independently by the publisher and the content is in no way connected with nor endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Contents List of contributors Foreword Introduction

v vi viii

Part one The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction 1 A snapshot of the IB 2 What the IB is about 3 An international perspective 4 The IB programmes – an overview 5 The IB community 6 The IB and ICT

Part two Becoming an IB World School

1 3 45 53 72 100 121

135

7 The DP, MYP and PYP application processes 8 The DP authorization phases in detail 9 Next steps 10 Planning, approaches and resources 11 Policies, action and advice

137 145 160 176 191

Part three The IB diploma – in more detail

205

12 The DP hexagon and framework 13 DP assessment 14 Academic honesty 15 Theory of knowledge (TOK) 16 The extended essay (EE) 17 Creativity, action, service (CAS) 18 Group 1 – Studies in language and literature 19 Group 2 – Language acquisition 20 Group 3 – Individuals and societies 21 Group 4 – The experimental sciences 22 Group 5 – Mathematics 23 Group 6 – The arts 24 Other DP subjects

207 238 266 274 294 305 325 346 358 391 417 428 445

Part four Recognition of the DP

455

25 What universities say 26 What employers say 27 What students and teachers say

457 484 491

Contents

iii

Part five What next? How you can continue on the DP journey

iv

511

28 The future of the DP 29 Training teachers and professional development 30 What next in your school?

31 DP evaluation 32 Burning questions and conclusions

513 524 530 545 550

Bibliography Glossary Index Acknowledgements

558 562 571 578

Contents

List of contributors Each contributor’s name appears at the start of their text. All of the other text is written by Marc Abrioux or Jill Rutherford.

Ann Abrioux

Varduhi Grigoryan

Chris Pugh

Nick Alchin

Henriette Groot Antink

Kevin Purday

Ian Andain

Richard Harvey

Caroline Quesnel

Patrick Armstrong

Harm Hospers

Keely Rogers

Sue Austin

John Israel

John Royce

Peter Barnett

James Kazi

Bengt Rosberg

Bruno Barros

Tim Kirk

Fergus Rose

David Barrs

Ed Lawless

Kate Ross

Andy Beharrell

Siu Ling Lau

Graeme Salt

Emmanuelle H. Bjerkem

Graeme Lawrie

Marcela Scarone

John Chilton

Nick Lee

Monique Seefried

Howard Collison

Loykie Lomine

Adrian Sparrow

Tommy Cookson

Roderick McAllery

John Sproule

Sarah Dayal

Heather McReynolds

Paul Stackowiak

Harry Deelman

Sheila Messer

Barbara Stefanics

Holly Eckhardt

Julian Metcalf

Chantal Theron

Mike Ford

David Mindorff

Henry Thomas

Paul Ellis

Sarvesh Naidu

Jo Thomas

Peter Fidczuk

Jonathan Newell

Roz Trudgon

Deb Gallagher

Teodor Nitu

Andrew Watson

Justin Garrick

Nicholas O’Sullivan

Zhengwei Wei

Dermot Gilvary

Mike Pasternak

Tim Weston

Doug Glasenapp

John Phillips

David Wilkinson

Barbara Glasmacher

Brad Philpot

Tim Woffenden

John Green

Jaleea Price

List of contributors

v

Foreword Monique Seefried

Monique Seefried is president of the Croix Rouge Farm Memorial Foundation, serves on the board of CASIE and UWC-USA, on the Headmaster’s Advisory Council of Toronto French School and is a trustee emerita of Atlanta International School. She was chair of the IB Board of Governors 2003–9.

Educators and interested readers will find in Introducing the IB Diploma Programme unbiased views about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) from all over the IB world, positive as well as critical but all of them constructive. It is a wonderful introduction to the IB for new schools and new teachers that are being welcomed into the organization. The goal of this manual is first to introduce the IB, where it came from and what it stands for. It is also meant to enable practitioners through the many examples it offers to better implement the IB programmes in their schools. Most importantly, it is offering advice and examples on how to develop, to grow the IB programmes to better fit the world we live in, a world that the founders of the IB could not have imagined.

The IB founders knew that wars and mass migrations would challenge world peace and that international mindedness and cosmopolitanism were key to avoiding new conflicts. They could not have imagined the internet and the new interconnected world it created, a world that requires developing and practising a world-mindedness and global citizenship unknown until now and essential for the future of our planet.

The visionary thinkers who created the DP had experienced two World Wars and their atrocities, as well as conservative education systems bent on perpetuating division and suffering. This book makes clear that, in their own broad vision of education, they never wanted the DP to remain static. With the development of neuroscience and the appearance of digital media, they would have expected new generations of educators to continuously reassess the content of their teaching and its usefulness to the present and the future.

From its inception, the organization understood the importance for education to come out of the kind of mould that had failed previous generations. Therefore when it began, the DP re-examined all it taught and created a culture of critical thinking that has pervaded its pedagogy since then. All IB courses, as well as the extended essay (EE) and the theory of knowledge (TOK) course, embrace learning by questioning and fostering a culture of critical thinking. Curriculum review cycles, collaboration with universities and innovative approaches to professional development (pd) are ways for the organization to continuously question and review itself at the academic level.

In recent years, the organization has also taken a critical look at how it was serving schools and, as a result, has undergone a major reorganization. This has led to three IB global centres, an increased collaboration between academic and school divisions as well as an ability to respond in a timely fashion to school demands across the world. Furthermore, it is anticipated that it will diversify recruitment and that a diversity of languages and approaches to learning will reinforce the IB’s international mindedness.

Chapters on curriculum, assessment and pd will be an essential tool for those seasoned IB educators eager to increase and refresh their knowledge of the IB. They will be absolutely essential for new IB teachers and administrators who need to discover how to implement the IB, understand its philosophy and become active participants in the growth of the IB. All need to realise that, while the IB is growing at a rapid pace, their involvement is key to the life and blood of the IB, not only in teaching its programmes, but also in continuously shaping them and questioning them.

The deep insights case studies introduce on different IB experiences reveal attitudes and values that are at the core of what an IB education stands for, an education that makes all recipients become part of a vast family,

vi

Foreword

a movement, loose and tight at the same time, where everyone can find his or her place under one condition: respect for others.

This should reinforce the essential understanding that by belonging to or joining the IB family one becomes part of a large family committed to diversity. In so doing, one embraces a community steeped in a global and pluralistic humanism whose cosmopolitan ethics can be shared by people the world over and most importantly a community committed to the promotion of peace and understanding.

IB aspirations, 50 years ago, were to help young people develop into world citizens able to relate and communicate with each other. They were to share a common culture and be able to respect their planet and each other. Today, with the internet and all new technologies of the 21st century, such attributes have become a must.

To serve their students, IB teachers should therefore take advantage of this vast IB family to learn from other cultures and look beyond their communities, their schools and their classrooms. With the development of the IB virtual community, all IB students should be able to work collaboratively with students from other cultures and other socio-economic backgrounds and learn to become world citizens. IB teachers should realise that their teaching goes way beyond their traditional classroom walls.

The virtual community should also continue to reinforce the pioneering commitment of IB to experiential learning, an intrinsic part of the DP creativity action service (CAS) requirements since its inception. The service part of CAS is, in my eyes, the most important part of an IB education. As the British historian Arnold Toynbee pointed out, now that the world is united by technology, we have to unite it at the emotional level. And this is where the role of community service is so important in an IB education. It allows the development of a global sense of social responsibility and teaches that in today’s world, little can be done individually but big differences can be made collectively.

Many schools have joined the IB for its challenging programmes and curriculum, for its rigorous assessment and standards recognised internationally. This is not enough to be or to become an IB school. Schools are expected to demonstrate what they have done to fulfil the mission of the organization. Schools are challenged to inculcate in their students the respect for differences and the desire to learn and work towards a better and more peaceful world. The IB should in return remain true to its mission by keeping the highest quality of standards while promoting access and including into the IB community a greater balance of schools: geographically, socioeconomically, culturally and linguistically. Then, and only then, will the IB have reached the goals it set out to achieve.

Foreword

vii

Introduction Marc Abrioux and Jill Rutherford

Marc Abrioux has been closely involved with the DP for more than 30 years, as a teacher, examiner and administrator who has served as the Head of two IB World Schools, including the United World College of the Adriatic. He is currently maintaining his interest in international education as an IB examiner, IB Educator Network (IBEN) consultant and workshop leader, while engaging in other educational management consultancies in Europe and in Asia.

Jill Rutherford has worked with and for the IB in various capacities for over 20 years. She is currently an IBEN consultant, academic director of Ibicus International and a board member of ACS International Schools. Formerly, she was vice-chair of the IB Examining Board and IB Environmental Systems Chief Examiner, IB Diploma teacher in Hong Kong and the UK and founding Director of the IB Diploma at Oakham School, England.

What is the purpose of this book?

This book focuses on the IB Diploma Programme and attempts to collect all aspects of what the reader may want to know about it into one place. While those wishing to find out more about the IB and the DP should visit the IB public website and interested schools should contact their IB regional office, there is a huge amount of information to be absorbed and understood. This book attempts to put the information in a logical order and in a fairly concise way for those wanting to take themselves or their schools into the world of IB. It is intended to support the documents from the IB, not to replace them. But it does provide a forum for voices of many IB and DP specialists and experts who wish to share their enthusiasm with the reader.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended primarily for school administrators and teachers seeking to find out more about the IB and the DP, although parents, students and educators may also find it of interest. Specifically, it may be useful for: •

senior administrators and leaders of a prospective or newly authorised national or international school

•

leaders and newly appointed leaders of a DP school who want to take it to the next stage

•

teachers who are joining a DP school or who wish to join one and want to know more about the IB philosophy and pedagogy relating to their subject in the DP

•

DP teachers who are exploring ways in which to extend their professional interest in the IB

•

any person who is considering joining a national or international school which is researching the DP or which has adopted it, or who is simply interested in finding out more about the DP’s international education in practice.

How to use this book This book is in five Parts and is designed for readers to dip into the sections which are of most interest to them.

•

viii

Part 1: takes the basic questions about the IB and provides some answers. What is the IB? Why does it exist and what is its philosophy? What are the programmes it offers and why is international mindedness important for education? It provides an overview of the beginning, growth and future plans of the IB and considers the IB community from many angles. It then provides an overview of the three IB

Introduction

regions around the world and some case studies of the IB in some of over 140 countries where IB World Schools exist.

•

Part 2: focuses on how to apply to become an IB World School and provides details of the expectations that the IB has of its schools and of the journey a school takes to become authorized. It also covers the what and how of the application process in some detail.

•

Part 3: looks at the DP in detail. It starts by considering the what, why and how of the DP and then covers the hexagon, the core and all DP subjects – including those which have been added or modified recently. It also looks in more depth at the reasons behind the structure of the DP, its assessment and development. Also in Part 3 are chapters on the DP examining board and academic honesty. Each subject is presented by an expert in its teaching who gives a personal view of the course content and assessment and some tips and resources to consider. This Part should be of particular interest to those about to become DP subject teachers, and to schools considering or reconsidering which subjects they wish to offer for their students.

•

Part 4: considers recognition of the DP by several stakeholders, universities, employers, teachers and students, with the longest chapter being on university recognition. It also includes voices from employers, teachers and students about the DP itself. This Part should be of particular interest to those in schools which are joining or have recently joined the IB.

•

Part 5: moves on to what next? It looks at how the DP can develop in a school in order to present students with opportunities they might otherwise have ignored. Another section addresses how a teacher can develop within the IB. Also there are some case studies on pitfalls to avoid and tips on how to strengthen the DP in a school as well as some advice on the new five-year evaluation process for all schools.

Armed with an overview of the book contents, a reader may dip into the sections that are most relevant and use it as a reference material rather than read it sequentially. But we do encourage you to explore and consider the IB philosophy and international mindedness as well as the practical details because it is its mission that drives and forms all of the IB pedagogy.

Many resources and references are cited and suggested in the book. All websites and webpages referenced in this book were active on 1 June 2012. Some are IB official documents which are all available in the IB store via the IB website. Others are resources on the IB and international education from other publishers and authors.

The suggested further resources from DP subject contributors are not necessarily endorsed by the contributor or the IB but do provide a starting point for appreciating what is currently available. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information presented within this book is accurate. All figures quoted are correct as of the time of writing.

With thanks The book would not have been possible without the dozens of contributors who have willingly given their expertise, time and wisdom in writing various sections. We thank all contributors most sincerely. Each contributor’s name and brief biography appears before the text which they have contributed. In instances where a contributor wrote more than one piece, their name only appears before subsequent contributions. All the rest of the text is written by Marc Abrioux or Jill Rutherford. The editors also thank Jack Rutherford (who asserts his intellectual property rights) for the cartoon ideas throughout the book.

We are all different and all have different experiences of the IB and this is reflected in the different ‘tones’ or ‘voices’ in successive Parts of the work, and this is only to be expected from as diverse an educational community of experts. In Part 3, each subject expert has contributed a piece on how they view their subject. We have not replicated IB documentation that the reader can find elsewhere but have built on this, given personal views of the subjects and provided an overview and ideas to take further. For the IB has been largely created by, and

Introduction

ix

for, educators who are committed to seeking what is best for their students and for others through increased knowledge, skills and an opening up to ‘the other’.

Between us, we have hundreds of years of IB experience, throughout each of the three IB regions of the world, as teachers, heads, administrators, examiners, parents and, last but not least, students of the DP. The IB is a collegiate community in so many senses and the DP could not be what it is today without the energy and commitment of so many to its philosophy and implementation. It is the mission of the IB that holds us all together in a world that remains marked by diversity, working for something greater than ourselves and that is a force for making the world a better place for the next generations. Being a small part of that challenge is humbling and gratifying, and the editors wish to thank all the ‘IB people’ over the years from which we have learned so much.

x

Introduction

Part

one The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction

Chapter

1

A snapshot of the IB

‘

’

Only the educated are free.

Attributed to Epictetus, Greek stoic philosopher (CE 55–135).

1.1 Where the IB is going 1.1.1 IB mission 1.1.2 Strategic plan – the next five years 1.1.3 Strategic vision – the next five years and beyond 1.1.4 Access to the IB

1.2 Where the IB has come from – history and growth 1.2.1 Very early years 1.2.2 Development of the DP model 1.2.3 IB take-up and expansion 1.2.4 Recent growth

1.3 Where the IB is now 1.3.1 Overview of IB regions 1.3.2 IBAEM – IB Africa/Europe/Middle East 1.3.3 IBA – IB Americas 1.3.4 IBAP – IB Asia-Pacific

1.4 Who is involved 1.5 Case studies of the DP in various countries/regions 1.5.1 Australia 1.5.2 Québec 1.5.3 Chile 1.5.4 The People’s Republic of China 1.5.5 Hong Kong SAR 1.5.6 India 1.5.7 Japan 1.5.8 New Zealand 1.5.9 Qatar 1.5.10 Scandinavia 1.5.11 United Kingdom

1.6 Further resources

1 A snapshot of the IB

3

1.1 Where the IB is going 1.1.1 IB mission It does not take long, when first finding out about the IB, to hear that it is a mission-driven organization. IB employees and teachers are rightly proud of this idealism: if educators are not idealistic about creating a better world, then who will pass this on to the next generations? It is worth repeating the IB mission statement here as all else about the IB flows or should flow from this and we shall return to it throughout this book.

‘

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with

’

their differences, can also be right.

IB Mission: http://www.ibo.org/mission/

1.1.2 Strategic plan – the next five years Following on from the last five-year plan which had the goals of maintaining quality, increasing infrastructure and accessibility, the latest plan, launched in 2011, has four goals: (http://www.ibo.org/mission/strategy/) •

to strengthen the leadership of the IB in international education

•

to evolve and improve IB services and support to schools by building capability

•

to develop a more diverse and inclusive IB community by enabling access to an IB education

•

to build a sustainable, responsible and efficient organization for the future.

In wanting to continue to show leadership in international education, the IB knows it has to work smarter and be an innovator – in its programmes, assessment and professional development (pd). It has to show universities and others that the IB programmes are appropriate for 21st-century learners and that it is carrying out research and development (new DP subjects, the IB career-related certificate (IBCC), strengthening the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and improving its support to its schools.

The IB can only achieve its goals by working in partnership with schools, teachers, national governments and donors so it has to be a listening organization. It is also trying to work more sustainably and innovatively which is a challenge for any global organization.

The IB has undergone reorganization in the last few years in order to maintain its high quality of assessment and curriculum and its school services. There are more IB employees and offices have moved and enlarged. There are global heads of the many departments of the schools division such as global pd and a strengthened network of IB consultants in the IB educator network (IBEN, see Section 5.5; p. 108).

Still a Swiss foundation and working under Swiss law, so with headquarters in Geneva, the IB now has global centres in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Singapore and The Hague, The Netherlands, as well the IB assessment centre in Cardiff, Wales, UK. The IB is poised for the next phase of its life now with new offices and many new and enthusiastic staff and member schools. It faces many challenges in the globalized, diverse, eastward-shifting world but increased complexity can bring innovative solutions to solve problems. The internet, personal computers, netbooks, iPads, mobile phones, e-marking, online courses and remote working were not known when the IB was founded yet it has adapted to using these new tools while keeping its purpose throughout.

4

Part one: The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction

1.1.3 Strategic vision – the next five years and beyond A plan means little without a vision behind it and the vision of the IB is as strong as ever. The stated IB vision in 2011 is to have ‘impact through leadership in international education’. This involves ‘collaboration with schools and educators to continue to develop the quality programmes, improve teaching and learning in the diverse, inclusive IB community and to influence thinking about international education globally’.1 Any strategic plan is time limited and has to be updated regularly, both internally and externally, to take account of changes. The vision of the IB will continue beyond individual strategic plans. Tangible results of this recently are: •

the IBCC widening access to the IB (see p. 93)

•

improving support to schools via a schools division with IB Answers (a single information source for stakeholders) and e-marking to make assessment more secure

•

pd expansion with online, on-site and face-to-face training

•

targeted growth in specific segments – something the IB never previously entered into – e.g. having a memorandum of understanding with the Aga Khan development network (AKDN) which runs schools in the developing world, to broaden access and improve delivery of programmes

•

planned growth

•

online diploma courses for students, currently in partnership with Pamoja Education (see pp. 232–235)

•

work on building a sustainable and efficient IB by developing capacity and capability of IB leadership and staff.

1.1.4 Access to the IB The IB has never yet run a marketing campaign to enroll more schools, nor has it sought to take over any national education system. It has advised many governments as a partner and has both learned from them and influenced them in developing student-centred national programmes which look internationally.

But it is in the position now of being offered in more – some 57% in 2010 – state-funded (public) schools than independent (private) and the majority of IB schools in the USA, Canada, the UK and Scandinavian countries are state-funded.2 However, most IB schools in other countries, particularly in the developing world, are independent schools charging fees, which put them out of reach for most of their population.

So there remains the question of how the IB can benefit more students worldwide and not only those who are in the privileged position of having the money to attend schools which charge fees. Becoming an IB school is expensive and ongoing costs are high so there is a tension between maintaining quality and increasing access.

The IB Board (previously Council of Foundation) considers this often and in its 2006 report ‘From growth to access’ attempted to define strategies for expanding access. But it is the case that of the 3462 IB World Schools (September 2012 figures), 60% of them are in only four countries and these are amongst the world’s wealthiest – the USA (1374), Canada (320), the UK (199) and Australia (144). The IB has tried to improve access by encouraging schools to cluster together locally to support those with fewer resources and to share best practice and skills but the impact of this is small. Working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), partnerships with organizations such as the Aga Khan development network (AKDN), the formation of the Education Innovation Services Division of the IB, all help. But the issues to be overcome are huge – poverty, conflict, the role of women in societies, language barriers, infrastructure – and the IB does not yet have the resources to address the affordability of its programmes. There are small steps in this such as the IB grants (http://www.ibo.org/accessandadvancement/ibgrants/) for schools experiencing temporary financial 1 From

a presentation by the director general Jeffrey Beard at the October 2011 IBAEM regional conference. See http://www.ibo .org/ibaem/conferences/speakers/index.cfm 2 According to Ian Hill, IB deputy director general, in Walker. G. (ed). (2011). The changing face of international education.

Cardiff: International Baccalaureate, p. 122.

1 A snapshot of the IB

5

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Figure 1.1 The IB’s view of access and advancement.

challenges or that are increasing access to IB programmes. There is also the US$2.4 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help low-income and minority students in the USA prepare to participate in the DP (http://www.ibo.org/media/gatesfoundationawardsibgrant.cfm). But these are drops in the access ocean and widening access will always be a challenge for the IB (see Figure 1.1).

1.2 Where the IB has come from – history and growth

‘

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of

’

peace must be constructed.

Archibald MacLeish (1892–1992), American writer and poet.

This quote is incorporated into the preamble of the UNESCO constitution.

1.2.1 Very early years It has been said that the IB was a good idea from a small group of educators that took off. Over 40 years later, it is still expanding with just over 4000 programmes in nearly 3300 schools in over 140 countries. A brief history of the IB here puts this expansion into context. This potted background and history owe much to the work of Ian Hill, who has been deputy director general of the IB Organization since 2000, and to Alex Peterson’s Schools across frontiers.

A quick dip into the formation of the IB takes us back to the League of Nations and thinking about how to bring about a lasting peace, and to schools such as the UN International School, New York and Geneva International School, amongst others. Names that come up include the names of Alex Peterson and Kurt Hahn and it is in the context of the aftermath of the world wars of the 20th century that today’s concept of international education arose.

The International School of Geneva (abbreviated to Ecolint) was founded in 1924 to educate the children of those working in the newly founded League of Nations and International Labour Office. With families from many nations and roots in these, there was a need for an international school-leaving examination which would

6

Part one: The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction

be currency ‘back home’. In other parts of the world, other groups of expatriates gathered to form international schools for their children. Yokohama International School was well established in the 1920s with a primary curriculum that attempted to promote international understanding.

But like many first attempts at new initiatives, there was not enough momentum or desire for this and the door to an international curriculum did not open easily until after the Second World War. Then Ecolint was still operating and was instrumental in founding the International Schools Association (ISA) as many other international schools had sprung up to meet the needs of the children of the increasing number of personnel working in international organizations. To name a few of these: the United Nations International School (UNIS) was founded in New York in 1947 where the United Nations has its headquarters; Jakarta International Primary School in 1951, Kabul International Primary School in 1954 and the International School of Ghana in Accra in 1955 all founded under the patronage of various embassies. Before these, and where an international school did not exist, there were separate English, French and American schools, Goethe Institutes and other national schools. These were in various capital cities for the children of the small numbers of expatriate workers and these schools inevitably enhanced national differences rather than exploring our similarities. Of the many areas of the curriculum that tended to stay within national viewpoints, the study of history and of mother-tongue and other languages were particularly ‘national’, whereas science and maths have to be international by their very nature.

After the Second World War, the world was very different: more students than ever before were going on to university courses, more people were internationally mobile or had been displaced by the war, and the time to recognize the need for an internationally recognized school-leaving qualification had come. So, over 20 years after the initial call, the 1948 Council of Internationally Minded Schools was committed to this project. But, as always, it was down to individuals with drive and vision to make organizations do things and Desmond Cole-Baker, who was then head of the English stream at Ecolint, was one of these drivers. Around him were a group of idealistic teachers who worked in the 1960s on the concept of an international baccalaureate. But funds were short or non-existent and the day jobs always demanding. It was Bob Leach, an American Quaker, who got UNESCO involved in providing a small amount of funding for various conferences and seminars for teachers interested in developing an international curriculum but funds were always short for these events as well as in the international schools. The other issue was that the international schools often ran separate streams based on mother-tongue language and this led to divisions within the schools. They were also expensive to operate.

The underlying theme over these years was that of the teachers who kept the vision going because they saw the need daily for a unifying curriculum in their classes. But, as Kurt Hahn knew so well, quoting Plato ‘He who wishes to serve his country must have not only the power to think but the will to act’ (quoted by Prince Charles in the foreword of Schools across frontiers), it takes more than a good idea to make a real change in the practice of education. The next driver of the embryonic IB was John Goormaghtigh, a Belgian who was chairman of the board of Ecolint but who resigned from this position in 1962 to focus on the newly formed International Schools Examination Syndicate (ISES), which eventually gave up this very English title to become the IBO in 1967 (rebranded to IB in recent years).

(There have only been six directors general of the IB since its inception; see Table 1.1 on p. 8.)

‘Never enough funds to achieve what it wants to achieve’ has been and still is a constant refrain for the IB. In the past, it has teetered on the edge of sustainability due to lack of funding and has relied heavily on the goodwill of teachers and schools to support the good idea of the IB. It took until 1964 and a grant of US$75 000 from the Twentieth Century Fund for the ISES to have an office and executive secretary.3 We may think that the IB of today is heavy with bureaucracy but it was ever such, even in the 1960s, with various committees and councils even before a single student learned the international curriculum it was developing. But, plus ça change (plus c’est la même chose), the joy and satisfaction of getting committed teachers from around the world together in informal conversations to put the education world to rights was always there. Ruth Bonner and Gerard Renaud were amongst the many teachers to whom the IB today owes a huge debt.

3 Peterson,

A. D. C. (2003). Schools across frontiers: the story of the International Baccalaureate and the United World Colleges, 2nd edition. Chicago: Open Court.

1 A snapshot of the IB

7

Years

Director general

1968–77

Alex Peterson

1977–83

Gerard Renaud

1983–98

Roger Peel

1998–99

Derek Blackman

1999–2006

George Walker

2006–

Jeffrey Beard

Table 1.1 The directors general of the IB.

1.2.2 Development of the DP model

‘‘

’

What sort of boy do you want to produce here?

’

One who is acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck.

Visiting parent to J. F. Roxburgh, first headmaster of Stowe School, England in the 1920s.

What goes into making an educated human being is not only a discussion for our times. It has been argued over since before the time of Aristotle. J. F. Roxburgh may express his ideas on education in terms of dances and shipwrecks, rather than in terms of personal and social skills and cognitive development with objectives and targets, but we understand his vision. However we phrase it, we tend to agree that education should help us to develop to our fullest potential and to make a difference for the better to the world in which we live. But our system of testing and ranking students has come a long way from those simply stated aims. The challenge for any curriculum developer is to make the test a valid interpretation of the aims of the curriculum – we teach what we test – so we need to measure what we value.

The initial bureaucratic load was nearly the end of the IB even before it got properly started, until it was ‘rescued’ in 1967 and moved to a base in the University of Oxford Department of Educational Studies under the leadership of Alex Peterson, securing a grant of US$300 000 from the Ford Foundation. As Peterson says, they then needed five things: •

a unified international curriculum and examination system

•

university recognition of the examination as an entrance qualification

•

schools to teach it

•

parents willing to commit their children to this untried system

•

a secure source of funding so it would not collapse in mid-programme.

As teachers, we all know that our subject is the most important one; we have committed a large chunk of our life to becoming an expert in it and we want others to share in this passion. That is one of the many healthy tensions for the IB. If we each had our way, students would devote a good deal of (or too much) time to ‘our subject’ and there would be less for the others. These discussions over what is in the curriculum or the course will never stop and indeed are a sign of the vitality of the IB. But there has to be a balance and the aim should surely be to provide a curriculum in which liberally educated young people can know themselves and where they fit in the world better and make wise decisions.

One of the key strengths of the IB both in the early days and today is its ability to bring internationally minded people together from many national backgrounds. American, French, Swiss and English representatives may not seem a very international mix today but it was a start and soon schools in Montevideo, Ibadan, Tehran, Santiago, Rome, Berlin, Singapore, Wales and Geneva were signed up but with only a handful of students taking the IB. There would 8

Part one: The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction

perhaps have been more schools if groups of teachers who ‘got it’ had had their way but it often needs the head of school to have the vision and strength of leadership to carry the resistors along. As Machiavelli so clearly put it:

‘

It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and

’

merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469–1527).

Amazingly, although the model for the DP was hammered out over 40 years ago it is fundamentally the same today. As with most things, it was a compromise of idealism and pragmatism. In 1965, Gerard Renaud left a French Ministry of Education meeting with the agreement that the IB would be accepted if two languages and mathematics were specified and then other subjects chosen from specific groups. These groups were the humanities, sciences and ‘other’. The elements of the core of the IB diploma developed from the wish from France for a mandatory philosophy course – modified into what is now theory of knowledge (TOK). The package of the IB diploma was a coherent whole from the start but the idea that separate subjects could be taken as certificates, now known as ‘DP courses’, as well broadened the selective nature of the IB. The IB’s first office was formed in 1967 due to a group of committed educators, rather than national government education ministries or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). That separation from government control has lasted throughout the history of the IB and is one of its key strengths. The IB may work with national governments but it is still educators who decide the IB curriculum, not politicians. In 1967, a seven-year trial period started when over 6000 candidates entered for IB examinations and most of these – about two thirds – were for DP courses (Table 1.2). The pass rate for the diploma in most years was 75% (range over the seven years 69–80%) and candidates of 81 different nationalities sat the exam in 37 schools.

One of the many problems for education today is that we are forever adding to the curriculum as new and important discoveries are made in all fields and new disciplines created. Who would have thought in 1967 that information and communication technology (ICT) lessons would be expected in schools or in 1500 in Europe that Latin, Greek and Maths were not enough for an educated man? But we have continued to allow the onion of education to grow with new layers upon the old and have done little to remove any. The result is a curriculum under time pressure and students under pressure, often continuing 13 or more subjects to the end of secondary education. The curriculum has been devised by people who are experts in their disciplines who generate curricula based on subjects and within frameworks which they know. Few of us in our careers specialize in only one discipline learned at school, yet the school curriculum is separated into nearly watertight compartments by

School Atlantic College, Wales, UK

Candidate numbers 169

International School of Geneva

94

UNIS, New York

12

International College, Beirut

48

Copenhagen International School

8

Iranzamin International School, Tehran

7

North Manchester High School for Girls

11

Table 1.2 Schools and candidates involved in the first trial IB examinations in 1968 (Hill, 2010 quoting Peterson).

1 A snapshot of the IB

9

subject and woe betide the teacher who wants to do something interdisciplinary in the last few years of secondary education. The IB started in a different place by looking at the aims of an IB education and writing a curriculum to lead to these as far as was possible.

In 1960, the Oxford University Department of Education produced a report on the arts and sciences in the sixth form and articulated the issue that we have over 50 years on:

‘

We shall not solve the problem of combining general education with specialization until we cease to think of general education in terms of general knowledge.

It is not a sign that a man lacks general education if he does not know the date of the Treaty of Utrecht, the latitude of Singapore, the general formula of nitro-glycerine or the author of the Four Quartets. It does denote a lack of general education if he cares nothing for the arts, confuses a moral with an aesthetic judgement, interprets the actions of Asian political leaders in terms of nineteenth-century English parliamentarianism, or believes that the existence of God has been scientifically disproved. (quoted in Peterson, 2003 p. 42.)

’

or to put this another way:

‘

I want to know a butcher paints, A baker rhymes for his pursuit, Candlestick-maker much acquaints His soul with song, or, haply mute, Blows out his brains upon the flute!

’

Robert Browning 1812–1889 from his poem ‘Shop’.

The early IB was both visionary and pragmatic. The five requirements listed by Peterson were still in mind and those involved knew that students needed something on which to hang their thinking. You cannot discuss physics or history or even use language in the abstract without having some knowledge in some depth or some foundation on which facts can be built up like bricks in a house.

The ‘exploring a passion’ element of the IB diploma came in the form of the extended essay (EE) – a 4000-word research paper on a topic of the student’s choice. The social service element of Hahn’s philosophy – experiential learning – was also, from the very beginning, at the centre of the IB diploma. Surely, few of us have not had the conversation with a student about them wanting to give up an enjoyed activity in order to focus on exam grades.

The early requirement for a creative aesthetic social service activity (CASS), which later became CAS (creativity, action, service), for half a day per week aimed to stop this happening.

It is a sad indictment of our world of education that students and their teachers do not have time to reflect on their learning nor make connections between areas of knowledge. We are bombarded by more and more information yet how much of this is worth knowing or remembering? The TOK course, the final part of the diploma core, was, from its outset, intended to help students understand the nature of knowledge and to make some coherent sense of what they were learning elsewhere. It was intended to be the time to reflect, discuss and deepen understanding, to make connections, understand our own biases and those of others and to gain intellectual satisfaction from doing so.

A central tenet of the IB is that the curriculum drives the examinations, not the other way round. Of course, examinations have to be written, sat and marked as students need this external validation of their achievements 10

Part one: The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction

in order to get to the next stage, usually university. But to have been indoctrinated in how to solve simultaneous equations or recite a speech from Shakespeare and to leave school knowing them for the rest of one’s life, yet hating these things, is not a sign of a successful education. Lifelong love of learning and intellectual curiosity are the signs of a good education.

The perennial debate between validity of assessment and its reliability was there at the birth of the IB too.

English and Welsh A-levels in the 1960s were reliable and pretty valid exams, timed essays written under exam conditions based on whether the candidate had read and understood a narrow range of topics or texts.

Oral examinations are by their nature less reliable but may test a wider range of skills – style of expression, ability to communicate, deep understanding, a conversation with others. The IB diploma assessment still has a range of assessment tools at its heart, just as the pioneers wanted. Some are more reliable than others, some more valid. On balance, the general feeling is that it is about right and students get the final grades they mostly deserve.

1.2.3 IB take-up and expansion In 1970, the first IB full diploma students numbered 29 (and 283 taking certificates) in nine schools dotted around the world. There were six full-time staff in 1967 with Alex Peterson as the director.4 There was also a Council of Foundation of 20 people, an executive committee and an examination board. In 1971, there were 601 candidates taking IB examinations (76 full diploma) and the pass rate was 72%. 15 years later, there were 300 schools and 6000 candidates.5 By 1977, year seven of the IB, there were exams in 24 language A subjects and 29 in language B. It was always the case that the DP would be available in English, French and Spanish and this has continued to be so with some subjects and teacher support materials in Chinese and German. It is now also possible for biology, history and TOK to be taken in German, and the TOK course can be taken and assessed in Chinese.

In 1976, at the end of the trial years, there was a waiting list of 80 schools wanting to offer the IB diploma but the Ford Foundation grant had run out, as had some small grants from UNESCO. To allow the IB to continue, schools agreed to an annual subscription and a heads standing conference (HSC) consisting of all heads of IB schools was set up with a heads representative committee (HRC) of nine elected from the HSC. In 2001, this was disbanded and the international HRC (IHRC) and regional HRCs formed. In 2008, the IHRC became the Heads Council.

Until 1981, all IB examination administration had been carried out in Geneva where the IB was (and still is) registered as a not-for-profit Swiss foundation. But, with growth forecast and Geneva being an expensive city in which to have offices, the exam administration was moved to the UK: first London, then Bath University, and in 1989 to a site just outside Cardiff, Wales, where it was called IB Examinations (IBEX). But these offices were always more than exam administration centres as curriculum design and development, IB finance and other support services were also based there. In 1994, the more suitable name of IB curriculum and assessment centre (IBCA) was adopted as were the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the office, very short of space now, moved again in 2007 to another business park outside Cardiff. By then, there were some 260 staff working in IBCA. In 2011, curriculum managers left IBCA (which is now known as IB Assessment Centre) and moved to the new IB Global Centres in The Hague, Bethesda and Singapore.

1.2.4 Recent growth

‘

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

Maya Angelou.

’

4 Hill,

I. (2010). The International Baccalaureate: pioneering in education. The International Schools Journal Compendium, IV. Woodbridge: John Catt Educational Ltd, p. 72.

5 Peterson, op. cit., p. 57.

1 A snapshot of the IB

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Country

Number of IB World Schools

USA

1314

UK Canada India Australia

IB region

IB diploma schools

IBA

753

211

IBAEM

205

311

IBA

141

87

IBAP

79

143

IBAP

62

Mexico

88

IBA

63

China

60

IBAP

52

Ecuador

51

IBA

50

Germany

52

IBAEM

49

Argentina

48

IBA

47

Switzerland

39

IBAEM

34

Poland

35

IBAEM

32

Sweden

39

IBAEM

31

Hong Kong SAR China

43

IBAP

24

Indonesia

36

IBAP

19

Note: IBA = IB Americas.

IBAEM = IB Africa, Europe, Middle East.

IBAP = IB Asia-Pacific.

IB World Schools offer one or more IB programmes; IB diploma schools offer the DP and may or may not offer other IB programmes.

Table 1.3 The 15 countries with the most IB World Schools in March 2012.

As the number of IB World Schools changes almost daily, any attempt here to give data is doomed to be out of date as soon as it is published. The IB public website (http://www.ibo.org) gives recent statistics on the number of schools and programmes offered. In March 2012, there were 4136 IB programmes in 3338 IB World Schools.

Most of these (nearly 1640) are in North America and the IB Africa, Europe, Middle East (IBAEM) region has about 850. There are two examination sessions per year for the DP, in May and November. The November session is usually about 10% of the number of schools that register for the May session and accounts for about 7% of all DP candidates per year. The most amazing thing about the spread of the schools is that they are in over 140 countries. Of course, some countries may have only one IB school while others have hundreds, but the international nature of the IB cannot be forgotten when we consider the vast range of student nationalities, working conditions, different cultures and resource levels in these schools around the world. Table 1.3 shows the ‘top fifteen’ countries by number of schools in March 2012. This gives an indication of clustering of IB schools.

Some idea of the rate of growth of the IB diploma programme comes from the statistical bulletin published after each examination session6 (see Figure 1.2). There are IB hotspots around the world where the increase in 6

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http://www.ibo.org/facts/statbulletin/dpstats/

Part one: The International Baccalaureate (IB) – an introduction

2500

Total number of diploma programme schools.

Number of schools

2000

1500

Number of schools registering candidates for the May examination session.

1000

500

0 May 2007

May 2008

May 2009

May 2010

May 2011

Examination session Figure 1.2 Number of IB diploma schools 2007–11.

the number of schools is higher than in others. The UK was one such hotspot after the UK government offered a financial incentive to government maintained schools to take up the IB diploma. Between 2005 and 2010, the number of UK schools offering the DP more than doubled. This is now reducing as some schools are finding it difficult to offer an expensive programme to small cohorts of students. However, in the Gulf States, India and the People’s Republic of China, growth of IB schools continues apace. One major change for the IB, as a result of growth, has been the outsourcing of more and more of its activities in recent years. Trained educators in the IB educator network (IBEN) now carry out verification visits, act as school consultants, assess and report back on diploma evaluation reports and do much more. Some teacher workshops are outsourced to external pd providers.

Aspects of IB finance are outsourced to a company in Sri Lanka, travel arrangements to a company in Belgium and ICT support is run out of a company in Manila.

1.3 Where the IB is now 1.3.1 Overview of IB regions There is no doubt that the IB is a successful organization which has set out to make a difference in the world of international education, and has done and continues to do this.

A growth rate of 10% or more per year is tricky for any organization to manage, and growth in most of the countries of the world, in most types of school, across all economic, political and time zones, with clusters of schools in some countries and scarcity in others, makes this very much harder to achieve. Add to that the need to maintain common, high standards, set and mark secure examinations twice a year to a very tight timetable, liaise with governments, universities and national regulatory bodies, and it is no wonder that the IB has been under pressure at times. It is a credit to the professionalism of the IB staff and to the goodwill of IB teachers and school administrators that it has thrived and delivered each year. The IB is not perfect and errors do happen but it is a learning organization (and so it should be) and a listening one.

This section looks at the three IB regions (Figure 1.3 on p. 14) in more detail and Section 1.5 gives some case studies from countries around the world. The intention is to give a snapshot of the diversity and constancy of the IB. The IB adapts to many school systems yet maintains its values and standards. It is not possible in this book to have as many examples as there are countries with IB schools but we hope that the reader may dip into some of these in this section.

1 A snapshot of the IB

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