SCHOOL RELATED Creativity on Command: The Arts in the IB

asked about her most recent project which deals with designing an outfit from unconventional supplies, “[but] I like the guidance that the topics give me.” In music, composing or performing within a genre is not uncreative; it takes a careful balance between consideration of what has been done and of what you are capable of doing to fill in the prompt. I have found myself working with 17th-century opera and software that came out in the last decade within the same assignment. It’s daunting, but eventually you get into the rhythm of mixing the unlikeliest of things to create something that is, at the very least, intriguing. It takes the artist’s sacrifice of familiarity and the genre’s sacrifice of technical perfection for every submission, so every submission is a recalibration of the art. As an IB arts teacher, evaluating assessments is tedious. Because of the particularity of each student in art, it takes an empathetic approach to understand the intention behind a submission and the extent to which it was fulfilled. This individuality also happens to be where the intrigue of the job stems: “you can do literally anything you want,” says Mr.Claassen. He says that seeing each individual vision come together in one classroom is “the beauty of it.” He finds his job to be to mentor rather than lecture. Maria Volovodova, a film student, is thankful for the similar approach to teaching that Ms.Motre has, since she is given an assignment and told to “just make a movie,” after a solid technical and analytical foundation has been established. At large, the main asset that arts students recognised in the comorbidity of the IB curriculum and creativity is the application of technical skill and analytical appreciation; “the curriculum makes me approach theater more analytically,” says IB theater student, Lily Underwood. When asked what she would like to pass on to incoming DP theater students, Lily replied: “What do they need to know? It’s theater; I think if it’s something you enjoy, you should be ready to apply yourself.” Maria’s response was similar: “You spend so much time out of class but it won’t be ‘work’ if you love creating.” The most common element of the curriculum that has been deemed improvable is its practicality. Teachers and students alike have expressed desires for more opportunities to perform or present their or their students’ work, to share the process and inspiration behind it all.

Taking an art in the IB program is demanding. There may not be a final exam, but the work level is dependent on the dedication the student has to their creativity and the assignments in which they can use it. The curriculum, though demanding, does a thorough job of exposing artists to stimuli they may never have otherwise considered to align with their personal brand of expression. The arts are more demanding than they appear, and the IB curriculum is a versatile and challenging exposure to the process of creating.

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