International Mindedness

Developing global engagement and intercultural understanding in our students

A fundamental pillar of the philosophy that underpins the suite of International Baccalaureate (IB) Programmes, including the Diploma Programme which has been offered at Lauriston for over 31 years, is the concept of international mindedness.

In the IB, this concept can be understood as the process of ‘reaching out’ to the world beyond us to interact with others and ‘reaching in’ to better understand ourselves in relation to others.

While the concept of international mindedness might appear to be a somewhat abstract underpinning to a curriculum, the design of the Diploma Programme ensures that the process of developing international mindedness is concretely represented in the programme’s core and in the design, and assessment of, subject curricula.

The three components to the core of the Diploma — the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS), each play an important role in the development of international mindedness. In the

Extended Essay, a research investigation culminating in a 4,000-word essay, students can conduct an inquiry within a single subject area, or they can write a world studies essay where they work with more than one subject discipline and frame their research question around a topic of global significance. These topics must allow students to engage with three strands of significance — global sensitivity, global understanding, and global self. At Lauriston, we have several students each year who choose to write a world studies essay. This allows them to participate in a process where they reach outward in their exploration of a globally focused topic and reflect inwardly to arrive at a greater understanding of their local community and themselves. In 2022, one student explored the effect of internal migration on economic development in the Anhui province, bringing together the two fields of Economics and Geography. Another student explored the relationship between a customer’s cultural background and purchasing behaviour, bringing together the two fields of Economics and Psychology.

In addition to the Extended Essay, the Service component of CAS encourages the development of international mindedness through participation in and contribution to, local community services. A compulsory element of

CAS is the group project. In 2023, one group of students ran an onsite school op shop to raise funds for a local community charity. Students were encouraged to bring in good quality clothing for resale. This project fostered both a sense of community participation and awareness, and a sustainable perspective on clothing.

It is not only in the Core that the Diploma fosters international mindedness. It is compulsory in the Diploma to select a second language for study. This element of the programme is underpinned by the belief that language acquisition and study is a window into culture and a way to develop greater cultural understanding. At Lauriston, students have the opportunity to study Chinese, French and Spanish. They are also encouraged to speak their home, or mother tongue, and in doing so, to value language as a key part of their identity.

Individual subjects also nurture international mindedness. In the Literature curriculum at Lauriston, a wide selection of translated works provides the opportunity for engagement with other cultural perspectives. In 2023, students will study a novella from Japan, a graphic novel from a French-Canadian animator, a novel by a Hong Kong writer and a selection of short fiction from a Nigerian author. The Literature course also includes a compulsory oral presentation where students select an issue of global significance with local, national and enduring importance. They present an analysis of its treatment in two selected works, one of which must be translated. In 2023, one student spoke about the ways in which religion and art can offer an escape from the harsh realities of life and another spoke about the effect of oppression on women’s perception of the concept of femininity.

In each of these ways, the Diploma Programme sets out to develop students who see themselves as members of an international community with a sense of responsibility grounded in intercultural understanding and respect.

Sandra McCowan International Baccalaureate Diploma Coordinator