The IB® and MYP

The International Baccalaureate® (IB) offers a continuum of international education. The programmes encourage both personal and academic achievement, challenging students to excel in their studies and in their personal development.

The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. This powerful mission that drives learning informs the development of each IB World School - as well as the IB’s larger global community of students and their families, teachers and supporters. IB World Schools strive to help realize this purpose for learning within their own local, state, national, international and global contexts.

What is an IB education?

Imagine a worldwide community of schools, educators and students with a shared vision and mission to empower young people with the skills, values and knowledge to create a better and more peaceful world. This is the International Baccalaureate (IB).

In 1968 the first programme offered by the IB, the Diploma Programme, was established. It sought to provide a challenging yet balanced education that would facilitate geographic and cultural mobility by providing an internationally recognised university entrance qualification that would also serve the deeper purpose of promoting intercultural understanding and respect.

With the introduction of the Middle Years Programme in 1994 and the Primary Years Programme in 1997, the IB identified a continuum of international education for students aged 3 to 19. The introduction of the IB Career-related Programme in 2012 enriched this continuum by providing a choice of international education pathways for 16 to 19 year old students.

Each of the IB programmes reflects a central desire to provide an education that enables students to make sense of the complexities of the world around them, as well as equipping them with the skills and dispositions needed for taking responsible action for the future. They provide an education that crosses disciplinary, cultural, national and geographical boundaries, and that champions critical engagement, stimulating ideas and effective relationships.

An IB education fosters international-mindedness by helping students reflect on their own perspective, culture and identities, and then on those of others. By learning to appreciate different beliefs, values and experiences, and to think and collaborate across cultures and disciplines, IB learners gain the understanding necessary to make progress toward a more peaceful and sustainable world.

International Mindedness

International-mindedness is a multi-faceted and complex concept that captures a way of thinking, being and acting that is characterised by an openness to the world and a recognition of our deep interconnectedness to others.To be open to the world, we need to understand it. IB programmes therefore provide students with opportunities for sustained inquiry into a range of local and global issues and ideas. This willingness to see beyond immediate situations and boundaries is essential as globalisation and emerging technologies continue to blur traditional distinctions between the local, national and international.

Multilingualism

An IB education further enhances the development of international-mindedness through multilingualism. All IB programmes require the students to study, or study in, more than one language because we believe that communicating in more than one language provides excellent opportunities to develop intercultural understanding and respect. It helps the students to appreciate that his or her own language, culture and worldview is just one of many.

Service as action

International-mindedness is also encouraged through a focus on global engagement and meaningful service with the community. These elements challenge the student to critically consider power and privilege, and to recognise that he or she holds this planet and its resources in trust for future generations. They also highlight the focus on action in all IB programmes: a focus on moving beyond awareness and understanding to engagement, action and bringing about meaningful change.

Teaching and learning in the IB

Teaching and learning in the IB grows from an understanding of education that celebrates the many ways people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world. Represented as the interplay between asking (inquiry), doing (action) and thinking (reflection), this constructivist approach leads towards open classrooms where different views and perspectives are valued. An IB education empowers young people for a lifetime of learning, both independently and in collaboration with others. It prepares a community of learners to engage with complex global challenges through a dynamic educational experience framed by inquiry, action and reflection.

Inquiry

Sustained inquiry frames the written, taught and assessed curriculum in IB programmes. IB programmes feature structured inquiry, drawing from established bodies of knowledge and complex problems. In this approach, prior knowledge and experience establish the basis for new learning, and students’ own curiosity, together with careful curriculum design, provide the most effective stimulus for learning that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant.

Action

Principled action, as both a strategy and an outcome, represents the IB’s commitment to teaching and learning through practical, real-world experience. IB learners act at home, as well as in classrooms, schools, communities and the broader world. Action involves learning by doing, enhancing learning about self and others. IB World Schools value action that encompasses a concern for integrity and honesty, as well as a strong sense of fairness that respects the dignity of individuals and groups. Challenging learning environments help students to develop the imagination and motivation they require in order to meet their own needs and the needs of others. Principled action means making responsible choices, sometimes including decisions not to act. Individuals, organisations and communities can engage in principled action when they explore the ethical dimensions of personal and global challenges. Action in IB programmes may involve service learning, advocacy and educating one’s self and others.

Reflection

Critical reflection is the process by which curiosity and experience can lead to deeper understanding. Learners must become critically aware of the way they use evidence, methods and conclusions. Reflection also involves being conscious of potential bias and inaccuracy in their own work and in the work of others. An IB education fosters creativity and imagination. It offers students opportunities for considering the nature of human thought and for developing the skills and commitments necessary not only to recall information but also to analyse one’s own thinking and effort in terms of the products and performances that grow from them. Driven by inquiry, action and reflection, IB programmes aim to develop a range of skills and dispositions that help students effectively manage and evaluate their own learning. Among these essential approaches to learning are competencies for research, critical and creative thinking, collaboration, communication, managing information and self-assessment.

Transition from the PYP

The nature of teaching and learning in the PYP is concept-based, trans-disciplinary and largely taught by a single classroom teacher. IB World Schools offering the MYP have a responsibility to ensure that there is a smooth transition from the trans-disciplinary model into a model that focuses on disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning.

To the MYP

In the Middle Years Programme, students explore six global contexts that are developed from and extend the Primary Years Programme trans-disciplinary themes: Identities and relationships, Personal and cultural expression, Orientation in space and time, Scientific and technical innovation, Fairness and development, and Globalisation and sustainability.

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