CP Core

IB Career-related Program consist of 4 core parts: 

• Personal and Professional skills course

• Service Learning

• Reflective Project

• Language Development

Personal and Professional Skills Course

This course is taken 2nd semester junior year and 1st semester senior year and is designed for students to develop attitudes, skills and strategies to be applied to personal and professional situations and contexts now and in the future. This course encourages the following qualities: responsibility, perseverance, resilience, self-esteem, and academic honesty. 

Overall aims of personal and professional skills are for the students to:

• develop as reflective and lifelong learners who can adapt to diverse situations

• recognize personal strengths and identify ways to overcome challenges

• be aware of and respond effectively to ethical dilemmas

• value diversity of cultures and perspectives

• demonstrate the ten attributes of the IB learner profile

******* A majority of the requirements of the IBC Core will be imbedded within this course.  Students will have time within the class to complete language, service learning and reflective project requirements.

Service Learning

Service learning provides opportunities for students to understand their capacity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and society. Through service learning, students develop and apply academic knowledge, personal skills and social skills in real-life situations involving decision-making, problem-solving, initiative, responsibility and accountability for their actions.  The purpose is for students to contribute to society by improving the lives of people or assisting the environment or animals. 

Aims of the service learning component:

• develop and apply knowledge and skills towards meeting an authentic community need

• develop as leaders who take initiative, solve problems and work collaboratively with others

• enjoy the experiences of both learning and service

• develop a sense of caring about, and a responsibility for, others

• gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their community and society through meaningful reflection

• enhance and strengthen their experience with the existing school curriculum

A minimum of 50 hours is expected to be devoted to service learning.   A portion of service learning hours are imbedded within the Personal and Professional skills course, but some hours will be required outside of the school day. 

Reflective Project

The reflective project is an in-depth body of work produced over an extended period of time and submitted towards the end of the CP. It is the product of the students' own initiative and should reflect their personal experience in the CP.  It is intended to promote high-level research, writing and extended communication skills, intellectual discovery and creativity through a variety of different approaches. 

The reflective project focuses on an ethical dilemma of an issue directly linked to the student's career-related study. 

Aims of the reflective project:

• produce an extended piece of work

• engage in personal inquiry, action and reflection on a specific ethical dilemma

• present a structured and coherent argument

• engage with local and/or global communities

• develop research and communication skills

• develop the skills of critical and creative thinking. 

A minimum of 50 hours are expected to be devoted to the reflective project.  A portion of the reflective project hours are imbedded within the Personal and Professional skills course, but some hours will need to be completed outside of the school day. 

Language Development

Language development ensures that all students have access to and are exposed to a language program that will assist and further their understanding of the wider world. The ability to communicate in more than one language is essential to the IB's concept of an international education.   Language development encourages students to improve their proficiency in a language other than their best language. 

Aims of language development:

• enable students to understand and use the language they have studied in context

• encourage an awareness and appreciation of the different perspectives of people from other cultures

• provide students with a basis for further study, work and leisure through the use of an additional language

• provide the opportunity for enjoyment, creativity and intellectual stimulation through knowledge of an additional language. 

A minimum of 50 hours are expected to be devoted to language development.  A portion of the language development hours are imbedded in the Personal and Professional Skills course, but some hours will be required outside of the school day.