Why IB?

The IB Program at Oakmont has a long history of excellence. Students leave our program ready for success at whatever is next for them.

What is so special about the IB?

• • IB programs are recognized around the world and ensure an increased adaptability and mobility for IB students.

  • The curriculum and pedagogy of IB programs focus on international perspectives of learning and teaching, while insisting that students fully explore their home culture and language.

  • IB programs encourage a positive attitude to learning by challenging students to solve problems, show creativity and resourcefulness and participate actively in their communities

  • IB World Schools must undergo an exhaustive authorization process in order to offer one or more of the programs, which includes a study of the school’s resources and commitment to the IB mission and philosophy.

  • Many students graduating from the Diploma Program find that it enhances their opportunities at tertiary institutions. The IB works closely with universities around the world to gain recognition for IB programs.

  • The core components of IB programs encourage students to participate in creative and service-oriented activities, while at the same time emphasizing the importance of reflection on a personal and academic level.

IB students learn to know and understand the skills needed to thrive in modern societies increasingly go beyond traditional academic content and disciplines. There is growing evidence of the importance of “21st century skills”, which encompass a wide range of skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and time management. These skills can prepare students to live and work in a world with rapidly evolving technologies and many complex issues.

The IB's unique program aims to do more than other curricula by developing inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who are motivated to succeed.
They will:

• • Develop time management skills and a strong sense of self-motivation

  • Be encouraged to think critically and challenge assumptions

  • Take part in programs of education that can lead them to some of the highest ranking universities around the world

  • Become more culturally aware, through the development of a second language

  • Develop independently of government and national systems, incorporating quality practice from research and our global community of schools

  • Be encouraged to think independently and drive their own learning

Students are able to take responsibility for their own learning and understand how knowledge itself is constructed; this is further to our unique theory of knowledge (TOK) course. They are encouraged to try different approaches to learning and to take responsibility for their own educational progress.

Our program helps IB students:

• • Ask challenging questions

  • Think critically

  • Develop research skills proven to help them in higher education

Approaches to learning

The development of skills such as thinking skills and communication skills is frequently identified as a crucial element in preparing students effectively for life beyond school. A 2007 survey of 400 hiring executives of major US corporations identified their top four requirements of new recruits as being oral and written communication skills, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, professionalism and work ethic, and teamwork and collaboration skills (Trilling and Fadel 2009). Similar skills lists have been developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and are also the subject of numerous books such as The Global Achievement Gap (Wagner 2010). Yet many students struggle with some of the basic skills of effective learning. For example, good note-making has been positively correlated with academic achievement, yet research suggests that many university students have difficulty even with the fundamental skill of making notes from lectures or texts (Kiewra 1985, O’Donnell and Dansereau 1993).

Developing students’ ATL skills is about more than simply developing their cognitive skills. It is also about developing affective and metacognitive skills, and about encouraging students to view learning as something that they “do for themselves in a proactive way, rather than as a covert event that happens to them in reaction to teaching” (Zimmerman 2000: 65). By developing ATL skills and the attributes of the learner profile, DP students can become “self-regulated learners” (Kaplan 1998). Self-regulated learners have learned how to set learning goals, ask good questions, self-interrogate as they learn, generate motivation and perseverance, try out different learning processes, self-monitor the effectiveness of their learning, reflect on achievement, and make changes to their learning processes where necessary (Zimmerman and Schunk 1989, de Bruin et al. 2011, Wolters 2011).

The term “skill” is therefore used in a broad sense in the DP to encompass cognitive, metacognitive and affective skills. Cognitive skills include all the information-processing and thinking skills, often called “study skills” in a school environment. Affective skills are the skills of behaviour and emotional management underpinning attitudinal factors such as resilience, perseverance and self-motivation, which often have a large role to play in educational achievement. Metacognitive skills are the skills that students can use to monitor the effectiveness of their learning skills and processes, to better understand and evaluate their learning. Although these skills may be in use when manifesting a certain natural ability or talent, they are different to both of these because proficiency in any skill can be increased through the deliberate use of techniques and strategies, feedback and challenge. Skills are therefore highly teachable.

In the DP, as well as in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP), these cognitive, metacognitive and affective skills are grouped into the same five ATL categories.

• Thinking Skills

• Communication Skills

• Social Skills

• Self-Management Skills

• Research Skills

Although these skills areas are presented as distinct categories, there are obviously close links and areas of overlap between them, and it is intended that these categories should be seen as interrelated. It is also the intention that these ATL skills should be seen as linking closely with the attitudes and dispositions identified in the IB learner profile. The learner profile is the IB mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes for the 21st century. It is an easily communicated set of ideals that can inspire, motivate and focus the work of schools and teachers, uniting them in a common purpose.

(adapted from www.ibo.org)