Anne Malins, IB Co-ordinator at Woodside Park International School, London, and who has taught the IB at schools in Central America, Japan and Spain as well, describes a programme that continues to attract increasing attention worldwide.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma and certificate programmes for post-16 education have long been recognised internationally for their breadth and rigour of study. Since the IB Diploma’s inception in the 1960s a committed group of professional educators have worked to develop a programme of study that reflects our ever-increasing need for a variety of skills with its roots firmly planted in the need for global understanding and communication. Internationalism is the core of the ethos of the IB mission statement and its thread runs throughout the Diploma’s programmes of study.

First, let us consider the actual make-up of the Diploma Programme. Six subjects to be taken; three at Higher Level and three at Standard Level; a Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course that looks at how we learn and how we know what we know – a secure basis for study skills; a Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) programme that not only allows the students to develop their personal interests at a wider and higher level, but develops their sense of community and responsibility as citizens. Finally, a compulsory Extended Essay that introduces the students to the skills and demands of private research and development of a hypothesis – all done under strict guidelines with the aid of a personal supervisor. The Extended Essay gives students an introduction to and insight into the type of study and skills that will be required of them at Higher level education. This in itself is a simplification of what the IB Diploma Programme is all about.

For the Diploma, a student chooses from the six subjects a first language, a second language, a humanities subject, an experimental science, a mathematics course and an arts subject or an elective. (Within this students have the option to choose another language, science or humanity as an elective which itself gives an even greater breadth to their options.) As one can clearly see, this programme continues the study of what we all consider to be the ‘basics of education’ through the sixth form. It would be a very hard case to argue the detrimental effect of allowing students to pursue as wide a course as possible at the age of 16: who really knows what they want to do at 15?

As can be seen, the IB Diploma Programme is demanding and rigorous, but by the very nature of the way in which it is constructed and implemented, it is open to students of varied academic backgrounds. There is continuous guidance given by subject teachers, the CAS co-ordinator and the IB co-ordinator. Much of the assessment is ongoing throughout the two-year course and the majority of the disciplines have a mix of assessment modes that will go towards the final grade. For example, language A1 has an oral component, a world literature assignment completed during the course, as well as two examination papers to be sat at the end of the two-year period.  This spreading of the assessment is far more balanced than relying on one final examination.

Apart from the guidance given, the programme is structured in such a way that set assignments for different subjects are spread over the two-year period and students are informed well in advance of deadlines. Students are also not ‘left in the dark’ as to what is expected of them: the IB course is not a guessing game. One of the distinct advantages of the IB programme is that students are informed about their course of study from the start and can, in certain instances, be included in the choice of subject matter; for example, when deciding on the topic for the Group 4 science project. They are also informed of the criteria in use for the assessment of specific subjects.

By taking this open line as to what is to be studied, for when and how it is to be assessed, we note the thread of other ideals behind the whole IB course: personal responsibility, group responsibility, critical thinking and problem solving.

As has already been said, the IB is not a ‘new’ programme, but that does not mean that it has remained static since its inception - far from it. With the involvement of interested parties across the world, the International Baccalaureate Organisation has continually sought to refine and re-define the courses offered in light of new and changing circumstances. One of the most positive aspects about the IB programmes is that the IB actively seeks the input of teachers. One of the more recent of the IB’s initiatives has been the development of new trans-disciplinary courses; these are under discussion and construction and are to be piloted from September 2001.

The rise in interest on the part of both state and private sector establishments in the UK for following the IB Diploma Programme has been noticeable during the last few years. Some schools and colleges run both IB and A level courses, others have now switched completely to the IB. A major factor in this is the acceptance of the IB as an excellent all-round grounding for students, by universities and colleges worldwide, and increasingly frequently in the UK.

All in all what makes the IB have such an advantage, is its ‘whole-person’ approach to education; the holistic view rather than compartmentalisation.

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