An increasingly famous alternative to CBSE, ICSE, and even Cambridge board in India is the Switzerland-headquartered IB(International Baccalaureate) curriculum.
Even a few years back, IB wasn’t that popular in India. But, there has been a significant increase in its demand and the total schools affiliating with it. India ranks #6 in the world in teaching the IB board with about 169 schools in the country providing the curriculum.
What is it that makes you choose IB? The main reason for this includes the growing recognition of the curriculum’s scope. Another factor is that the IB has become a buzzword among many with most of the top and international schools offering it.
Let us try to understand what makes this curriculum unique and whether it may be the perfect fit for your children.
IB Curriculum: History & Overview
Since its foundation in 1968, the IB curriculum has expanded to more than 150 countries with over 4,000 schools. It focuses on developing curious minds & knowledge and motivating young people with its holistic approach, which has attracted many parents to opt for this board.
The IB Program is a curriculum framework that consists of different programs of education, provided in various schools all around the world to children from 3 to 19 years old.
With a rigorous, balanced approach, IB aims to prepare students for the social, emotional, and logical challenges of a college education. Therefore, schools following the IB curriculum not only deliver content but also focus on developing important skills in areas like analytical thinking and problem solving to make students successful learners and well-organized people who are planned for today and the future.
The IB curriculum is made up of these educational programs:
IB Curriculum: Structure
1. The Primary Years Programme
For students between the age group of 3 to 12, IB – PYP focuses on building the 1st step of education among children. Guided by 6 transdisciplinary themes of global significance, the IB curriculum allows students to upskill their learning by developing their logical understanding, and sharpening their knowledge and skills beyond subject areas.
It consists of 3 segments:
Written Curriculum
- Manual to detail the imparted knowledge, skills, and attitudes taken during the whole program.
- It answers questions related to the coursework and what all are there in the curriculum.
Taught Curriculum
- Based on the fundamental depths of learning, and identifies lessons that can be deeply implanted.
- It explains the elements of the environment, tone, and pedagogy, specific to a chapter.
Assessment Curriculum
- All about assessing what a student has learned in a stress-free and efficient model.
- It aims to measure the learning gained.
It covers 5 important elements:
Knowledge
This element represents common subject areas: math, science, language, social studies, arts, PSPE, and transdisciplinary.
Concepts
Students explore through organized inquiry to develop logical, in-depth understanding.
Skills
Students develop broad capabilities and apply them during learning and in real life beyond the classroom.
Attitudes
International-mindedness and the wellbeing of a person and learning communities that connect to the IB learner profile directly.
Action
Successful inquiry and understanding lead to responsible, thoughtful, and appropriate action.
Assessments:
The IB curriculum doesn’t come up with the exams or grades for students in the PYP. It is a self-learning approach, as they have the privilege to decide on how much and to what level they wish to study. The idea is to generate a sense of responsibility among students, especially at a tender age.
However, there’s a PYP Exhibition, organized in the final year of PYP. It essentially is an inquiry-based, real-life project that a student needs to do on their own right from scratch until the very end.
The Middle Years Programme
Creating a bridge between studies and the real world, IB – MYP is for students between the aged 11 to 16 years. The curriculum allows students to inquire about a range of subjects and ideas not only locally, but nationally and internationally as well.
Students need to select a course they want to study from 8 different groups:
- Language Acquisition
- Language and Literature
- Individuals and Societies
- Sciences
- Maths
- Arts
- Physical and Health Education
- Design
The MYP requires each subject to be taught for at least 50 hours, each year. In addition to regular learning, students also need to involve themselves in at least 1 collaboratively planned interdisciplinary unit that includes at least 2 subject groups.
The students will get an opportunity to finish a long-term project as well, where they can make a decision on what they want to learn about, come up with ideas for the project, and create a proposal for completing it.
There are different methods of operation that schools can choose from, providing a fresh and different learning experience to the students.
Discrete Discipline Learning
Each discipline under a subject is studied separately. For example:- Physics, Chemistry & Biology will be taught, assessed, and graded separately.
Integrated Discipline Learning
Different disciplines of a subject are studied in unity. For example:- Physics, Chemistry & Biology will be taught, assessed, and graded as one, under Science.
Modular Learning
Different disciplines in rotation, as modules. For example:- Physics, Chemistry, and Biology will be studied in rotation, as modules, but will be assessed and graded as one.
Assessments:
Students are evaluated through the MYP e-assessments, post which they are provided with a certificate of completion. Additionally, external moderation is compulsory. It is a trustworthy, globally consistent, and highly innovative assessment model that assists students to achieve greater outcomes and provides greater quality assurance.
The assessments are conducted in 2 ways:
E-portfolio
A portfolio of the work done in a specific course, up for grading by the examiner.
On-screen examinations
The students need to give their examinations online. Each test for every subject lasts for 2 hours.
The MYP program prepares students for the Diploma Program by reflecting the depth, width, and balance that’s the characteristic of all IB programs.
In the final 2 years of the MYP, students and their families work with their IB World School to make vital decisions about choice of subject, qualifications, and career opportunities.
The Diploma Programme
Providing extended learning of selected subjects, DP is for students between the age group of 16 to 19 years. The students are exposed to higher studies in a range of subjects, assisting them to get a deep understanding and thus, make the correct decision for college.
The curriculum of the program includes the DP core and 6 IB subjects.
DP-Core
Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay and Innovative, Action, Society.
IB-DP
Language & Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals & Societies, Sciences, Maths, and Arts.
The assessed program has proven to be a ticket to your dream universities across the world.
Each student requires to choose different courses from each of the subject groups, and take at least 3 subjects at Higher Level (HL), and remaining at Standard Level (SL).
While the grading is calculated in the same way, the 2 levels vary in learning scope, concepts taught, and understanding of the subject. HL students are considered to have better skills and understanding of the subject. While HL subjects need a student to take 240 hours of learning, a student requires to take 150 hours of learning for SL subjects.
Assessments:
There are both internal and external assessments during the curriculum. In the final diploma score, the DP – Core can contribute up to 3 points. Each element is examined independently through interactive methods like oral presentations, essays, and projects. Thus, the student becomes a more introspective, innovative, and independent thinker.
Internal Subject Assessment:
It is entirely classwork evaluation and teacher’s observations. Assessment is carried out all year round, and grades on a single assignment can be a crucial factor in a student’s grade.
External Subject Assessment:
It forms the basis of assessment for most courses with high levels of objectivity and dependency. For instance, students are told to work on essays, well-designed problems, short-response questions, case studies, etc.
When it comes to grading, students get grades for each subject between 7 and 1 (highest and 1 lowest). The diploma is given to students who score at least 24 points, which includes satisfactory performance on elements of the DP core. Additionally, a Bilingual diploma is awarded to students who get a grade of 3 or higher in 2 languages opted from the DP.
Above all—more important than transferability, more important than any particular factor—what really matters is whether the curriculum is right for you or not. While each child is unique and has their requirements and learning styles, there may be some common threads that make a curriculum better for your children.
Here are a few things to consider when deciding if the IB curriculum might be a good fit.
The IB Curriculum is a great choice for many students; however, the decision of which school and curriculum are the best is a very personal one. Normally, if your family is searching for a globally-focused education that will prepare your children for university and beyond, the IB Curriculum is a great option.
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