Learning
The International program is based upon the mission, philosophy and framework of the International Baccalaureate and the standards from the United States, including the Common Core. As a new school, we will be entering IB candidacy phase with the intention of becoming an IB World School and therefore, we have designed a learning and teaching model aligned to the IB.
Purpose
Students at International Baccalaureate® (IB) World Schools are given a unique, challenging, and diverse education.
IB learners are:
- encouraged to think critically and solve complex problems
- drive their own learning
- a core part in educational programs that can lead them to some of the highest-ranking universities around the world
- more culturally aware, through the development of a second language
- able to engage with people in an increasingly globalized, rapidly changing world
IB students develop strong academic, social, and emotional characteristics. They are also likely to perform well academically – often better than students on other curricula.
Universities and colleges benefit from recruiting and admitting students from IB programs in a range of ways, with IB programs developing the knowledge, skills and disposition students need to be successful throughout their university careers.
As a result of their time in the IB, students develop:
- time management skills and a strong sense of self-motivation
- a keen interest in civic engagement
- notable academic ability
- strong research and writing skills
- critical thinking abilities
- an international outlook
Research suggests, for example, that IB students are more likely than their peers to complete their undergraduate degrees and pursue graduate work; and that they are more likely to be engaged in various aspects of university life.
According to the research, IB students are strong on:
- student leadership activities
- working with university faculty on research projects
- finding opportunities to study in other countries
- tutoring other students
- taking part in voluntary and community service
- completing internships.
To maximise the opportunities for IB students at their institutions, many universities and colleges develop recognition policies making it clear how IB students gain places on their courses.
The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IBPYP)
Methodology
Inquiry as a pedagogical approach
Inquiry, as the leading pedagogical approach of our school, is recognized as allowing students to be actively involved in their own learning and to take responsibility for that learning. Inquiry allows each student’s understanding of the world to develop in a manner and at a rate that is unique to that learner. Inquiry, interpreted in the broadest sense, is the process initiated by the student or the teacher that moves the student from his or her current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding and includes:
exploring, wondering, and questioning
- experimenting and playing with possibilities
- making connections between previous learning and current learning
- making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens
- collecting data and reporting findings
- clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
- deepening understanding through the application of a concept
- making and testing theories
- researching and seeking information
- taking and defending a position
- solving problems in a variety of ways.
A concept-driven curriculum
The subject-specific bodies of knowledge, concepts, and skills, together with the program of inquiry provide a comprehensive, well-balanced curriculum that requires students to reflect on their roles and responsibilities and to participate fully in the learning process. The concepts help the teacher to make the learning coherent and the learning environment a provocative place, where the students’ points of view, supported by knowledge, skill, reflection and understanding, are both valued and built upon.
Both the traditional subject areas and the transdisciplinary themes provide focuses for students’ inquiry. These inquiries allow students to acquire and apply a set of transdisciplinary skills: social skills, communication skills, thinking skills, research skills, and self-management skills. These skills are relevant to all learning, formal and informal, that goes on in the school, and in events experienced beyond its boundaries.
As well as presenting schools with a philosophical perspective on what international education may be, the IB prescribes a curriculum framework of essential elements:
Knowledge
Concepts
Skills
Attitudes
The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IBPYP)
Methodology
Inquiry as a pedagogical approach
Inquiry, as the leading pedagogical approach of our school, is recognized as allowing students to be actively involved in their own learning and to take responsibility for that learning. Inquiry allows each student’s understanding of the world to develop in a manner and at a rate that is unique to that learner. Inquiry, interpreted in the broadest sense, is the process initiated by the student or the teacher that moves the student from his or her current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding and includes:
exploring, wondering, and questioning
- experimenting and playing with possibilities
- making connections between previous learning and current learning
- making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens
- collecting data and reporting findings
- clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
- deepening understanding through the application of a concept
- making and testing theories
- researching and seeking information
- taking and defending a position
- solving problems in a variety of ways.
A concept-driven curriculum
The subject-specific bodies of knowledge, concepts, and skills, together with the program of inquiry provide a comprehensive, well-balanced curriculum that requires students to reflect on their roles and responsibilities and to participate fully in the learning process. The concepts help the teacher to make the learning coherent and the learning environment a provocative place, where the students’ points of view, supported by knowledge, skill, reflection and understanding, are both valued and built upon.
Both the traditional subject areas and the transdisciplinary themes provide focuses for students’ inquiry. These inquiries allow students to acquire and apply a set of transdisciplinary skills: social skills, communication skills, thinking skills, research skills, and self-management skills. These skills are relevant to all learning, formal and informal, that goes on in the school, and in events experienced beyond its boundaries.
As well as presenting schools with a philosophical perspective on what international education may be, the IB prescribes a curriculum framework of essential elements:
Knowledge
Concepts
Skills
Attitudes
