International Baccalaureate

The IB program is made up of an academic curriculum with interdisciplinary themes:

  • The curriculum is described as providing a rigorous education. Rigor pertains to the readings, writings, and research expected of the students. IB students work hard. The IB has five major discipline groups: literature, two languages, individuals and societies, experimental sciences, and mathematics.  Additional coursework includes: Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, and CAS (Creativity, Action, Service).
  • Several underlying principles/themes permeate the curriculum – themes that teach the attitudes, values, and worldview supported by IB.                                                                                                                                                    

As stated by the current Deputy Director General of the IBO, Ian Hill                                                  

“ We [IBO] are concerned with forming attitudes and values.” “An international education must go well beyond the provision of information and is involved in the development of attitudes and values which transcend barriers of race, class, religion, gender, and politics.”   (Emphasis Added)

The sum of the International Baccalaureate parts is more than the IB curriculum. To fully understand the IB, close ties to the U.N. and UNESCO, the Earth Charter, and Respect Life and the Environment must be reviewed.

The following information explores the scope of the IB program.

To read more about the International Baccalaureate

in the March/April 2006 Education Advocate,

click here.

 

CEO COMMENTARY

CEO has drawn conclusions based on extensive research.  Click here to read the CEO Commentary.  And please continue through this web page to gain a full understanding of the controversial IB program.

 

IBO WEBSITE

Basic information on the primary years, middle years, and diploma programs is provided. It is interesting to note that many of the IB goals are non-academic and involve development of specific attitudes and beliefs.  Click here for the IBO website.

 

SAMPLE IBO TEST QUESTION - Click here.

 

AFFILIATED GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

  •   United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

    As an arm of the United Nations, UNESCO was a founding contributor for the development of the IBO in 1968. This tie was reasserted in 1996, when UNESCO and IB formed a partnership for a “curriculum framework for peace education.” Both advocate an education program that provides the values and attitudes that lead to acceptance of global governance. Click here for the UNESCO website.

  •    U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Declaration, written by the U.N. in 1948, reflects the post WW II climate.  The rights enumerated for all people are closely aligned with America’s Bill of Rights and other democratic documents. However, there are some troublesome deviations.

•  Article 26 (2): “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace .” (Emphasis added)

•  Article 29 (3): “These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” (Emphasis added)

The U.N., even 40 years ago, saw itself as being the “surpranational” world leader with powers greater than the individual member nations.

To read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, click here.

  •    Earth Charter  

    • The tie between the Earth Charter and IB is clear.

    • The IB website states, as a fact, “The IBO also promotes the Earth Charter.”
    • Steven C. Rockefeller, Co-Chair of the EC Steering Committee, announced in 2001 that, “The Earth Charter has been endorsed by…the International Baccalaureate Organization.”

    To read more, click here.

  •    Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE)

This is the "secretariat" or ruling body of the Earth Charter Initiative in the U.S. By any measure, CRLE is an extreme group that fosters “earth ethics grounded in an appreciation of sentience and spiritual depth of all living beings.” This statement equates the importance of man with animals. Their goal is creation of a sustainable world with animal, agricultural, and environmental protections. To read more, click here.

Thomas Berry, the founder of CRLE, is lauded on the CRLE website as follows: "Berry has described contemporary alienation as especially pervasive due to the power of the technological trance, the myth of progress, and our own autism in relation to nature. With the New Story and the Dream of the Earth, Berry hopes to overcome this alienation and evoke the energies needed to create a viable and sustainable future. This effort to create a new basis for human-earth relations he is calling the Great Work."  (Emphasis added)

To read more, click here.

 

WRITINGS ABOUT IB

  •    George Walker, IB Director General, stated in September 2005:  "Much of what we (IBO) do is not truly international, it has been developed from a very influential Western humanist tradition of learning."  He continues by identifying the three elements of a school curriculum:

    1. compulsory part of learning that everyone learns

    2. extra-curricular oart which is voluntary

    3. "hidden curriculum, the informal but influential rules, beliefs and attitudes        that determine the transmission of norms and values."

    To read George Walker's speech, click here.

  •     Ian Hill, current Deputy Director General of IBO, Curriculum Development and Ethics in 

    International Education

    • For a synopsis of this very important document, click here.

    For the article, click here.

  •    Carl Teichrib, Social Engineering for Global Change   Click here.

 

PROGRESSIVE / CONSTRUCTIVIST EDUCATION

IB is promoted as"inquiry-based" with teachers acting as facilitators.  This education style is known as progressive or constructivist.

There are two divergent education philosophies used in classrooms today: traditionalist and progressive.

Traditionalists believe that children should be given a strong foundation, rich in academic content, in a structured environment by teachers trained in their disciplines. Important, relevant facts should be learned and memorized so they become the foundation for high-level thinking and problem solving.

In contrast, progressives believe that children are capable of directing their own learning given the proper guidance, stimulation, and learning environment. Student failure is often blamed on social structures and traditional classroom practices that they say surpass the natural inclinations of a child toward thinking.

To view a chart comparing the two philosophies, click here.

 

WORLDVIEWS

Much local discussion has focused on "worldviews" or belief systems of certain groups of people.  To view a worldview chart that may be helpful in evaluating components of the IB program, click here. 

 

 More information will be added as CEO's research continues.

 

 

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