Tried and tested
Designed to give students a world-class education and the confidence to question assumptions, the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum is steadily winning converts. Available to schools in three discrete programmes for primary, middle-years and diploma-level pupils, the number of programme requests - a first formal step in the process of assessment, teacher training and accreditation - is growing at roughly 20 per cent a year in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the latest count, 23 schools in Hong Kong had adopted the curriculum at one or more levels. The diploma programme (DP) for students aged 16 to 18, already adopted by 14 schools, is proving the most popular and, since 2007, has replaced the previous A-levels within the English Schools Foundation (ESF) system.
'We are lucky that we don't have to do much marketing,' said Singapore-based Siva Kumari, regional director for IB Asia-Pacific, which oversees standards and supports every aspect of implementation. 'There is an ever-increasing demand spread by word of mouth. Our model, as an international non-profit, is that schools come to us and we respond to them, but obviously we have an interest in being in places we have not been before.'
She feels that the strengths of the DP, in particular, are time-tested and internationally recognised.
It gives students a 'portable' qualification, consistent in different countries and accepted by universities around the world. It also encourages study across a wider range of disciplines than most national curriculums and makes participation in community-based activities a requirement.
Essentially, all DP students have to take one subject from each of the six designated groups: language, individuals and societies, mathematics and computer science, the arts, experimental sciences and a second language. Usually, three of the six subjects are studied at a higher level, the others at standard level. The difference generally comes down to the volume of material covered rather than the academic quality.
Besides that, students must complete an extended essay of about 4,000 words, in the style of a university paper, suitably researched and referenced. They take a course in the theory of knowledge, designed to make them challenge concepts and ideas, not just absorb facts. And they have to play a full and active part in a creativity, action, service programme that may see them volunteering with a non-governmental organisation such as Crossroads or Age Concern or, conceivably, shovelling cement alongside workers building a kindergarten in Cambodia.
'We make sure that rigorous standards are maintained and are not determined by governments or school boards,' Kumari said.
The main curriculum can be taught in English, French or Spanish.
Any school interested in signing up goes through a detailed series of introductory workshops, authorisation visits and evaluations. Assuming no obstacles are encountered, this is followed by a period of teacher training and consultation on student assessment.
'The biggest thing is to change teachers' orientation from injecting what they know into students,' Kumari said. 'Instead, they need to see students as going through a process of discovery, helping them to understand how they know and to articulate.
'We do ask for a fundamental shift in approach when a school becomes an IB school to get a teaching approach that is more focused on the student than a state system, takes multiple points of assessment and creates interdisciplinary connections.'
Chris Durbin, education adviser for secondary schools at ESF, has more experience than most in dealing with each stage of the process. Between 2004 and 2007, he oversaw a switch from A-levels to the IB diploma programme, which the seven local ESF schools now teach, and feels sure it was the right move.
In his view, the usual A-level focus on just three subjects didn't give enough general preparation for moving on to university or provide sufficient all-round challenges. He said it was important for youngsters to use their strengths, but also to keep learning and develop in other areas. In practical terms, this means that if someone changes their mind about what to study at university, more options are open to them.
'It helps to learn what you are good and what you are not good at,' Durbin said. 'Also, the ESF has internationally minded young people and the IB curriculum comes from that perspective.'
He noted that the results achieved by the first full DP 'cohort' of roughly 760 students leaving school in mid-2009 were well above world averages. In summary, 67 per cent scored more than 30 IB points - a standard for entrance to top universities around the world - and 92.7 per cent achieved the pass rate of 24 points.
The bigger picture shows no dramatic shift in the number of students going on to university or in the destinations chosen. Leading overseas institutions now indicate the number of IB points required for each course. While American universities still rely on SAT scores, they generally regard IB-qualified applicants highly.
