Aspirations and tensions in developing international mindedness: case study of two students in an IB school in an Indian Ocean Island Nation

International mindedness is considered by many educational researchers and organizations as a determining feature in international education. This article used data as part of a PhD case study inquiry to explore how international mindedness is developed by two students in an IB school in an Indian Ocean Island Nation. Through a qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm, it provides insights into the complexities of the students' development of international mindedness through the following questions: Why do the students aspire to develop international mindedness? What are the tensions they experience in developing it through the theory of knowledge programme in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)? Using socio-cultural frameworks, the article discusses theories on knowledge development, identity and post-colonialism. Data were collected through a survey, journal entries and interviews. The analysis was conducted using theoretical sampling, categorization and coding. The findings revealed that students' cultural backgrounds and identities are critical factors determining their sense of engagement with the development of international mindedness in the IBDP. They indicated also that the Diploma Programme (DP) knowledge content needs to be carefully addressed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) host school, which also must consider the socio-cultural and historical factors of the country in which it is found, in negotiating a locally meaningful implementation of the IB's international mindedness.     

Student perceptions of successful learning support for an international high school programme: a comparative case study in Turkey

Abstract

This study used comparative case study methodology to investigate student perceptions of different programmes that prepare them for a challenging high school education programme: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Given the benefits and challenges of the programme, educators and stakeholders want to ensure students feel ready to participate. In the literature, studies support that programmes such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s Middle Years Programme prepare students for the IBDP; however, there is a need for students’ voices on how they perceive they are prepared through these programmes. This study investigated three different approaches to IBDP preparation by gaining student insights through a scaled-item questionnaire and interviews. Students identified experiences that gave them skills to monitor their learning and resources that motivated them to participate in an advanced upper-high school programme.     

The International Baccalaureate in England and Wales: the alternative paths for the future

The year 2007 was a significant one for the International Baccalaureate (IB) in England and Wales. Several milestones were reached, and the number of schools offering the curriculum reached one hundred. This article charts the growth and development in England and Wales of this continuum of international education and shows how the Diploma Programme, in particular, has reached a fundamental crossroads. On the one hand, the IB looks set for further growth and has the ability to be an influential and respected catalyst for the movement towards international education in curriculum development. On the other hand, the IB is emerging as an elite programme of study alongside other ‘baccalaureate’ curricula and in competition to A level, and other ‘Diploma’ developments. The ability of the IB to be a divisive force is explored.     

Some sources for the history of educational periodicals in England

ABSTRACT

This paper challenges a foundational conjecture of the Religion in Education Dialogue or Conflict (REDCo) project, that increased interest in religion in public and political life as manifested particularly in education is evidence of counter-secularisation. The paper argues that rather than representing counter-secularisation, such developments represent an emergent and secularising European civil religion facilitated through European religious education.     

The International Baccalaureate in Australia: trends and issues

The presence of International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes in Australia has grown significantly over the past decade. Despite this, little critical research exists on the IB in Australia. This article provides an analysis of the IB currently in Australia, outlining the trends in growth across the various IB programmes over the last decade and compares this to international trends, including those of the Asia-Pacific region in which Australia is located. This profile is then contrasted against the profile of research that has been conducted into the IB in Australia during this same period. A discrepancy is apparent between implementation of the IB and critical analysis of that implementation. Much of IB practice in Australia therefore remains unresearched. Suggestions for future research to address this discrepancy are offered.     

A review of curriculum in the UK: internationalising in a changing context

The present article focuses on the growing emphasis on international dimensions of the curriculum in the UK. Educators and policymakers increasingly grapple with the thorny issue of how best to prepare future generations for life in a world changing so rapidly that no-one is able to predict precisely what knowledge and skills will be relevant for the adult of tomorrow. Overlapping with debate relating to the national context is that pertaining to the global environment, which manifests itself in current educational discourse relating to a growing number of concepts such as global citizenship education, international education, development education, world studies, and education for international understanding. Beginning with consideration of the curriculum context, this article highlights the growing number of international curriculum programmes being developed and offered worldwide, and in the UK in particular, before considering some of the reasons behind this growth and the implications of increased interest in programmes with an international focus.     

The dearth of international Baccalaureate schools across Africa

The Geneva-registered International Baccalaureate (IB) celebrated its 50^th anniversary as an organisational entity in 2014, having first appeared in 1964 as the International Schools Examination Syndicate. In January 2015 the 5,000^th programme had appeared at a school in Albania. The IB, now offering four programmes, has moved significantly over recent years into state funded schooling, especially in the United States, and Ecuador. At the same time there has been no significant growth in Africa where the operational paradigm remains largely unchanged since the 1980s. The 76 schools in 25 countries located across the continent of Africa in mid-2015 accounted for just 1.8 per cent of all schools worldwide. Twelve countries in Africa had a solitary ‘international school’ offering the IB programmes. This paper is the first to address this situation. This article reveals the growth and extent of IB activity across Africa, and offers possible reasons for the ongoing dearth of schools.     

Democratic science teaching: A role for the history of science

For John Dewey, democracy meant the opportunity and the ability to participate in the continuing conversation of the community. To participate effectively, education must free the intelligence to creatively reconstruct the community. Dewey traced logic back to its etymological roots in dialogue. The history of science is the history of a conversation of an international community. To participate in it effectively, students must free their intelligence. Logically, this is best done by creative and disciplined democratic classroom dialogue instead of the monologue common to so many schools. We recommend a dialogical model of science teaching.     

Integrating the epistemic and ontological aspects of content knowledge in science teaching and learning

A study has been made of how physics problems are attempted by school and by university students, in both examination and tutorial situations. The performance of the students is interpreted within the framework of a psychological model of learning which incorporates working memory capacity and disembedding ability. The implications of the results for teaching and for setting problems is emphasized, in that the same question in different forms may be testing different skills.     

形成历史概念是全面完成历史教学任务的基本保证

形成历史概念对于全面完成中学历史教学三项任务具有极为重要的作用.形成历史概念是落实历史基础知识教学的关键,是深化思想教育的重要手段,是开发和培养学生智能的基本途径.     

中学国际理解教育实践探索——基于“联合国教科文组织联系学校项目网络”的分析

国际理解已成为学生发展核心素养要素之一,近年来,国际理解教育也越来越受到中小学关注。联合国教科文组织联系学校项目网络承担着"和平导航员"的教育使命,是以促进国际间相互理解为宗旨的分布最广泛的学校网络。近20年来,人大附中作为此项目成员学校,秉承"全球视野、本土行动"准则,探索适合本校实际的国际理解教育实施模式,努力践行联合国教科文组织理念并初见成效。     

英国历史教学中的史料教学

本文介绍和分析了英国历史教学中史料教学的基本模式,这种教学模式有利于培养学生的历史思维能力和探究精神,值得我们加以学习和借鉴.     

历史教学改革的几点思考

历史教学要达到提高素质的目的,应做到课堂教学与学生自学,研究现状、现实社会和原始资料相结合;只有这样,才能充分发挥师生的创造力,提高学生素质,培养出具有良好道德心态的高素质人才。     

Beyond the Classroom: A Framework for Growing School Capacity in a Digital Age

Abstract

Rapid technological advancements promise unprecedented educational opportunities to foster student-centered and personalized learning, yet many schools are underprepared, lacking comprehensive organizational strategies for technology enhanced learning. This study sought to provide a framework to guide K-12 school leaders to build and evaluate digital-age school capacity by identifying essential criteria for digital learning in schools, resulting in the development of the Digital Learning Implementation Framework for Education (D-LIFE). Geographically dispersed digital learning experts contributed to a six-round Delphi study gaining consensus on 148 essential criteria for school administrators and policymakers to appraise strategic evaluation of technology implementation. When compared to prominent frameworks, D-LIFE confirmed high-level alignment with ISTE Essential Conditions, providing a comprehensive evaluation framework for K–12 schooling not addressed in prominent standards or frameworks.     

论中学历史课堂教学中创新能力的培养

创新教育是素质教育的核心内容 ,课堂教学是实施素质教育的主渠道。中学历史课堂教学可以通过激发创新兴趣、创设问题情景、培养质疑释疑能力、培养发散思维、营造民主氛围、开拓学习空间、改革评价方式等方式来培养、提高学生的创新能力 ,促进学生全面发展。     

对近代中国旅游史研究的回顾与反思

近年来我国近代旅游史研究取得了喜人的成绩,主要表现在国内旅游和国际旅游两个方面。其中对国内旅游的研究包括整体性、区域性等研究,国际旅游活动的研究多从境内和境外着手。至于研究中存在的不足之处,体现在研究内容、方法、理论等方面。只有在这几方面都有相当改观的前提下,该领域的研究才能达到一个较高的水平。     

All against all competition: the incorporation of the International Baccalaureate in public high schools in Canada

ABSTRACT

Since the 1980s, education in Canada has been through a process that led to school choice, targeting the improvement of students’ performance through school competition. These policies fostering an education quasi-market became an ideal framework for the expansion of IB schools. Since the Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate (IBDP) offers a differentiated international curriculum and is perceived as a program that contributes to students’ achievements, it has been increasingly adopted in school districts and schools. This paper explores the marketing strategies developed in schools and districts in response to school competition by tracing the incorporation of the IBDP in high schools in different districts in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Based on interviews with school staff, district officials and IB local association representatives, this study analyzes schools’ marketing decisions from a consumer and producer orientation taking into account the macro environment (federal government) and micro-environment (provincial government and districts). Rather than fostering efficiency and improving students’ achievement as intended, marketization policies resulted in an increased focus on the recruitment of high achieving students, which led to a competition between schools, between districts and between other programs in the districts or in other words –an ‘all against all’ competition.     

The appeal of the International Baccalaureate in Australia's educational market: a curriculum of choice for mobile futures

In Australia there is growing interest in a national curriculum to replace the variety of matriculation credentials managed by State Education departments, ostensibly to address increasing population mobility. Meanwhile, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is attracting increasing interest and enrolments in State and private schools in Australia, and has been considered as one possible model for a proposed Australian Certificate of Education. This paper will review the construction of this curriculum in Australian public discourse as an alternative frame for producing citizens, and ask why this design appeals now, to whom, and how the phenomenon of its growing appeal might inform national curricular debates. The IB's emergence is understood with reference to the larger context of neo-liberal marketisation policies, neo-conservative claims on the curriculum and middle-class strategy. The paper draws on public domain documents from the International Baccalaureate Organisation and newspaper reportage to demonstrate how the IB is constructed for public consumption in Australia.