Planning mobile futures: the border artistry of International Baccalaureate Diploma choosers

This paper reports on a study of students choosing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma over state‐based curricula in Australian schools. The IB Diploma was initially designed as a matriculation certificate to facilitate international mobility. While first envisaged as a lifestyle agenda for cultural elites, such mobility is now widespread with more people living ‘beyond the nation’ through choice or circumstance. Beck and others highlight how the capacity to cross national borders offers a competitive edge with which to strategically pursue economic and cultural capital. Beck’s ‘border artistes’ are those who use national borders to their individual advantage through reflexive strategy. The study explored the rationales and strategy behind the choice of the IB Diploma curriculum expressed by students in a focus group interview and an online survey. This paper reports on their imagined transnational routes and mobile orientations, and how a localised curriculum limits their imagined mobile futures.     

Making a point of difference: the glocalised ecology of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in Australian schools

The International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) is an independent, globally available curriculum currently enjoying rapid uptake in government systems as an alternative curriculum. This paper explores the logic of its consumption in three case study schools across different states of Australia, and the relational ‘points of difference’ it creates in each local context and its curricular market. The analysis uses a typology of goods to describe the nature and dynamics of the IBD's glocalised ecology in each site. The conclusion argues that the success of the IBD as a curricular alternative risks eroding its appeal as a positional good.     

美国国际文凭项目述评

国际文凭组织是一个国际性的教育组织,它通过成员学校向高中生开设内容丰富的文理科选修课程和大学预科课程。在课程设置和学习评价上以学生为本,针对不同动机和能力学生的培养模式的多样化,体现了现代国际教育发展的趋势和要求。     

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.     

Teacher and Student Perceptions of the International Baccalaureate Program

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions of teachers and students during the first year of implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program at a high school. The research team interviewed all IB teachers and students regarding their decision to teach/enroll in IB; how IB differed from teaching/taking regular courses; and other facets related to the Program. IB faculty and students perceived the Program positively, believing it challenged them to be better teachers and higher achieving students. The study also cited the increased workload of teaching/taking IB courses and its impact. Policy recommendations are offered for schools utilizing the IB for the first time, and guidance is provided to parents regarding the suitability of IB as an option for gifted students.     

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.     

The rise and decline of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the United Kingdom

The three main programmes of the Geneva-registered International Baccalaureate (IB) have grown substantially worldwide over the past decade, although the programmes have found a natural ‘home’ in the United States. This paper charts the growth of the IB in the United Kingdom (UK) revealing that involvement there, mainly in England and mainly with the original pre-university Diploma Programme (IBDP), peaked at about 230 schools in 2010, but since then the IBDP has begun suddenly to decline. Yet, in no other country has there been a fall in IBDP provision. This paper offers some key explanations for this phenomenon, where a lack of funding and continued lack of university recognition in the face of Advanced Level (A-Level) reform and numerous ‘baccalaureate’ developments has led to many state-funded schools in particular dropping the IBDP. Thirdly, this paper discusses a number of implications, both for the IB itself and education in the UK in general.     

The International Baccalaureate Career Programme: a case study of college and career readiness policy goals

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is noted in school reform policy circles as the gold standard of academic excellence. While the presence of IB as a sought-after education vendor has grown in the past decade, the organization has attempted to shake off its image as an elite agency serving only private international schools with its longstanding liberal arts curriculum. As such its turn toward the public sector in the United States with a credential for vocational students appears perplexing and out of step with its product brand, but the newer Career Programme (CP) is marketed as meeting the needs of applied learners in secondary schools. This paper offers a case study of two schools in one US state that adopted the CP, generating IB school enrollments from among talented vocational students while elevating its ranking on the college and career readiness (CCR) score, an annual assessment of postsecondary success. The CCR policy reformers advocate curricular improvements so that all students receive the academic foundations and employability skills needed to thrive in the new economy. Yet the egalitarian discourse of CCR could not be attended to using the CP. In this case study only high-achieving students were advised to participate and enroll in the program.     

Struggling for recognition: access to higher education through the International Baccalaureate

The recognition of the DP (diploma programme) for university admission is crucial for the development of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools and the expansion of the IB network worldwide. In an era of higher education (HE) massification, accompanied by high failure and dropout rates, intense debates on access to HE are taking place in many countries. It is within this context that the IB organization struggles for the recognition of the DP for admission to universities throughout the world. Through a global comparative approach, this study analyzes the ‘DP-HE admission’ assemblages in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Spain and the United States. Based on interviews with senior IB officials and principals at the head of IB schools associations, this study intends to understand the way the IB network fosters the recognition of the DP for HE admission. The recruitment of new allies to the IB network includes a myriad of negotiations and translations whose results are unpredictable. In Argentina, Chile and Spain, the efforts for DP recognition failed but in Canada and the United States, the DP-HE admission assemblage shows that by translating the skills acquired by DP students as a way to improve retention rates at universities increased their support of IB programs.     

A measure of human rights competence in students enrolled on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

This article presents findings from a larger multiple methods study that explores the levels of adherence and experiences students have of the International Baccalaureate Organization human rights ideals in different school contexts. A three-component model of human rights competence, incorporating identification with all humanity, ethno-cultural empathy, and positive attitudes to human rights, is presented and tested. The findings reveal that identification with all humanity, ethno-cultural empathy, and positive attitudes towards human-rights-promoting values and behaviour act as prerequisites for the intention to act, and for human rights competence. The level of human rights competence can indicate the level of adherence students have to the human rights ideals of the International Baccalaureate Organization.     

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.     

School competition and performance indicators: evidence from the creation of federal education institutions in Brazil

The expansion of the Federal Institute of Education is characterized as an exogenous source of competition in Brazil. This research studies the effect of the Federal Institutes’ creation on the performance of the other public schools in the benefited municipalities. The methodological approach is the Propensity Score Matching combined with the generalized difference in differences method. The results show a significant and negative impact on the pass rate of students who remain in the state public educational system and a positive impact in the fail rate. The policy of expansion of the Federal Institutes may lead to a cream skimming process.     

Development and validation of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile Questionnaire (IBLPQ)

The Learner Profile (LP) frames International Baccalaureate (IB) learning outcomes across the three programme levels and, as such, plays a key role in measuring the success of the rapidly growing number of IB schools in the Asia-Pacific Region. Our aim was to develop an instrument to measure the IBLP and validate the instrument through a series of psychometric procedures. Results showed solid construct validity and measurement reliability, alongside content validity from our Delphi studies and cross-validation with different samples. Given the growing number of IB schools in the Asia-Pacific, we believe that the development of the IBLP questionnaire (IBLPQ) contributes to the international research community and educators interested in exploring the relationship between student outcomes and the LP. Importantly, given the current absence of systematically designed and tested survey instruments to measure the LP, we expect the IBLPQ will become a key initial resource for a wide range of stakeholders.     

Predictors of adaptive help seeking across ninth‐grade students enrolled in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses

This study explored how adaptive help seeking was related to academic self‐efficacy, perfectionism (maladaptive and adaptive), attitudes toward help seeking (perceived benefits and perceived threats), and teacher emotional support among 311 grade 9 students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. Significant bivariate links emerged between adaptive help seeking and all six potential correlates. Regression analyses indicated that teacher emotional support, adaptive perfectionism (high personal standards), and perceived benefits were significant, positive predictors of adaptive help seeking. Gender also was a significant predictor, as boys had lower levels of adaptive help seeking compared with girls. Furthermore, gender moderated the association between perceived benefits and adaptive help‐seeking; perceived benefits were particularly highly associated with boys’ adaptive help seeking from classroom teachers. Strategies for explicating the benefits of adaptive help seeking, promoting adaptive perfectionism, and fostering teacher emotional support are provided, as well as limitations and future directions for research.     

Shopping for schools or shopping for peers: public schools and catchment area segregation

Market theory positions the consumer as a rational choice actor, making informed schooling choices on the basis of ‘hard’ evidence of relative school effectiveness. Yet there are concerns that parents simply choose schools based on socio-demographic characteristics, thus leading to greater social segregation and undercutting the potential of choice to drive quality improvements. In this paper, we explore segregation by examining catchment areas for a range of public high schools in a specific middle-class urban area. We focus on socio-demographic characteristics, including levels of income, country of birth and religion affiliation, in order to explore residential segregation according to public high school catchment areas. Our data suggest distinct residential segregation between catchment areas for each public school within our data-set, particularly for the schools deemed to be popular and rejected, that may pose risks for broader equity concerns. We argue that, in contrast to market theory, even more affluent and active choosers are not equipped with information on the programmatic quality of their different school options, but instead may be relying on socio-demographic characteristics of schools – through surrogate information about the urban spaces that the schools occupy – in order to choose peer groups, if not programmes, for their children.     

Conflicting Agendas: Critical Thinking versus Science Education in the International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge Course

The article investigates the Theory of Knowledge course of the International Baccalaureate Organization. After a short overview of the aims and objectives of the course, the assessment criteria and a popular textbook are investigated. Shortcomings concerning the treatment of the natural sciences are highlighted and the problem is generalised to courses or curricula that aim to reconcile agendas focusing on critical thinking and philosophical analysis on the one hand and traditional science subject-agendas on the other. The article argues that these problems also surface in the actual teaching practice and their implications for the curricula need to be taken more seriously. Three possible alternatives to overcome these problems are outlined. The first is based on novel work in history and philosophy of science, the second on general theories of argumentation, and the third on systematic exploration of student interests and stakes.     

The relative effectiveness of private and public schools: evidence from Kenya

ABSTRACT

This paper estimates the relative effectiveness of private and public primary schools in Kenya using data from 4,433 Grade 6 schoolchildren. Using ordinary least squares as a baseline model, we use the proportion of private schools in a district as an instrument in a Heckman two-stage correction framework, as well as propensity score matching models to correct for selection bias. There is a positive private school effect across all models. In the corrected models, we find that private school pupils outperform their public school counterparts by between .24 and .52 standard deviations.     

Continuous improvement in schools: Understanding the practice

This article investigates conceptually and practically what it means for schools to engage in the practice of continuous improvement. The analysis draws upon prior research and discussion to predict core elements of the practice of continuous improvement in schools. The predictions are then applied to a case study of continuous improvement efforts in a Pakistani secondary school that was involved in a 10-year school–university school improvement partnership. The article concludes with a set of eight empirically based propositions about the practice of continuous improvement schools.     

International education as a novel entity in a public education system: the establishment of a new public international school in Israel

Abstract

This study traces the founding process of Eastern Mediterranean International School (EMIS) by analysing the motivations and interests of different stakeholders involved in the establishment process. In this novel initiative students from Palestine, Israel, and other countries study within the Israeli public school system towards an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with founders, educators, Ministry of Education officials, a parents’ survey, and content analysis of related documents, the authors show how the school was established and approved despite the supposedly contradicting hegemonic discourse of the official Israeli policy. They conclude by suggesting some implications for scholars and policy-makers.     

International education: the transformative potential of experiential learning

Academic outcomes of post-16 education can be understood in terms of their value for gaining access to university and, at a time when global educational mobility is growing, internationally recognised university entrance qualifications may be considered a form of personal capital. However, narrowly measured outcomes may not reflect the breadth of the school experience nor the extent to which this breadth contributes to the development of the young person. One curriculum which aims to prepare students in ways that extend beyond the academic is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, which incorporates an experiential element at its core. Creativity, Activity, Service attaches a transformative purpose to education, where students’ experiences in each of the three strands can support personal learning that is not confined to subject areas of an academic curriculum. This paper describes the evolution of CAS in the academically rigorous Diploma Programme and presents the findings from a review of literature which contribute towards developing an understanding of the transformative potential of this component.