IB Updates
In October of 2019, the IB released an update to their guide for this course (just as a heads up, the copyright page reads August 2019). And in November of 2019, the IB published a Frequently Asked Questions document to help teachers navigate the new course. As with everything IB, you can find their official documents on My IB and you can access My IB by asking your IB Coordinator for login details.
Since it’s early December, and you are most likely in the thick of it all with teaching, planning, grading, report writing and more, you might not have had the time to stay up-to-date with everything that has been happening. Remember, InThinking is not the IB, but we are here to help you out, promptly answer your questions, and provide you what you need when you need it! Here’s a quick run-down of the updates and changes in modified and shortened form.
1. Bodies of work: The IB has provided some more clarification about bodies of work. For something to be considered a “body of work,” it must be the same text type and come from the same author (when this can be identified). There’s more to it, but that’s a good first start! And no author on the PRL can be used for a non-literary body of work (see #4).
2. The Individual oral: This is a biggie! And there is now a lot of clarification, even if that causes a bit more confusion.
a. Outline form – the IB has produced one.You can find it on My IB.
b. Mock IOs – be very careful!The FAQ document says “any combinations of texts and global issues used for practice will not be available for any student for the real individual oral.”
c. EQUAL balance – This is a huge clarification! The document states “There should therefore be a balance between the time spent discussing both [the extract and the literary work/body of work as a whole]: approximately the same amount of time should be spent discussing the presence of the global issue in each.” Does that mean a 1 minute introduction, 2 minutes focusing on the extract from the literary work, 2 minutes about the entire literary work, 2 minutes about an extract from the non-literary extract, 2 minutes from the body of work, and 1 minute conclusion, all of this in connection to the global issue? Yes and no. It depends on the argument and the structure the student takes, and so it’s impossible to time it perfectly, but there is an expectation for balance between the extract and the larger non-fiction body of work (and the same is true for the extract and the rest of the literary work). So, this "proposed" structure - and I HATE PROPOSING A STRUCTURE FOR STUDENTS - might be how we have to proceed.
d. Extract selection – the extract must be continuous text. A student cannot use ellipses to jump around or skip a section.
e. Guidance – The IB FAQ document states “After the outline form has been returned to the student with feedback, teachers cannot provide any more support or guidance.” So, help students out early and often to clarify their thinking, but do not help them out once you’ve commented on their outline.
3. Non-literary texts versus literary works: If the author is listed on the PRL, you cannot study their prose other than fiction (i.e. non-literary texts). The IB considers anything written by that author to be literary. That’s the rule, whether we agree with it or not. If the author isn’t on the PRL, we are allowed to use our professional judgment whether to classify it as a literary work or a non-literary text (a memoir, for example).
4. Works studied form: It must be completed and signed by you and the student. The IB won’t request it unless it’s necessary. They suggest you keep it in the Learner Portfolio. I think it’s too important of a document to hand over to the student. I’ll be having my students complete it in March or April of year 2 and I will keep it on file (along with links to their electronic learner portfolios).
5. Paper 1: The FAQ document states “One of these texts will be predominantly or exclusively visual.” Make sure students are prepared for visual texts, especially since there is no choice at Higher Level.
6. The Higher Level Essay: Page 43 of the guide now states that “In the case of short non-literary texts, it may be necessary for the candidate to use more than one from the same body of work by the same authorship, for example the same creative advertising agency, cartoonist, photographer or social media user. In this instance, at least one of the texts must be studied in class.” That means the others can be studied outside of class. As well, if you are working wtih poetry, short stories, or short non-literary texts, 2-4 of them will most likely need to be used for the HLE to show a (more) complete understanding of the work or body of work.
7. Assessment criteria: The IB has updated the assessment criteria. The individual oral and the higher level essay now explicitly mention “bodies of work” instead of previously just “text.” Know that bodies of work matter and are explicitly assessed in the IO (see 2c) and potentially in the HLE.
That’s it from me for now. As always, we look forward to hearing from you and working you through all that is the new syllabus!
Best,
Tim