The IB Mission
IB Mission Statement
This page reminds us of the significance of the IB's mission statement and how it should be an important determinant in the design and delivery of what we do as IB educators. The fact that learner profile attributes, namely "knowledgeable", "caring", and "inquiring" (inquirers) are mentioned directly here emphasises the value of the type of learners that we aim to nurture. Producing lifelong learners who appreciate a multitude of perspectives (open-minded) is also one of the essential objectives and should appear in our planning in equal measure.
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The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
To this end, the organization works with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate, and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
from the preface of The IBDP Music Subject Guide
One can read more about the Mission Statement here.
Photo by Andrew Butler on Unsplash
Many times both teachers and students are anxious to get on with the content. One may say, "Just tell me what I have to do so I can get on with it." Oftentimes, such an approach leads to frustration. It is therefore very important to set the stage and embark on the study with a firm foundation of the mission of the IB.
Students and their teachers must focus on the "why" more than the "what" of learning. Once these questions are addressed, the process becomes far more relevant and practical. Often fear of not being able to cover content comes up. Just the opposite should be argued. Once meaning and relevance are addressed, content is covered at an increasingly faster pace.
There are certain tools one should keep in mind when creating a culture of learning in the IB DP Course. Some of the ideas generated in this tab are not necessarily restricted to the IB. Countless music teachers have achieved success by integrating this practice into all of their music teaching, not just the IB.
Keys to success in the program include the practice and development of
- Learner Profile (LP),
- Journaling,
- Tools for Self-Guided Analysis,
- Inquiry,
- Finding Student Passion, AND
- Developing Student Trust.
For a full range of information on these areas, click on the highlighted section and you will be redirected.
It is essential that IBDP music teachers have access to this platform for updates/changes, teaching and learning materials, as well as discussion forums with other IB educators. Teachers should approach their IB Coordinators for access to the site, which requires a standard user name and PASSWORD. Once access has been granted, you have any number of portals in which to explore, depending on the IB roles that have been approved for you. This could, for example, consist of as many as the following:
Towards the end of your students' IB journey, you may wish to encourage your students to complete a reflection task that will give you some insight into how well your school's IB programme aligns with the objectives of the IB's mission statement.
Here is ONE such example of that reflection task that you may wish to use as it appears here OR develop it further to suit your individual purposes. It is essential that open and frank class discussions take place PRIOR to students completing this survey. Ideally, these discussions should take place before each of the questions.
Towards the end of your IB journey, it is important to reflect. These written tasks offers you the opportunity to reflect on how well the IB Mission Statement aligns with the experiences that you had and who you have become in the process.
Comment on how you view yourself as an inquirer.
Teacher: You may wish to have some preliminary discussions on this first to ensure that students fully comprehend the scope of the task.
Towards the end of your IB journey, it is important to reflect. These written tasks offers you the opportunity to reflect on how well the IB Mission Statement aligns with the experiences that you had and who you have become in the process.
Comment on how knowledgeable you believe you have become and how you feel you will use this knowledge in the future.
Teacher: Again, you may wish to share some of your own personal stories here and how the knowledge / skills that you acquired as a student have benefitted you today. Perhaps bring up the face that the definition of knowledge may not simply be related to subject content, but that in the core class of Theory of Knowledge that discussion there may have illuminate this further for them.
Towards the end of your IB journey, it is important to reflect. These written tasks offers you the opportunity to reflect on how well the IB Mission Statement aligns with the experiences that you had and who you have become in the process.
Comment on how your care has develop over the course of your IB journey. Would you say that this is as a direct result of your Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) work, or in more generic terms, gained from activities undertake in lessons?
Teacher: The teacher may wish to offer examples of how former graduates may have helped "to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect".
The IB Mission statements contains the following, "the organization...develop(s) challenging programmes of international education and rigourous assessment".
Comment on some of the challenges for you and whether you agree that the assessment process was, indeed, rigourous.
Teacher: Attempt to open up the discussion to all subjects and to what extent the assessment schedule / meeting deadlines was adhered. Besides time management, what were some of the other challenges faced, which may include language issues, lack of support, and even personal goals not being met?
What examples can you offer that illustrate that you intend to become an "active, compassionate and lifelong learner"? Was there something specific in the programme that develop this spark in you and what evidence can you offer that this is something that you will maintain?
Teacher: Evidence for a future promise can be difficult, but the teacher here may be able to frame the question more in terms of a mindset that has the opportunity of growth.
Can you offer a specific example from a lesson in which you were adamant that your opinion was right, but after hearing an alternative / conflicting perspective, you either changed your mind OR you realised that there was MORE to the argument that you had initially conceived.
Teacher: Encourge students to speech openly and freely on this issue and probe their recollections further to ensure that the examples offered equate with the portion of the mission statement that states, "students...who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right".
Towards the end of your IB journey, it is important to reflect. These written tasks offer you the opportunity to reflect on how well the IB Mission Statement aligns with the experiences that you had and who you have become in the process.
Images created by students at the Australian International School Saigon as part of a CAS project (read more HERE).
1. Comment on how you view yourself as an inquirer. STUDENT A:
The IB fosters a drive for curiosity and inquiry by putting students in a position to explore topics of interest. Constructed to give rise to passions, the IB advocates for independent research and exposes its students to a plethora of brand-new learning opportunities. After being given the opportunity to explore my interests at school, my enthusiasm for learning has transferred into opportunities outside of the classroom, where I can satiate my curiosity independently.
STUDENT B:
As someone who initially went to Vietnamese public schools, my learning back then was mostly confined to the books that I had. However, after 1 year doing the IGCSE and 2 years doing the IB diploma program, I realize that the way to learn is to do. A major stepping stone in my learning is when I realized the most valuable things I learn are not graded: the conversations I had with my English teacher about the Estonian Singing Revolution, how the Cold War changed the taste of Coke, and our favourite schools of philosophy will always remain fond memories I have of my treacherous time doing IB.
It is important to learn about the world, but for me, the final goal is not to learn about the world itself. It is through this process that you learn more about who you are and how you play a role in this ecosystem of ideas and innovations and about finding your community – your people – and your niche.
STUDENT C:
I continuously seek answers to questions beyond the required scope of knowledge. The IB has instigated course programs that offer a wide range of subject coverage, which pushes me to learn new concepts and thus opens my mind to the possibilities of inquiries with such expansive knowledge.
2. Comment on how knowledgeable you believe you have become and how you feel you will use this knowledge in the future.
STUDENT A:
The IB Diploma has strengthened an interdisciplinary educational foundation that will not only be beneficial in my intended area of study but has allowed me to become a versatile knower, allowing me to excel in any field I desire to go into. With this foundation, I can engage with a multitude of ideas, and become a world-class problem solver.
STUDENT B:
The reason why I chose IB over AP and a liberal arts education over national universities is my trust in its breadth of study. I don’t think life is a multiple-choice question but an open-ended one. You don’t have to be this OR that. You can and should be this AND that. For myself, pursuing a STEM major doesn’t mean I have to give up my love for creative writing and art. Knowing a little bit about everything, and everything about something will help your creativity wheel spin in unprecedented ways. Think of it as polyculture, the more variety you have, the better off you will be overall. The best ideas always come out of your industry anyway.
I hope to use the knowledge that I have to understand more about myself and spread my love of learning to others. While I’m not sure of how I want to use knowledge in the future, I hope to tell stories that matter because through stories we learn what matters most to us and take action.
STUDENT C:
The IB has covered vast spheres of content in all subjects I have taken. With this, my understanding of global systems and concepts - although challenging - has allowed me to bear broad subject knowledge in a multitude of areas. In effect, with university studies and beyond involving these practices and concepts, learning them at a high school level has suitably prepared me going forward.
3. Comment on how your care has developed over the course of your IB journey. Would you say that this is a direct result of your Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) work, or in more generic terms, gained from activities undertaken in lessons?
STUDENT A:
CAS and the Diploma Programme as a whole have broadened my awareness and engagement with global issues. The relevance of contemporary issues is integrated into our lessons, and CAS allows us to directly engage and make a difference. My experience with the IB as a whole has strengthened my empathy and respect for my community.
STUDENT B:
To be brutally honest, I have a love-hate relationship with CAS. I like to do good things but making something into a CAS partly takes away the meaning. It’s like you’re donating and you write your name in capitals instead of letting it be anonymous. I took a while to find a common ground and boundary that works for me and I think you should as well. There are things that I do that I choose not to count as CAS, and I’m glad I did so. The paradox about caring is we all know it’s something we ought to have, but measuring it quantitatively saps away its meaning.
Caring is something innate within all of us. You just have to surround yourself with people who also have a kind heart to let that kindness blossom. I like to think about it as a hybrid between respect and freedom: you have the freedom, but you also know its limits. Kindness also exists in the littlest things: you never know how much your hellos and goodbyes mean to your teachers and bus driver once you leave. We stay for the little things.
STUDENT C:
My care has elevated in completing numerous services for CAS. Knowing that working with charitable organisations will enable less fortunate people to better their well-being, I have begun to understand that all actions have consequences, even when it is not personally observed. Thus, my caring nature has improved through this aspect of the IB.
4. The IB Mission statement contains the following, "The organization...develop(s) challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment".
Comment on some of the challenges for you and whether you agree that the assessment process was, indeed, rigorous.
STUDENT A:
The diploma programme challenges students to promote independent learning — a necessary skill for adulthood and professional working life. The IB challenged my time-management skills and gave rise to self-discipline and independence as a result of it. I was also encouraged to be innovative with my approach to learning. We are given large research projects to complete, however, these projects are heavily curated to our preferences. Therefore, these experiences are self-driven, and we are rewarded for being innovative.
STUDENT B:
I agree with the truth that the assessments are rigorous intellectually. However, my challenges don’t come from the difficulty with the content itself but the learning classic how-to-write-this-and-earn-marks techniques. It differs for every subject. Some subjects’ syllabi really lack focus and it makes memorization a chore. It would help tremendously if IB could simplify its content to create a more coherent and focused syllabus.
However, I have to admit that it was thanks to the rigorous learning and testing that I gained a deeper understanding and acquired numerous meta-skills in my studies compared to my peers doing other programs. It is hard yet rewarding (in the end).
STUDENT C:
There were certainly challenges faced. Personally, the timing of IA and EE internal deadlines became critical to how well I completed the said assessments. With my subject choices, certain periods of the program because far more challenging in completing deadlines than others. With such variations in the required workload, I found that all assessment processes were indeed rigorous.
5. What examples can you offer that illustrate that you intend to become an "active, compassionate and lifelong learner"? Was there something specific in the programme that developed this spark in you and what evidence can you offer that this is something that you will maintain?
STUDENT A:
The Extended Essay was an experience that allowed me to take my passion to another level. I was able to develop an enriching comprehension of lyricism, and then integrate my own interpretations into my findings. This research project, along with the other IAs, turned me into an active, compassionate, and lifelong learner because of the fulfilment I receive from exploring my curiosity and developing my intellect.
STUDENT B:
One of the essay titles from UChicago contains a Japanese palindrome that goes “The world is a warm place.” Although I never applied to this school, coming across this quote somehow developed a spark in me. However, it is important to know that that warm place doesn’t just happen by itself, you have to develop your community of learners so that you feel safe for your growth and development as a person. Although I’m a book lover, my favourite way to learn is from life itself. I love to learn about people and their experiences, as it is through them that I find myself.
In order to develop this community, find people with the same or different interests and start talking. Find a mentor for your major and talk about what you can do with your degree as well as the learning opportunities that exist. Never go surface-level with networking, as the real magic is when you understand one another and have enough trust to talk about your vulnerabilities in life as well.
I also like to branch out to experts as well. This often happens when I find an interesting YouTube channel, I’d save their email to write them a letter in the future. It is easy to get disheartened when they don’t respond, but in years’ time when you look back at those letters, you will be glad that you did that, because that’s how you create yourself every day.
STUDENT C:
A major moment of inspiration was ignited through the CAS program, in which I completed my project entitled ‘Open-Mic,’ where I co-organised student performances at lunchtime. The way I proceeded to tackle demanding situations (such as not allowing certain students to perform for several reasons) was far more enjoyable than I anticipated. With this experience, I realised that organisation and management require critical thinking and fair judgment, and with this, I felt more of a leader and want to pursue this feeling of responsibility through active and compassionate means, learning through experience is what it means to lead by example.
6. Can you offer a specific example from a lesson in which you were adamant that your opinion was right, but after hearing an alternative/conflicting perspective, you either changed your mind OR you realised that there was MORE to the argument that you had initially conceived?
STUDENT A:
Open-mindedness and being attentive to other perspectives are necessary for a strong education, and the Theory of Knowledge is a prime resource for the development of critical thinking skills. I learned that an answer is very rarely ever complete, and is almost never close-ended. When exploring social media echo chambers in my TOK Essay, constant discussions with my teachers and peers then led me to issues of editorial racism in science, and the operation of think tanks. I then started arguing about if social media acted as a filter, or if it was simply a medium used to accelerate the formation of opinions. To this day, I am still unsure, but the thought will continue to intrigue me. That is what I found extremely compelling about contemporary education.
STUDENT B:
It happened over the course of a few lessons rather than just one lesson. During my English B journey, I had to read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut as supporting material for my IO. I hated the book and its mishmash storytelling. It took me a while to get used to it, and I had no idea why the author did that. Back then, literature was, to me, something that was supposed to have meaning, beauty and harmony as often seen in Vietnamese textbooks. I was used to learning stories that have predictable and logical outcomes, so when I was thrown into the loom of doomsdays I was deeply perplexed. However, as I reread the books countless times, its genius slowly seeped into my blood. I realize that through this narration style, Vonnegut recreates the mental state of PTSD patients and war survivors. Writing in chronological order also requires a higher calibre of craftsmanship to ensure the whole thing makes sense, so my admiration for the author has grown since then.
By learning to love Slaughterhouse Five and accepting that literature can be more than just beautiful things, I expanded my reading taste palette. Ever since the revelation, I’ve been reading books from new authors that I didn’t dare to try before: Haruki Murakami, Higashino Keigo, Chinua Achebe, Hergé and Dostoevsky. Their books cut deep into the dark alleys of humanity, mostly centred around suicide. By extending my amplitude on the dark end, my appreciation for light-hearted books also grew. It’s a win-win.
STUDENT C:
During English A Lang & Lit class, a key element we investigate is the perspective of the writer. There was a time when I believe a Rudyard Kipling text entitled ‘The White Man’s Burden’ was the writer's exhibition of their duty to assist the poor in their struggles. Whilst this was an accepted opinion, my mind changed when I heard that the poem could have been associated with underlying racist remarks and the overpowering of other races. I find that in most classes, my opinion is swayed by alternate viewpoints which encourages the growth of my own inherited societal perceptions.
With this, my understanding of global systems and concepts - although challenging - has allowed me to bear broad subject knowledge in a multitude of areas.
