International Baccalaureate - Thesis Proposal Example

International Baccalaureate: Living On As A Giant in the Educational Field Overview Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1968 by a group of talented teachers, the International Baccalaureate became a thriving educational foundation whose reach is rapidly spreading all over the world. It started as a single programme for internationally mobile students, mostly children of diplomats who needed preparation for university work. Now, it has grown into three programmes catering to students aged 3 to 19 years. Initially, the IB programme included a common pre-university curriculum along with a set of examinations for high school students of schools that seek to provide their students with an international education. The first IB member schools were predominantly private international schools and included only a very small number of private national institutions or state schools. As the years progressed, more and more schools have been authorized to offer one or more of the IB programmes and currently, over half of all IB World Schools are state schools (IBO.org, 2010). IB-trained teachers currently work with 2,823 schools in 138 countries to develop and offer three challenging programmes to over 778,000 students across all programmes (IBO.org, 2010). The phenomenal and rapid growth of IB schools worldwide stems from its idealistic mission to make students aware, accept, respect and celebrate cultures other than their own. This is highly significant in a globalized world. Its mission is eloquently worded as thus: “The International Baccalaureate Organization 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 IBO 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” (IBO, 2006) Such a programme not only fosters international understanding and appreciation of a variety of cultures but also encourages students to ask challenging questions, learn how to learn, develop a strong sense of their own identity and culture and develop the ability to communicate with and understand people from other countries and cultures (Cech, 2008). IB begins the broad-based learning process early, with the Primary years programme placing subjects in six contexts such as “Sharing the planet”, “Who we are” and “how the world works”. These subjects are inquiry-oriented and transdisciplinary. The Middle Years Programme includes “areas of Interaction” which are considered prisms through which to approach the disciplines. These areas of interaction include “approaches to learning,” “community and service,” “environment” and “social education,” around which courses in the humanities, mathematics and technology are constructed (Schacter, 2008). Students in the IB Diploma Programme are in their last two years of high school. They take a sequence of subject classes and a special Theory of Knowledge class, write a 4,000-word research paper, participate in 150 hours of Creativity, Action and Service, which propels them into extracurricular arts, sports and community service that supplements the IB programme. Three-fourths of their final grades go into their performance in three to five weeks of oral and written assessments. They finally earn their IB diploma upon scoring at least 24 of 42 points on exams across each of the six content groups. The six groups include their first language; one second language of their choice; individuals and societies including their history, economics, business and philosophy; experimental sciences such as biology, chemistry, physics and design technology; mathematics and computer sciences; and Arts and music (Cech, 2008). Due to its high quality programme, it comes as no surprise that IB education is expensive (Schacter, 2008). Apart from the staggering amounts of expenses of beginning IB schools in terms of application fees, training and development and annual fees, they also need to spend for subscription to IB’s online curriculum center, ongoing professional development and testing costs for each IB diploma student (Schacter, 2008; Cech, 2008). The high cost of IB education prevents it from growing as widespread as its counterpart programme in the US, the Advanced Placement (AP) programme, and sadly, many communities are not willing to invest in such an extremely expensive programme (Cech, 2008). The high cost of IB has earned it a reputation of being ‘elitist’, limiting the opportunities to those who can financially afford it. Jeff Beard, director general of IB assures that they are doing what they can to encourage schools with the IB programme have an open enrollment policy. They have set up a scholarship fund to expand access to the programme (American School Board Journal, 2008). Beard claims that about 30 percent of IB schools in the US receive federal Title 1 antipoverty money. More and more students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches are getting into the programme (Cech, 2008). Despite the cost, the high quality of IB makes people rethink scrimping on the budget on their children’s education. District superintendents who believe in IB do everything to raise money to accommodate IB in the local budget. Some reorganize their resources and reallocate just so IB may be included and more and more students get into IB classrooms (Cech, 2008). One strong motivation for IB diploma programme students is the university acceptance and college-tuition factor. Some universities promise scholarship and acceleration to higher levels upon acceptance for IB students who score high in final IB exams. University of Minnesota promised one IB student that she may be eligible to skip up to a year of classes provided she score 30 out of 45 possible points in her final IB exams. Her sister was given $1,000.00 in scholarship money just for taking IB classes. Oregon State University confers automatic admission and a year’s worth of credit to IB stdents who score 30 points or higher. On top of that, $2,000 in scholarship money is rewarded, renewable annually as long as the student maintains a 3.0 grade point average (Cech, 2008). It is no wonder that IB programmes are well-sought after. The excellent quality of education it provides is exhibited by the performance of their graduates. Distinguished colleges and universities the world over acknowledge this, as they earnestly await IB student enrollment in their fold. The wide network of support, the unlimited possibilities for innovation and improvement and the unwavering faith and trust bestowed on the IB organisation would be more than enough for it to sustain the quality it has struggled to build and maintain over the years. The problem remains for other countries that may be willing to embrace IB education but do not have enough funds to afford it. No matter how ideal the system is, financial resources will always be a constraint, since Education is only one of the many allocations for a nation’s budget. Research Problem High praises for IB can go on and on, however, it stops at the point when affordability is discussed. This downside may be a stumbling block for the propagation of more IB schools especially in third world countries where Education is supposed to be a main priority to elevate the masses from poverty. Noble as its goals are in terms of international knowledge, the following research problem statement regarding IB is hereby presented as thus: “How can the growth of the IB benefit schools and students worldwide; not just an economic elite who can most easily afford high-quality programmes and how can the IB sustain growth rates while maintaining the IBs reputation for quality and innovation?” Aims and Objectives of the Research There is no question that the people behind IB ensure that costs shouldered by individuals and organizations are well worth it. IB members gain full access to “world-class curriculum that is comprehensively researched and update according to a published plan” (IBO.org, 2010). Best practices from around the world are reflected in the curriculum and IB teachers are assured of the highest quality of professional development. Schools receive continuous support from the IB organisation in terms of communication and marketing. It literally puts the schools on the IB world map! Schools are acknowledged as reputed members of the organisation as listed on the web, and are endorsed to embassies, consulates and educational ministries all over the world. With this kind of marketing mileage, the IB program needs to maintain its high standards of quality and untainted reputation for producing excellent students. However, the question that still rings is how can ordinary individuals and organizations afford it if they want everything IB has to offer? More importantly, what can the IB Organisation do to adjust their rates or compromise costs to make it more affordable for more consumers without compromising the quality and innovation it is known for? This current research proposes to find ways. This research presents the following aims and objectives: 1. Study alternatives for less expensive ways to implement the IB programmes. 2. Gain insights from credible professionals as to their suggestions on the basic concepts and skills to include in the IB curriculum without sacrificing overall intended outcomes. 3. Look into governmental and non-governmental support for funding IB programmes in schools that cannot afford it. 4. Stress more local flavor in countries implementing the IB programmes while keeping the goal of learning more about international knowledge. Proposed Research Methodology This study will rely heavily on available research literature on IB as well as interviews and survey responses from educators already implementing the IB programmes as well as students who have undergone it. It is important to get pertinent data from the field as these are actual feedback from individuals who may have relevant suggestions in adjusting the IB curriculum. A comparison of curricula with the American Advanced Placement programme (AP) may be done, as both have similar goals for the students, however, AP is much more affordable than IB. An attempt to seek financial support may be done by a thorough investigation of budgetary appropriations of governmental and non-governmental organizations in the UK to check the possibility of including educational benefits in upcoming budgets. The appeal of IB’s quality plus the benefits it provides its consumers will be a strong point to sell these organizations for them to consider its inclusion in their budgets. Therefore, a qualitative methodology will be used in investigating facts in determining ways to adjust the IB programmes to make it more affordable without compromising its quality. References American School Board Journal, (2008) Q&A with Jeff Beard, director of International Baccalaureate, Academic School Board Journal, January 2008 Cech, S.J. (2008) World grows smaller, IB gets big, State Legislatures, February 2008 IBO (2006) Retrieved on February 22, 2010 from http://www.ibo.org Schachter, R. (2008) The “other” advanced program, District Administration, February 2008 Read More