What Is International Baccalaureate?

📘 Introduction

Creating a better world through education

Imagine a worldwide community of schools, educators and students with a shared mission to empower young people with the values, knowledge and skills to create a better and more peaceful world. This is the International Baccalaureate (IB).

IB programmes aim to provide an education that enables students to make sense of the complexities of the world around them, as well as equipping them with the skills and dispositions needed for taking responsible action for the future. They provide an education that crosses disciplinary, cultural, national and geographical boundaries, and that champions critical engagement, stimulating ideas and meaningful relationships.

The first IB programme, the Diploma Programme (DP), was established in 1968. With the introduction of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in 1994, the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in 1997, and the Career-related Programme (CP) in 2012, the IB identified a continuum of international education for students aged 3 to 19. These four programmes are all underpinned by shared values and a shared emphasis on developing students who are lifelong learners.

“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.”
— IB Mission Statement

🌍 International-mindedness

The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who recognize their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet. International-mindedness is a multifaceted concept that captures a way of thinking, being and acting characterized by an openness to the world and a recognition of our deep interconnectedness to others.

An IB education fosters international-mindedness by helping students reflect on their own perspective, culture and identities, as well as those of others. It is further enhanced through multilingualism (all IB programmes require students to study, or study in, more than one language) and through a focus on global engagement and meaningful service with the community.

Key components:

Sustained inquiry into local and global issues and ideas
Reflecting on one’s own culture and identity
Learning to think and collaborate across cultures
Developing intercultural understanding and respect
Meaningful service and action for a more peaceful world

🌟 The IB Learner Profile

The IB learner profile represents 10 attributes valued by IB World Schools. The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.

“As IB learners we strive to be:”

Attribute

Descriptor

Inquirers

We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.

Knowledgeable

We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.

Thinkers

We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.

Communicators

We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups.

Principled

We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.

Open-minded

We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.

Caring

We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.

Risk-takers

We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.

Balanced

We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives—intellectual, physical, and emotional—to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.

Reflective

We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experience. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2017

📐 A broad, balanced, conceptual and connected curriculum

Each of the four IB programmes provides a detailed and developmentally appropriate curriculum or curriculum framework that is broad, balanced, conceptual and connected. They promote conceptual learning, create frameworks within which knowledge can be acquired, and focus on powerful organizing ideas that are relevant across subject areas.

Examples across programmes:

PYP: Students explore six transdisciplinary themes of global significance (e.g., who we are; sharing the planet).
MYP: Students explore six global contexts (e.g., identities and relationships; globalization and sustainability).
DP: Six subject groups and the three elements of the DP core, including Theory of Knowledge (TOK).
CP: Students combine DP courses with career-related studies and the CP core, including personal and professional skills.

All four programmes require a culminating project (PYP exhibition, MYP personal/community project, DP extended essay, CP reflective project). Assessment is ongoing, varied and integral to the curriculum. IB schools use a range of strategies to assess learning, including IB-validated assessments that balance validity and reliability.

🎯 Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Grounded in contemporary educational research, the IB’s six approaches to teaching and five approaches to learning guide and focus educators and students. The approaches are centred on a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection—an interplay of asking, doing and thinking.

Approaches to teaching (IB teaching is…)

Based on inquiry: Strong emphasis on students finding their own information and constructing their own understandings.
Focused on conceptual understanding: Concepts explored to deepen disciplinary understandings and make connections.
Developed in local and global contexts: Uses real-life examples; students connect new information to their own experiences.
Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration: Promotes teamwork and collaborative relationships between teachers and students.
Designed to remove barriers to learning: Inclusive, values diversity, and affirms students’ identities.
Informed by assessment: Assessment supports and measures learning; provides effective feedback.

Approaches to learning (5 skill categories)

Thinking skills — critical, creative and ethical thinking
Research skills — comparing, contrasting, validating and prioritizing information
Communication skills — written and oral communication, effective listening, formulating arguments
Social skills — forming and maintaining positive relationships, conflict resolution
Self-management skills — organizational skills (e.g., managing time and tasks) and affective skills (e.g., managing state of mind and motivation)

The development of these skills plays a crucial role in supporting the IB’s mission to develop active, compassionate and lifelong learners.

✨ Conclusion & A worldwide community of educators

The IB has always championed a stance of critical engagement with challenging ideas, and of combining enduring fundamental principles with a drive for innovation. The IB is a not-for-profit organization, independent of political and commercial interests, offered in a hugely diverse range of schools worldwide.

One of the most special features of the IB is that it gathers together a worldwide community of educators who share a common belief that education can help to build a better world. Each programme undergoes regular review, involving educators from many cultures. This vision is constantly sharpened by research.

An IB education is designed to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who will help to create a better and more peaceful world.

📚 Additional Reading

— To Be updated —