IB Reflective Activity 2
When comparing the IB curriculum to the Curriculum for Excellence we can see both similarities such as relevancy, pupils’ wellbeing, and independence and differences such as a more specific curriculum or a more global world view. A key underlying focus central to both curriculums is the wellbeing of the child – physically, emotionally and mentally.
Looking closer at the similarities I can see relevancy is a central goal in both curriculums. In Curriculum for Excellence the importance of the relevancy of the childrens’ learning can be seen when looking closely at ‘Responsible Citizens’. One requirement of this is to have knowledge of histories and culture in Scotland and the similarities and differences to the histories and cultures of the rest of the world. Leading on from this the Curriculum for Excellence also looks at ensuring pupils can participate responsibly in political, economic, social and cultural life. For this they need the knowledge of Scotland’s way of life, and other ways to contrast and find their own viewpoints and opinions.
In the IB curriculum we can see the same focus on relevancy and place in the world in the focus ‘works within global contexts’. This is important as the IB curriculum is designed to be delivered across many countries and cultures. This part of the curriculum looks at increasing pupil understanding of cultures and explores globally significant ideas and issues, similar to the focuses of ‘responsible citizens’ in the Curriculum for Excellence.
A second similarity is the methods both curricula want the children to be able to communicate and work in. in IB the focus is children ‘developing effective teaching and learning approaches’ and within this developing characteristics such as communication, reflection and inquiry. In Curriculum for Excellence skills such as working in partnership, and taking initiative fall into the ‘effective contributors’. Looking closely at this section of CfE we can see a spotlight on transferable skills such as resilience, taking leadership roles and problem solving.
Where there are similarities between International Baccalaureate and Curriculum for Excellence there are also differences as they are different curricula at their cores and have different main goals. While CfE is very broad in that there are only 4 capacities (within these each main focus is broken down), IB has more specific requirements of the pupils in the ‘Learner Profile’ containing 10 core attributes each pupil must stive towards. On top of this the CfE, while having some requirement for looking out with Scotland, does not do so in the amount of detail as IB looks at global ideas and issues.
The 10 learner profile attributes found in IB are prevalent in other curriculums, such as CfE, and also out with education as a whole. In my personal experience as a pupil in both Scottish education system and English education system I have experienced some of the attributes myself. These being; ‘communicators’, ‘caring’ and ‘thinkers’. In CfE classrooms in my experience being ‘effective contributors’ is similar to both ‘communicators’ and ‘caring’. From my experience on the other side of the curtain, being a teacher in the classroom, I find myself striving to assist in the growth of other attributes for example ‘open-minded’, ‘risk takers’, and ‘principled’. I think this shows the IB curriculum to be both relevant to life beyond school and life in all countries as I experienced the same values with 2 other curricula.
