Month: August 2019

Progressive IB has been developed to encourage children to think and analyse on the information which they have been given. This method of teaching and the way children learn means that children use a range of different skills and strengthen the openness and variety which is needed in education.

The IB Education Trends (by 1960s) correspond with CfE in a number of ways including: Education of the whole child, critical analysis, a range of skills tested and multiple perspectives. All of these Progressive IB Trends link with CfE through being able to critically think, work in a group and individually, children in CfE also need to demonstrate that they can be adaptable to different subjects and problems.

 

In more depth the Progressive IB Trends and CfE align in numerous ways:

Education of the Whole Child- CfE focuses on ensuring the children have a wealth of knowledge in lots of areas as well as establishing the children’s respect for others and being able to work in a group and individually.

Critical Analysis- Under Effective Contributors, the CfE tries to motivate children to apply critical thinking, solve problems. In other areas of CfE, the curriculum inspire children to develop reasonable, informed and developed views on a variety of issues and to be able to assess risks.

Range of Skills Tested- CfE includes a range of skills and teaching children how to use these skills through the array of different subjects and ways of applying their learning to real life scenarios. CfE also encourages problem solving which in turn uses lots of skills and analysis to determine solutions.

Multiple Perspectives-  Through encouraging children to work in groups, the Curriculum for Excellence, learners can listen to others opinions and take feedback with a positive attitude.  Children are also taught to use multiple perspectives to their advantage as they learn about different views that people may have and being able to understand and respect others opinions, but also to be able to see why people view things in certain ways.

I believe that the Progressive IB Trends and CfE do align in multiple different ways and they also provide the overall child with an education which includes multiple different factors and can think about their learning in depth and analyse the information to apply it to the question or scenario. Both IB and CfE utilise the child’s learning to help them understand the world and their surroundings.

International Baccalaureate (IB) and Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) have many similarities in their capacities and attributes. However, they also have differences in their aims, outcomes but similar results.

IB shares similarities with CfE as they both aim to encourage students to be thoughtful individuals. IB focuses on creating caring individuals, where CfE encourages children to be respectful of others and teaching how to care for other people’s feelings and understand the needs of others. The four capacities for learners that CfE create mirrors the values that IB strives to achieve.

CfE and IB teach pupils to be kind, enthusiastic, polite and knowledgable. IB tries to focus children on using initiative, fairness, appreciative and having consideration for surroundings. Whereas CfE uses the four capacities, where in order to become a successful learner you need to be enthusiastic, motivated and determined. Confidence stems from having secure values, ambition and self-respect while being an effective contributor focuses on having the appropriate attitude and being resilient. CfE also focuses on making learners responsible citizens which comes from respect and commitment.

This shows that IB and CfE do have some differences in their focus, where IB tries to ensure that their learners are open-minded and can appreciate cultures, values and traditions. Where CfE focuses on being a successful learner by being determined to achieve and being motivated. IB also differs from CfE as IB learners are encouraged to inquire into their learning and develop their curiosity and learning. CfE focuses on being open to new thinking and ideas rather then researching.

I have experienced IB attributes in my own learning when I was at school and we would be given a topic (e.g. rivers) to research and make a presentation on individually and in groups. This showed the IB attributes of ‘inquirers’, ‘thinkers’, ‘communicators’ and ‘knowledgeable’, these projects were effective as they allowed for group work as well as playing to everyones strengths as there was an area of the project that everyone would be able to do.

I have also experienced IB teaching on my MA1 placement, where the children had visited the high school and we reflected on their feelings about moving to their school and what they are nervous about and what they were looking forward to. We used the thinking hats to further the ideas and opinions and to help give suggestions so that all areas were covered.