In both the IB and CFE curriculums, children are at the heart of all teaching and learning. Both focus upon local, national and global learning to ensure a rounded education.
The IB curriculum has 10 main aims:
- Inquirers– curious and enthusiastic lifelong learners who ask powerful questions.
- Knowledgeable– exploring locally and globally.
- Thinkers– critical, creative and ethical decision makers.
- Communicators– good listeners, confident in more than one language.
- Principled– honest, fair and responsible.
- Open-minded– developing critical appreciation four our own cultures and others.
- Caring– committed to service within the community.
- Risk takers– courageous, resourceful and resilient.
- Balanced– focused on wellbeing of ourselves and others around us.
- Reflective– thoughtful, realistic and hopeful for the future.
IB focuses on the development of learners, not only throughout their school life, but beyond. It encourages children to expand on skills that can be applied throughout their life, relationships and creative thinking. This curriculum believes on teaching children how to learn and why they are learning, which is extremely similar to the success criteria and learning outcome aspect of the CFE.
CfE follows a similar set of principles:
1. Successful Learners: having a high standard for their work as well as always wanting to achieve the best thinking whilst being enthusiastic and confident in what they are learning is important to becoming a successful learner.
2. Responsible Citizens: This capacity is to include children being involved in their surroundings and areas which will effect their lives including social, political and cultural life.
3. Effective Contributors: being resilient and reliable is important for learners to ensure they are trustworthy and proving that they are valuable to society.
4. Confident Individuals: having a sense of purpose, respect and understanding how to be balanced and enthusiastic.
The CFE takes on a rather broad learning and teaching style within its curriculum, where as IB takes on a more focused and specific approach. The 4 aims of the CFE largely overlap with the aims of the IB in many ways. By communicating, inquiring and taking risks, children learn to become effective contributors by learning the same basic skills. Thinking and reflecting allows children to be successful learners and also responsible citizens as they gain the skills required to help them adapt to all areas of their life. Finally, gaining skills in all the IB areas help children to become confident individuals through expanding their knowledge and abilities.
