Advancing access to world class education: IB Language and Literature

IB education has been opening doors to students for more than 50 years. Often regarded as an elite education for students described to be the “most goal oriented”, “academically driven”, or “most capable” , the Diploma Programme has been limited as advanced academics. But for more than two decades, public schools in the United States have been working to open access to any student who would like to participate, and going further, there are schools like Rainer Beach High School in Seattle, Washington and George Marshall High School in Fairfax, Virginia that have adopted the Diploma Programme as the only curriculum offered to students. Schools have shaped students futures, as a result.

This school year, 35 comprehensive public high schools from across the United States are strategically advancing their IB Diploma Programmes in a pilot initiative facilitated by the IB’s new Strategic Initiatives Innovation & Incubation (SIII) department. The project explores a range of enhanced support for schools to conduct the relevant and transformative IB self-study process known to IB schools as, Programme Development. Each school assesses their top barriers for school-wide adoption of the Diploma Programme Language and Literature course. Experienced schools and those exploring the idea for the first time share best practices in synchronic networking sessions and have been appointed an educational consultant to support their planning.

Joseph Obiagwu – Jacksonville, USA

“I found that believing in myself in the face of tough challenges was an obstacle that I had to overcome, and when I listened to people who believed in me, my perception of what I was capable of changed. ”

— Joseph Obiagwu

The project involves enhanced support for school-driven self-study process known to IB schools as Programme Development. Each school assesses the top barriers to school-wide adoption of the Diploma Programme Language and Literature course. Experienced schools and those exploring the idea for the first time share best practices in synchronic networking sessions and have been appointed an educational consultant to support their planning.

The new IB SIII department is collating resources that address priorities, identified by the schools as well as collaboratively with experts across the IB organization and lead educators to develop new resources that increase school readiness to expand the Language and Literature course to every student. The impact is slated to be significant. Among this cohort of schools, more than 11,500 students new will be included in one of the worlds most respected and well designed educational programs. That’s approximately a 67% increase in access to rigorous coursework for many students who may not have seen themselves as capable of participation, in the past.

But the vision does not end there. Just as many public schools across the country have embraced the IB as an opportunity to extend a world class education to every student, many of the schools in this pilot initiative see school-wide adoption of Language and Literature as the first step toward offering IB programmes as the primary curriculum for all courses, for all students. Fresno High School in California dove right into this endeavor, offering the IB Middle Years Programme, Diploma Programme, and the option for students to pursue career and technical education in the IB Career-related Programme. For the IB, the aim of this initiative is to collect, develop, and distribute the successful strategies IB world schools have developed to any school that wishes to join the movement.

Here is what Educators have to say about the benefits of school-wide adoption of IB Language and Literature.

What is the purpose of K-12 Education?

When I ask this question to audiences I have the privilege of meeting with, there are a wide range of responses. Some say K-12 is about helping students to learn to think critically. Others give a general and perhaps idealistic speech about preparing students for the future. While both of these answers are somewhat true and relevant, what are we missing?

If we review Table 4 in the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2018 titled, “Comparing skills demand 2018 vs. 2022, top ten” (page 12), we should notice that critical thinking skills are at No. 3 in 2018 (as compared to No. 2 in 2017’s report), but slide down to No. 5 for the skills in demand for 2022. In its place are skills like “Creativity, originality, and initiative”, and above that, “Active learning and learning strategies” at No. 2! Hang on a minute. Active learning and learning strategies sound a lot like someone who is a lifelong learner. To have strategies for learning probably involves the ability to know when to research on your own, when to ask an expert, when to work with a team, how to source materials, how to evaluate your resources, strengths, and limitations. It sounds like something that would take quite a number of years to cultivate. Am I right?

The purpose of this post isn’t to answer the question I presented in the title. Instead, I hope we can begin a dialogue about where we are in education, at this time, and whether or not it is possible to actually prepare students for the future, if we don’t know what skills they are going to need. If you compare the lists from previous Future of Jobs Reports, it is easy to see the rapid change. There are skills listed in the 2017 report, that were predicted for the year 2020 that are no longer mentioned in 2018. “Complex problem solving” was supposed to remain at the top of the list for 2020, it was listed at No. 2 in 2018, and falls to No. 6 for the skills in demand for 2022. This is what rapid change looks like.

The field of education might need to reconsider whether initiatives such as early college, and a focus on individual skill development rather than integrated skill development, whether check the box standardised tests, and all the things we spend so much money running is all worth it. Do these things develop lifelong learners who will be active and self regulated in their learning, and equipped with learning strategies? Or will they hold a piece of paper with a list of A’s and a grade point average of 4.0 and the expectation that the completion now warrants college entrance, or a job. How can we shift the focus to learning in such a way that we shape the future for the next generation?

For further reading to consider the focus of K-12, check out this recent Bloomberg article “American Students have Changed their Majors”