Comments on the PPT

1. Title page

2. Mission Statement

A mission tells you what your job is. It says what you do. The IB is clear about what its schools are doing.

3. Focused on creating a better and more peaceful world

The IB is energized by its mission statement to make the world a better and more peaceful place. It is a compelling mission which challenges the whole purpose of schools.

4. How? By developing the person (in the round)

An IB education develops the whole person. In the paper International Baccalaureate Learner Profile: Literature Review Dr. Kate Bullock groups the ten attributes into four related themes that address the IB emphasis on developing the whole person: intellectual, personal, emotional and social growth.

• Intellectual: “knowledgeable”, “thinkers” and “reflective”.
• Personal: “inquirers” and “principled”.
• Emotional: “caring”, “risk-takers” and “balanced”.
• Social: “communicators” and “open-minded”.

5. Intellectual attributes

These attributes acknowledge a constructivist view of learning which is, in the words of Jerome Bruner “participatory, proactive, communal, collaborative and given over to the construction, rather than the reception, of meanings". These three learner attributes emphasize the dynamic and developmental nature of learning

6. Personal attributes

This theme explores the meta-cognitive notions of responsibility for, and awareness of, one’s own learning.

• Inquirers develop their natural curiosity. Inquiry is central to the IN approach to teaching.
• In being principled they act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities.

7. Emotional attributes

The IB approaches to learning calls these the affective skills. These personal qualities and emotional skills are crucial for academic and personal capability.

• From an IB perspective being 'caring' includes a personal commitment to service, and acting to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.
• 'Balance' refers to the importance of an IB World School educating the person ‘in the round’, holistically - the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others. It is also about linking with others.

8. Social attributes

This theme recognizes the importance of the collaborative nature of learning and the contribution of the whole community where learning takes place. It explores the importance of considering and evaluating multiple perspectives.

9. International Mindedness

If the mission of the IB is to create a better and more peaceful world the way this is done is through developing young people who are internationally minded. In fact the ten attributes of the Learner Profile together describe what it means to be internationally minded.

Whilst there is no one agreed definition of what international mindedness is the IB uses three key ideas. Internationally minded is about being multilingual, having intercultural understanding and being globally engaged. These key ideas are expressed in the IB mission statement where it says: "“… aims to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect… These programmes encourage students across the world to … understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.”

10. Challenging and rigorous curriculum

One of the key reasons why schools choose the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) is because it is recognized and respected by the world’s leading universities.  This provides students with the passport to universities across the world.

The IB recognition resource and document library has testimonials from universities working with DP students. The IB research pages look in detail at the performance of DP students, including comparisons with other students.