Abstract
From the outset, the editors make it clear that this book will address the issue of ‘continuity’ in various ways, not only restricting their view to continuity within the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes. Throughout the chapters penned by a wide selection of contributors, it is clear that the emphasis is upon the benefits of continuity for teaching and learning, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning and the necessity of promoting continuity of values and principles. Continuity is also explored in terms of its benefits for assessment and for its importance in embedding fundamental principles via accreditation and IB evaluation. The book is divided into three distinct sections which address the various ‘dimensions of continuity’, the means to support continuity and finally how best to orchestrate the transitions between the various IB programmes. Clearly, this will be a valuable resource for schools, whether or not they have opted to go down the IB path.
Alchin reminds us of the need to have planned and articulated ways of developing thinking skills in order to achieve engaged citizenry. He makes a strong case for the ‘shift from the content of learning to the process of learning’ (p. 18), making an eloquent case for ‘connectivity’ (p. 24), which is underpinned by a focus on interdisciplinarity. With some justification, Alchin is critical of schools that identify the need to teach thinking skills, without clearly defining what these skills should be.
This notion is addressed in some depth by Kusuma-Powell and Powell, who claim that ‘students who are aware of different strategies and approaches to learning tasks are more likely to use them’ (p. 47). The emphasis then should be upon learning how to learn – an idea that will resonate well with IB practitioners. Implicit in this call for an articulated focus upon metacognition is the questioning of whether the IB Diploma Programme (DP) is too content laden. While this question is not new for the seasoned IB Diploma practitioner, it is always important to revisit this important provocation. Does the focus upon content continuity undermine the need to teach students how to plan, reflect and self-assess? Kusuma-Powell and Powell suggests that the work done around the Common Ground Collaborative is a positive step in the right direction, with a curriculum designed to develop in students the ability to manage their own learning processes.
Anthony Hemmens sees continuity in terms of its commitment to language learning and an emphasis on developing international mindedness. He argues that ‘it can be asserted that all education is international education when it leads to international understanding and international mindedness’ (p. 65). I found myself agreeing with his point, in that a mix of nationalities in a school does not by itself engender international mindedness. For international mindedness to take root there needs to be a deliberate, sustained and continuous effort to place it at the centre of transdisciplinary planning.
Jamie Large’s case study of students’ views on international education made it abundantly clear how difficult a term ‘international education’ is to define. There was merit in his attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the value of an international education, but the real value of his work may very well be in the framework that it provides for schools which are seeking to audit and embed internationalism within their own contexts.
David Harrison’s chapter on developing a continuity of intercultural understanding in schools is a worthy attempt to come to terms with the very complex relationship between international mindedness, intercultural understanding and global citizenry. The challenge posed by defining these terms makes me wonder whether we can plan for continuity when the concepts themselves are so illusive.
The second section of the book turns its attention to the ways in which schools may go about supporting continuity, and the benefits of so doing. Those of us familiar with the IB authorisation and self-study processes will immediately recognise the important role that these processes play in ‘quality assurance and consistency across the world’ (p. 110). There is little doubt in my mind that the authorisation processes help to create desired continuity. However, I would pose an important question that may be worth levelling at all of the contributors to this book – namely, does continuity sometimes get translated into conservatism and uniformity? The desire to build for continuity can have the negative consequence of intellectual rigor mortis. Watson, though, is quite adamant that this need not be the case. He looks for a time where ‘leadership qualities in every individual are nurtured by process-rich opportunities which encourage initiative and develop long term commitment to community involvement’ (p. 119). I found myself in comfortable agreement with Watson’s argument that programme evaluation is the ‘best way to generate whole school improvement’ (p. 125).
Shaklee and Mattix underline the importance of continuity when it comes to teacher development. They describe quite eloquently the relevance of university-IB preparation partnerships, and the advantage of such partnerships coming from the fact that they provide teachers with the opportunity to incorporate ‘significant elements of critical reflection and research within their own area of study’ (p. 131). The authors, for good reason, sing the praises of the approach taken by George Mason University, which uses IB-qualified and experienced teachers to teach aspiring IB teachers. The true value of these pre-IB preparation courses is the way in which they are designed to improve teaching and learning by giving teachers a much stronger insight into understanding and developing curriculum, and best assessment practices.
Darlene Fisher writes compellingly about the type of leadership style which ‘might be considered most effective in the implementation of the continuum of IB schools’ (p. 143). Quite early in the chapter she comes to the conclusion that distributed leadership, with its focus upon collaboration, will yield the best results. To her credit, though, she does pose the question as to whether distributed leadership is universally applicable. The chapter is written in such a way that we are left in little doubt that engaging all the stakeholders in the school’s improvement processes will ultimately impact positively on student achievement. Fisher also makes a strong case for suggesting that high turnover in international schools makes distributed leadership even more critical, so that institutional memory is not lost when staff turnover is at its most extreme. I am inclined to agree that there is a correlation between distributed leadership and staff retention – both of which ultimately foster continuity in teaching and learning.
The third and final section of the book explores programme transitions within the IB. Marshman is quick off the mark in questioning whether IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) values are sufficiently explicit. Transitioning values across the programmes is made even more challenging if the very concepts themselves are vague or subject to misrepresentation. Marshman succeeds in diluting my initial misgivings by convincing me that it is more important that students understand their own values and their origins, and that they have a willingness and capacity to challenge and defend them. Somewhat provocatively he argues that we should not blithely accept different values, if those values are themselves abhorrent. Perhaps unwittingly he seems to be in support of Fisher’s argument in the previous chapter that distributed leadership creates the very culture which enables students and the community to explore their own values in a critical way.
I found Parker’s use of current brain research to better understand the complexities of the transition from IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) to MYP really compelling. Parker is quite adamant that we should treat the research with a combination of scepticism and respect. We ignore the recent research at our peril and, more importantly, at the peril of the students. ‘Schools, therefore, need to consider how they motivate and care for students in transition’. (p. 184). Paying attention to the latest research requires us to reflect on how we design and deliver curriculum. The interdisciplinary approach advocated by the MYP is aligned to changes in how the brain learns. ‘Approaches to Learning’ also perfectly complements what the research tells us about the need to teach organisational skills. To a large extent, this chapter offers its readers the most practical justification for planned transition and continuity in the context of curriculum design, review and implementation. Parker’s chapter offers a resounding endorsement of active and inquiry-based teaching, rather than the old methods of talk and chalk, captured admirably in the following reminder:
When students change from primary school to a secondary school they are, at the same time, going through a huge neurological transition. (p. 193)
In the final chapter of this excellent collection, Ashworth addresses the issue of the transitional difficulties inherent in the passage from the MYP to the DP. We are reminded that the programmes had different origins, and that there was no intention originally to link them. There was, and continues to be, a ‘gap’ between the MYP philosophy of interdisciplinarity and the DP focus upon its 6 somewhat freestanding subject groups. Despite clear philosophical differences in approach, there have been ongoing cries to establish a more robust continuum between the programmes, perhaps based upon common assessment practices. The author takes us towards the MYP’s next chapter, where the intention is to introduce e-assessment. What is clear in the author’s mind is the need to close the ‘gap’ between the programmes in order to benefit the teachers and students across both. The challenge is how to achieve this without undermining their key areas of justifiable difference.