IB Coordinator Notes

In addition to its reputation as an academically rigorous program, the International Baccalaureate aims far beyond merely preparing students for a challenging career of schooling and test taking. Its stated mission is to “develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect…” Last year I spent considerable time in this space discussing the IB Learner Profile, a list of ten traits, including Principled, Communicators, Balanced and Risk-Takers that all IB programs should strive to develop in their students (the full text of this Learner Profile as well as an informational video is available at http://www.ibo.org/programmes/profile/).

Consistent with this development of the whole student toward “education for a better world”, IB is introducing the worldwide community theme: “Sharing Our Humanity”, in an attempt to unite all IB programs worldwide (there are currently over 2,000 IB schools in 125 countries around the globe) in learning more about vital global issues and taking positive action on these issues. As the Learner Profile document states, “The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.”

At the IB North America Regional Conference this past summer, we had the opportunity to hear Jean Francois Rischard, author of High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them speak about the immediate challenges facing our planet. His main point was that we can no longer deny or put off dealing with some severe global crises, and he highlighted six major areas of concern:
Global Poverty: Over 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day, and nearly half the world’s population live on less than $2 a day.

• Conflict: There are 29 ongoing conflicts around the world, some dating back over
  40 years. Poor countries are four times as likely to have conflict than rich countries.
• Education for All: 46% of girls in the poorest countries have no access to primary
  education. (Universal primary education would cost $10 billion a year – that’s half
  what Americans spend annually on ice cream.)
• Global Infectious Diseases: In addition to the rampant spread of ‘high profile
  diseases’ like AIDS, Asian Bird Flu and BSE, Malaria continues to cause more than
  300 million acute illnesses and over 1 million deaths each year.
• Digital Divide: Despite the apparent pervasiveness of technology in our own society, the vast majority of the world’s population does not have such access. Only 2% of African children will have ever touched a computer before they leave school.
• Natural Disaster Mitigation: There has been a five-fold increase in natural disasters in the last 25 years.

Again, the world’s poor are most vulnerable to the effects of these disasters. IB has chosen to focus its community theme around these 6 areas emphasized by JF Rischard, and is encouraging
schools worldwide to get involved in this endeavor. We at Thornton High School will be taking up this challenge and hope to work with other IB schools in the area and beyond in sharing our humanity. Please let me know if any of you have any ideas on developing this theme or want to get involved.

Here’s to another great year!
Roger Dowd, IB Coordinator