IB Middle Years Programme: Difference between revisions

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==History and Development of the IB Middle Years Program==

The Middle Years Program was developed significantly later than the [[IB Diploma Programme|Diploma Programme]], and in parallel to and independently of what would become the [[IB Primary Years Programme|Primary Years Programme]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bunnell|first=Tristan|date=2011-12-01|title=The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme after 30 years: A critical inquiry|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240911423604|journal=Journal of Research in International Education|language=en|volume=10|issue=3|pages=261–274|doi=10.1177/1475240911423604|s2cid=145667093|issn=1475-2409}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017|title=History of the IB (Presentation)|url=https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/digital-toolkit/presentations/1711-presentation-history-of-the-ib-en.pdf|url-status=live|website=International Baccalaureate Organization}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barnes|first=David|date=1998|title=And Then There Were Three...IB Programmes, That Is...|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ575274|journal=International Schools Journal|language=en|volume=18|issue=1|pages=44–47|issn=02460264-7281}}</ref> The Middle Years Programme's "birthplace" is considered to be the [[United World College East Africa]], formerly known as the International School Moshi, in Tanzania.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hayden|first=Mary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4oI7EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT183|title=Perspectives on Assessment and Evaluation in International Schools|date=2018-07-30|publisher=John Catt Educational|isbn=978-1-911382-66-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lope|first=Marjorie D.|date=2014|title=Perceptions of global mindedness in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme: The relationship to student academic performance and teacher characteristics|url=https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/16270/Lope_umd_0117E_15769.pdf|journal=Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park}}</ref> In the late 1970s the school identified a pedagogical disconnect stemming from teaching the British [[GCE Ordinary Level|O-levels]] curriculum to students aged 11-16, and then the International Baccalaureate Diploma for students 16-18. The headmaster at the time, Lister Hannah, led discussions on the potential of developing a new two year pre-IB curriculum at the ''Association of International Schools in Africa'' conference in Nairobi in October 1978. Hannah, together with the heads of the [[International School of Lusaka]], Zambia, and the [[International School of Tanganyika]] in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, engaged in discussions with the [[International Baccalaureate|International Baccalaureate Organization]] and the ''International Schools Association (ISA)'' about establishing a new pre-IB programme. In 1980, the school hosted a conference of the ''International Schools Association (ISA)'' in Moshi, titled 'The Needs of the Child in the Middle Years of Schooling (ages 11-16)'.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bunnell|first=Tristan|date=2011-11-29|title=Book review: The Changing Face of International Education: Challenges for the IB|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1475240911421263|journal=Journal of Research in International Education|volume=10|issue=3|pages=306–308|doi=10.1177/1475240911421263|s2cid=147238045|issn=1475-2409}}</ref> This conference recommended the development of a course to meet the needs of students aged 11-16 years, with a focus on six key ‘needs’, which were described as ''Global'', ''Intellectual'', ''Personal'', ''Physical'', ''Creative'', and ''Social''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017|title=History of the IB (Presentation)|url=https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/digital-toolkit/presentations/1711-presentation-history-of-the-ib-en.pdf|url-status=live|website=International Baccalaureate Organization}}</ref>

Further workshops and conferences (Lusaka in 1981, New York in 1981, Wersen in 1981, London in 1982, and Cyprus in 1983) brought additional schools into the conversation, including the [[International School of Geneva|International School of Geneva (Ecolint)]], the [[United Nations International School|United Nations International School (UNIS)]] in New York, and the [[Vienna International School]], and established a framework for what would become the ISA curriculum (ISAC), and later the Middle Years Programme. It was during this time that Gérard Renaud, previously a teacher at Ecolint and then Director General of the IB,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gérard Renaud|url=https://www.ibo.org/about-the-ib/governance-and-leadership/director-general/past-directors-general/gerard-renaud/|access-date=2022-01-19|website=International Baccalaureate®|language=en}}</ref> and Robert Belle-Isle, who was the director at UNIS and had previously been the superintendent of the Chambly school district in Quebec, became involved in the initiative.