Happily for all of us in the "Good Old US of A", our friends in other parts of the world tend to be patient with us. Either that or they are happy to allow us to sleep soundly as the rest of the world moves quietly past us- perhaps like the Aesop's Fable of the Hare and the Tortoise. We will return to Aesop shortly. Let's push onward...
When you hear the recent group of Republican candidates pander to the denizens of the far right of the political spectrum, there is a lot of flag-waving and Bible thumping and gun-toting going on that we didn't see even 10 years ago. Remember, for example, when all of the baseball stadiums in the mid- seventies had foot signs as usual with the metric equivalent underneath. You remember the metric system don't you?- its adoption was at least being given something less than "short-shrift" by our politicians at that time. This logical process of measuring by tens should be a "no-brainer" as they say. It loses, not because of its logic, but because "it's a foreign thing." What are the chances of America adopting something "foreign" today?
As an Italian acquaintance pointed out to me... You folks in the United States always depict Italians as gangsters. Your history book goes back perhaps 300 years. Have you heard of the Roman Empire whose roads and government, for example, facilitated the spread of Christianity, brought water hundreds of miles, accurately measured time and seasons, had architecture that today could not be duplicated, while providing a measure of 14th Amendment due process to important people like the Apostle Paul who could say, "I am a citizen of Rome" which guaranteed at least a trial when he was captured. Or perhaps you have heard of Leonardo DaVinci, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Guglielmo Marconi, to name a few. Our history goes back over 2000 years. You have been here for 5 minutes and you think you invented science, art, government, mathematics, medicine, etc.
American ethnocentrism is legendary. Sinclair Lewis wrote about it in the early 20th Century. His book "It Can't Happen Here" should be read today- right now-Quick! People in the Tea Party want it to be 1955 again when those "foreigners knew their place dag nabbit!" Its time to change all of this if we really expect to be "competitive" (Presidents love this cryptic word) in the 21st Century. Parents should be demanding the International Baccalaureate as an option at the very least.
Interestingly, those same politicians of the present-day are strong supporters of former American Corporations that have become multi- national and know no national boundaries nor do they have any national affiliations. Globalization has made that a reality.
So when you hear the President saying that our schools must become more competitive - we must ask the questions, Competitive with who?, and About What? Must Exxon America be competitive with Exxon India? Its just plain Exxon anymore isn't it? It's not USA vs. India, or China. You might think that it is- and the media and the politicians frame it that way for those of you who still wish there was a Memorial day parade and a July 4th Parade. They show you the new incredibly large Chinese aircraft carrier as a distraction since hacking another country's computerized power grid, air traffic control system, and banking system for example will be causing far greater chaos and can already be done- without a big aircraft carrier- and if it was we'd all be killing one another in the streets while the Chinese Army is asleep in their beds. Do you think the Chinese are unaware of this?
Where are we going? Simply stated, we in America think we invented Education. Our history books still act as though everything started in the Middle east *(just for Adam and Eve and some inconvenient religious stuff- like Jesus for example)- quickly went to Europe, then came here with Columbus. We don't talk about the Arabs for example who invented Algebra and did surgical things that astonished the people in Europe- or the amazing things Marco Polo found at the court of Kublai Khan? The astonished Europeans were, of course, the ones who were actually permitted to learn to read without fear of being killed as heretics in the "Dark Ages."
They say that Patton had a difficult time convincing his superiors about the concept of tanks in the next war because there was still horse cavalry in the US Army, circa 1938. The tanks are called "Cavalry" today. Progress takes time here.
Our public school system like the cavalry up till the second world war is still trying to catch up to Sputnik, and spending most of its time taking or preparing for the decontextualized- who wants to be a millionaire multiple choice tests. The current system of Standardized testing has only one objective, that of discouraging young people- while sorting and classifying them- so that eventually many will lower their aspirations intuitively, quit school, and take the jobs that people with green cards are now happy to take. I know some of you don't believe that, so start by reading about something called the "Mudsill Theory". Stated succinctly by a South Carolina Senator in 1858 or so, a society succeeds or fails based on the quantity of people it has who are willing to do the menial tasks for minimum wage and no benefits. If a country lacks those kind of people, some think, they must import them or create their own. Witness the turmoil in Europe in countries where the first choice to import was made.
It should not be a surprise to you, then, that every Independent school in the world awards the International Baccalaureate to its graduates, and there is a very successful Pre K-12 process designed to develop scholarly, innovative, creative, humanistic citizens prepared to confront the global challenges and rewards that lie in the future. By the way, they don't give those endless multiple choice tests to their students.
What is it about the International Baccalaureate that is so appealing?
The International Baccalaureate was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1968. It starts out being far more humanistic and it demands thinking on a higher level by young people. In a brilliant proactive move which foreshadowed the world of the 21st Century, the program was created with the focus being to create "World Citizens" meaning people who would be able to live, work, and compete anywhere in the world. Recently, the IB added its 4,000th program to its worldwide list of institutions in approximately 150 countries. (Trying naming more than 50 countries some time- Forget it, you are an American, bet you can't do it!) Similar to the AP Program, students with IB credit for specified courses can get college credit. Of course, the American Association of University Professors, AFT, and the various state college unions in America hate to allow anybody to get credit for anything because it means less people in the class that remains required to protect jobs- like a stat course for teachers- who will never calculate a standard deviation in their professional lives.
The difference between Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate is that American students selecting AP course may do so at their pleasure, selecting the courses they wish to take based on the schools requirements for eligibility. The IB requires students to take 6 interdisciplinary courses, complete appropriate detailed research papers, and complete a community service requirement.
The IB encourages young people to debate topical, moral, and social issues. Children as young as 3 years old can be involved in the program under the PYP Program (Primary Years Programme). Students follow this until they are 12 years of age, then they enter the MYP (Middle Years Programme) till age 16, followed by the IB Diploma programme at the age of 16.
The course offerings for the student who has reached 16 years of age includes the following:
3 courses that are standard level subjects.
3 courses that are higher level subjects
A Theory of Knowledge Course(TOK)
A Scholarly Essay (4000= words)
They are also, vis a vis their course, assessed as to Creativity- Action- and Service to Others.
The groupings of courses are as follows:
Students select one from each of the following:
Group 1: Native (First Language)
Group 2: Second Language- French, Spanish, German, Mandarin, Latin, Greek (minimum) and these can be taken over three years, i.e. Mandarin I, II,III.
Group 3: Individuals and Societies- Business and Management, Economics, Geography, or History
Group 4: Experimental Sciences- Biology, Chemistry, or Physics.
Group 5: Mathematics
Group 6: Arts Selection- Music, Theater Arts, Visual Arts.
The theory of Knowledge course, as explained by Prof. Thomas Brown is the core of the IB and it challenges the students to think critically. Some examples of questions include:
How is knowledge gained and from what sources?- this relates to epistemology
To what extent do personal experience and ideology influence our knowledge claims?
What differentiates statements like "It is certain" and "I am certain".
Does a moral life manner?
It is important to note that this type of interaction does not produce one correct answer. Factual recall is a very low level of learning. There are some people who want it that way in this country. The IB moves to higher levels of thinking and encourages human interaction and mutual respect of the opinions of others.
There exists sufficient flexibility in the system such that one could, instead of taking a group 6 offering, could take a second language, or science, for example. The courses go much further in depth than the typical American courses that, like Olympic Game television coverage, tries to cover a "Little bit about a Lot" rather than a "Lot about a little Bit"- an over- simplification, to be sure, but it hasn't worked very well with the Olympic coverage- remember the drama of watching the WHOLE High Jump event for example?
A statement from the 1996 IB Organization Subject Guide asserts that, "An international education must go beyond the provision of information and is involved in the development of attitudes and values WHICH TRANSCEND BARRIERS OF RACE,CLASS, RELIGION, GENDER.OR POLITICS."
There are people on the right side of the political spectrum who hate statements like this because it means really acting in the Judeao-Christian mode and living and succeeding in a diverse world while being kind to the less fortunate. Yet, these same individuals support strongly the laissez-faire, less government, capitalist, Ayn Rand,Corporate paradigm that is taking their corporations to international places leaving behind the menial jobs. Was it Einstein who said that the definition of Insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results? At the present rate that the world is changing and the jobs are going elsewhere, all but a small amount of American Public school children will be doing something other than taking the menial jobs, while IB educated professionals will be taking the real jobs in places other than Main Street. At the same time, the IB is designed to insure that its graduates will be significantly more employable internationally than their American counterparts. They will also approach things in a more scholarly and statesmanlike manner.
Siva Kumari, Chief Operating Officer of IB asserts that one purpose of the program is to provide a knowledge base to our students that they will be able to apply to a variety of different jobs in many different nations. Wow, can your locally run school district make such an assertion? But wait, there's more... Kumari is all about pragmatism too as she adds that, "We teach a canon of knowledge we think students should know so that it does not matter what job they have or where they go, students WILL BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO ANY CONTEXT. We are, she continues, "CREATING LEARNERS." Some of this would be heresy in our schools- Philadelphia for example where, at standardized test time, everything on the walls that might provide a morsel of an answer to a student must be covered in black drapes- whew, "The Land of the Free" huh?
What is the American reluctance to embrace a program of study that will prepare students for the world that is and that is to come? "Real"( a scary term) Americans who embrace freedom and independence and creativity should be outraged at the classifying and sorting process that is occurring vis a vis the standardized testing process- cleverly tied in with the shibboleth "No Child Left Behind", all the while guaranteeing a steady stream of uncreative undereducated consuming robots with a high dropout rate, while students in Independent Schools the world over are not so burdened but are granted the precious opportunity to be creative, think out of the box, apply their learning to real, authentic settings anywhere in the world.The teacher is given much greater respect in the IB process as well- compared to American Public Schools where a sincere effort is underway to "teacher-proof" the curriculum. Does anyone in America really think that if all the test scores suddenly went up, the corporations who have left the country would all come back? What is the stage you want your child competing on in a scholarly sense? The little one in the church basement on Main street or on the World Stage?
As always, we want to look beyond valuing something based solely on "snob appeal", but as a Principal, I can assure you that children's course choices were often based upon what the really smart kids on your street were taking. So, even if you do not examine this program in a scientific manner as you should, allow your children to be able to "come to the table" so to speak with the same credentials that the children have who have graduated from Independent schools where they don't have to take standardized state exams longer then the bar exam every year. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that the owners of the Pony Express were sitting around a table brainstorming about improving service... "Faster horses", said one exec... "Riders with Master's Degrees" said another, "Bigger but lighter mail sacks", said a third," "More guns and ammo to fend off Indians and wild animals", offered the fourth. At the end of the meeting, they were all fired up about the new improved Pony Express. In the same week, the last spike was driven in the new intercontinental railroad. The Pony Express filed for bankruptcy the following year.
There are moral implications to how a country educates their young people. In America, people who were "different" have always had a difficult time and continue to do so. Women, Blacks, Jehovah's Witnesses, Indians, Japanese-Americans in WWII, Gays, all have had to fight for things which were already spelled out in the constitution. The International Baccalaureate fosters discussion on uncomfortable topics, allowing for divergent thinking among its students. The Apostle Paul said this in his letter to the Romans... "Don't be conquered by the evil but conquer the evil with good..." As you read the next paragraph, ask yourself which system of education tries to adhere to Paul's admonition.
Thomas Baker, an IB teacher stated the matter with eloquence when he said that in the USA it was once thought that you could have "Separate but Equal" schools for white and non-white children.(Guess who got the hand me down books and football helmets in a southern city in this "separate but equal" system) In the early 1950's, Brown v. Board of Ed. caused this fallacy of false equality to be overturned. This of course opened the door for special needs children and victims of gender bias, for example. But if education( the United States public schools), continues Baker, conceives of itself as separate from the rest of the world, it is committing the same fallacy that Brown v. Board of Ed. Sought to reverse, only this time, its on a massive, global scale"...with the United States system serving as the "Non-white" schools for this analogy. Stated simply, Americans should be demanding the IB program for their children because it reflects more accurately the chain of events now occurring and the zeitgeist that we exist in at the present moment. Eight weeks studying Civil War battles, really? Not offering Chinese, German, French.Latin, Greek, etc., to name a few?
Emmett Mc Groarty, Executive Director of Preserve Innocence, an initiative of the American Principles Project argues against the IB by asking, Should we spend taxpayer dollars on a public school curriculum commissioned by the United Nations, made in Europe, and at odds with the principles of the American Founding? Through the IB, this is already happening."
Having heard that quote, we must return to Aesop's Fables and this time, The Emperor's New Clothes. When will someone be like the little boy on the corner who yells that the King has no clothes on- to the dismay of the townspeople pretending everything was OK- and tell Mr. Mc Groarty and our leaders that there is more to learning than standardized tests? The people demanding less government have militarized and micro-managed the schools.
What do you think? America is approximately 30th in the world in infant mortality among industrialized nations, 18th in math test scores and clearly not the leader in a host of other metrics. Vacations and health care and other benefits are hopelessly demode as taking care of our people is no longer a priority. How is that ostrich approach(head in the sand) working? In many American schools, 4 year of Social Studies is required along with English- every day, every year. Why? The English teachers only teach literature and poetry anymore anyway. One leading politician thought it a disgrace that children did not know that Columbus discovered America in 1492. Who cares? You can find it on your laptop if you really needed it -which you don't. Our students need to be learning, discussing, sharing, comparing, contrasting, in situated cognitive learning situations with a transfer of learning happening between the theory and the practical application. Why would people in this country not want their high school graduates put in a position that maximizes their talents and gives them an opportunity to compete on the world stage?
The IB has been doing this since 1968. The baseball fences had meters under the foot measurement in those days. Do you want fries with that cheeseburger sir?
Daniel L. Chandler is a Professor of Pedagogy at The College of New Jersey. In a previous life, he was a high school principal for 18 years.
