International Baccalaureate is Anti-American & Anti-Christian?
Wednesday February 22, 2006
Upper St. Clair used to be the only school in the Pittsburgh region, and one of just 35 in the entire nation, to offer the International Baccalaureate curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students - but no longer. There's a movement in America to shut such programs down because their international orientation is considered socialist, anti-American, and anti-Christian.
The International Baccalaureate was originally designed to provide a consistent, certified education to the children of diplomats who were constantly moving around, as well as a certified curriculum for students who might want to study abroad. Today the program has been made more widely available, being offered in more than 1,700 schools around the world and more than 600 in America.
Junior and seniors already in the Upper St. Clair IB program will be allowed to finish and obtain their diploma, but elementary and middle school students won't be allowed to continue. To the best of my knowledge, all of these programs are voluntary, not mandatory. This means that anyone who has a problem with the program and doesn't want their child to participate simply doesn't have to allow it - opposing the existence of the program per se, however, is predicated on the belief that it is so wrong and harmful to students that schools shouldn't be involved at all, regardless of what they or their parents want.
Upper St. Clair is one of the first American schools to drop the program, but it's not the first time the program has been challenged. In every case, the language and arguments have been curiously similar. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains:
According to critics, though, the mere fact that the program provides students with an international perspective on issues is what damns it:
Criticizing the program for being both anti-Christian and anti-American is interesting in this context because it seems to presume that the two go together - as if true American patriotism and true Christian beliefs were in some manner related, if not the same. Christianity is supposed to be a world religion, a religious belief system independent of all political, nationalistic, economic, and cultural ideologies. Because of this, one might think that Christians would be especially receptive to any educational program which seeks to make students more consciously aware of their own cultural biases as well as familiar with the cultural perspectives of others in the world.
Some critics fall back on criticizing the educational standards of the International Baccalaureate, but that's just a mask for their real concerns - complaints about Marxism don't fly as well as they did in the 1980s. Students who earn an International Baccalaureate diploma receive credit for their work from most colleges - and at some, enough credit to be the equivalent of the freshman year.
According to the Pinellas County high school in Florida, the state with the largest number of IB schools in America, "Our graduates have consistently been ranked among the best in North America for IB programs with greater than 60 diploma candidates. We have continued to score in the top 1 percent of Florida high schools on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT (American College Test)."
Most schools are excited and honored to be approved for any sort of IB program, which is why Alan Lesgold, dean of the school of education at the University of Pittsburgh, is quoted as saying that the decision to eliminate the program is "very embarrassing to Upper St. Clair."
The opposition to the International Baccalaureate cannot be sustained on grounds of academic quality or cost; instead, opposition seems to me to be based upon attitudes of isolationism, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, cultural supremacy, and/or religious nationalism. Such attitudes are commonly adopted by those who reject the possibility that the American way of doing things isn't always the best, but if that's really true when why are they afraid of students learning about other ways of doing things? Are they actually afraid that they might be wrong and of what might happen if this becomes widely known?
-- Guest Blogger, Austin Cline
POLL:How do you feel about the International Baccalaureate Program?
1) It's an excellent addition to public education
2) Every college-bound student should seriously consider it
3) I love it because it promotes global unity & responsibility
4) It promotes socialism and anti-Christian values
5) Its global curriculum is anti-American
6) It has a left-wing hidden agenda
7) It's too elitist
8) It emphasizes values to the detriment of academics
9) Never heard of it
10) Don't really care
>> View Results
The International Baccalaureate was originally designed to provide a consistent, certified education to the children of diplomats who were constantly moving around, as well as a certified curriculum for students who might want to study abroad. Today the program has been made more widely available, being offered in more than 1,700 schools around the world and more than 600 in America.
Junior and seniors already in the Upper St. Clair IB program will be allowed to finish and obtain their diploma, but elementary and middle school students won't be allowed to continue. To the best of my knowledge, all of these programs are voluntary, not mandatory. This means that anyone who has a problem with the program and doesn't want their child to participate simply doesn't have to allow it - opposing the existence of the program per se, however, is predicated on the belief that it is so wrong and harmful to students that schools shouldn't be involved at all, regardless of what they or their parents want.
Upper St. Clair is one of the first American schools to drop the program, but it's not the first time the program has been challenged. In every case, the language and arguments have been curiously similar. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains:
[A] parent in the Fairfax [Virginia] district ... said the program promoted "socialism, disarmament, radical environmentalism and moral relativism, while attempting to undermine Christian religious values and national sovereignty."Compare the above to comments from local parents:
A proposal last year to derail an International Baccalaureate program in Minnetonka, Minn., used similar arguments to those employed by Upper St. Clair board members in recent weeks. The Minnetonka proposal, backed by two school board members, said the IB "rejects the Judeo-Christian values held by the majority of families in our district and instead promotes the atheist, Secular Humanist principles of multiculturalism, one-world government and moral relativism."
Dr. Daniel Iracki, a medical doctor who specializes in pulmonary care and internal medicine, questioned if it conflicted with Judeo-Christian values. Another, Dr. Mark G. Trombetta, a radiation oncologist, had said it was associated with Marxism.The Post Gazette says that an "overwhelming majority of 1,000 parents and students" attended Monday's Upper St. Clair school board meeting in support of the International Baccalaureate program and further reports:
[Linda] Ambroso [whose son is in the 9th grade and participates in the program] said parents are wondering if canceling the program could be considered a breach of contract.I recently had the honor to speak a the United World College - USA, one of nine residential, pre-university schools around the world which offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma to a student body made up of young people from dozens of nations. It was not my experience that participating in the program undermined religion - on the contrary, many students testified to the fact that living and learning with so many people from different religions and cultures forced them to take their own beliefs more seriously, often strengthening their faith.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania also is organizing a legal team to figure out its next steps, said Witold Walczak, the legal director. "We're looking at litigation options," said Mr. Walczak, who has a child in the program.
According to critics, though, the mere fact that the program provides students with an international perspective on issues is what damns it:
Julie Quist, director of EdWatch, which is based in Minnesota ... opposes the program on ideological grounds because it teaches "a sense of global citizenship which is contrary to what it is to be an American citizen."That's a non sequitur if ever I heard one: a sense of global citizenship is no more contrary to American citizenship than feelings of attachment to Pennsylvania are contrary to being an American citizen. A person's feelings of attachment need not be exclusive, except perhaps in the minds of radical nationalists who have transformed their nationalism into a religion where one is not permitted to have any gods before the Nation.
Criticizing the program for being both anti-Christian and anti-American is interesting in this context because it seems to presume that the two go together - as if true American patriotism and true Christian beliefs were in some manner related, if not the same. Christianity is supposed to be a world religion, a religious belief system independent of all political, nationalistic, economic, and cultural ideologies. Because of this, one might think that Christians would be especially receptive to any educational program which seeks to make students more consciously aware of their own cultural biases as well as familiar with the cultural perspectives of others in the world.
Some critics fall back on criticizing the educational standards of the International Baccalaureate, but that's just a mask for their real concerns - complaints about Marxism don't fly as well as they did in the 1980s. Students who earn an International Baccalaureate diploma receive credit for their work from most colleges - and at some, enough credit to be the equivalent of the freshman year.
According to the Pinellas County high school in Florida, the state with the largest number of IB schools in America, "Our graduates have consistently been ranked among the best in North America for IB programs with greater than 60 diploma candidates. We have continued to score in the top 1 percent of Florida high schools on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT (American College Test)."
Most schools are excited and honored to be approved for any sort of IB program, which is why Alan Lesgold, dean of the school of education at the University of Pittsburgh, is quoted as saying that the decision to eliminate the program is "very embarrassing to Upper St. Clair."
"Here you've got this district that's got a really positive reputation of having all of these really strong programs and now all of a sudden they're dumping the program that has the clearest externally validated credibility. It's a weird thing." ... Dr. Lesgold noted a Catholic high school -- Vincentian -- offers the program in conjunction with a Catholic university -- Duquesne. "They wouldn't be doing it if it was anti-Christian," he said.I would be embarrassed as well. Why is it bad that the program was originally designed outside the United States? Where is the danger in providing students with a better understanding of the beliefs, perspectives, and biases of people around the world - not just other people, but themselves as well? Why is it threatening that other people's children might develop more empathy, and perhaps even sympathy, for the experience and ideologies of non-Americans?
The opposition to the International Baccalaureate cannot be sustained on grounds of academic quality or cost; instead, opposition seems to me to be based upon attitudes of isolationism, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, cultural supremacy, and/or religious nationalism. Such attitudes are commonly adopted by those who reject the possibility that the American way of doing things isn't always the best, but if that's really true when why are they afraid of students learning about other ways of doing things? Are they actually afraid that they might be wrong and of what might happen if this becomes widely known?
-- Guest Blogger, Austin Cline
POLL:How do you feel about the International Baccalaureate Program?
1) It's an excellent addition to public education
2) Every college-bound student should seriously consider it
3) I love it because it promotes global unity & responsibility
4) It promotes socialism and anti-Christian values
5) Its global curriculum is anti-American
6) It has a left-wing hidden agenda
7) It's too elitist
8) It emphasizes values to the detriment of academics
9) Never heard of it
10) Don't really care
>> View Results
How do you feel about the International Baccalaureate program? We'd like to hear from you!.
Comments
Considering that I graduated with an IB diploma (over a decade ago), I am perhaps just as biased towards the merits of the program as the xenophobic opposition. Having said that, I can without any exaggeration state that one of the few redeeming aspects of my own twelve-year foray into the world of public education was the IB curriculum.
In a time when even the most optimistic of observers would have to admit that the overall state of the American education system is in disarray, how can any self-respecting school district even contemplate eliminating a program whose very existence at the high school necessarily distinguishes it from its peers. Were the public high school I attended to have cut its IB program I’m sure that the few remaining middle class parents of bright students who hadn’t gone the private school route would quickly reconsider. Perhaps the situation is not quite as drastic at Upper St. Clair (not being from Pittsburgh I can’t say), though I fail to see how the removal of the IB program can be anything but a drastic step backward for any high school.
(Unless of course you just want to win football championships, in which case the more forgiving workload might be an advantage!)
I completely agree with Mike. I am completing my last months of the IB program, and I can’t imagine going about my high school diploma in any other way. Some students just NEED the challenge that IB provides.
America is going down exponentially by providing next to nothing for gifted and talented students, especially in rural states like Oklahoma, where I live. It baffles me that the government is building state-of-the-art facilities for special needs students, yet ignoring the future leaders, the gifted.
Anti-American and Anti-Christian? Maybe; but only because it encourages us to THINK, rather than bomb countries over simple disagreements or hate whole demographics because of one belief, sexuality, or race.
“In a time when even the most optimistic of observers would have to admit that the overall state of the American education system is in disarray, how can any self-respecting school district even contemplate eliminating a program whose very existence at the high school necessarily distinguishes it from its peers.”
Yes, the schools are in disarray and education could and should be a lot better, especially since we spend an average of over $7,000-8,000 per year per child – a $100,000 for each K-12 child’s education!
One of the great reforms we could do but are not doing is giving school choice to every parent. let each parent take that voucher and use it to send the child to the school of their choice – public, private, parochial, whatever. So long as the school is doing the job of educating the child to be a productive citizen, the public purpose is well-served.
The great crime and shame of this debate pro or con about IB is that it would be irrelevent if we had appropriate school choice programs. I too needed high levels of academic achievement, and fortunately got it through the AP programs at our high school.
If the IB does indeed have some ideological biases/issues, the better answer would be mend it not end it. I see such problems across the whole education space in public schools – schools discriminating against Christian clubs, pushing wrong ‘diversity’ and ‘multiculturalism’ agendas (when, if you think about it, ‘diversity’ is an inherently racist concept that claims different skin color makes people ‘divers’ – how patronizing!). Yes, ‘citizen of the world’ is something I’ve seen written in a local school – UGH! I hope we never have the over-reaching global government that would make such an ugly thing true – we may be members of humanity but our citizenship is *American*. it is highly objectionable when they are not properly teaching American citizenship to educate in a balanced way. But if IB has fallen prey to such educational mal-practice, the solution is to fix the bias and not eliminate a useful program for high-achieving students.
I am interested about why other schools have pulled away from IB…
One of the issues I see is that it does not address special needs students.
Interesting that in a time when America needs to understand world events more than ever, there are people who are against this programme.
Also how is a programme, based in another country and used world-wide, really “Left-wing”?
As for not attending the special needs students: Well that isn’t the fault of the programme, but instead the failure of the school for not using the programme to address those needs.
The core if IB is for each student to be empowered and knowledgeable about how they shape their environment and lives. If a school/country/teacher skews the programme then that’s their bias.
I proudly teach IB and love how it can change the thinking of all students from the Gifted to the Gang banger!
As a current student of the IB program in Florida, I find this mildly amusing, if only due to sheer stupidity.
As an IB student, I completely agree that the program is left-wing, anti-american and to an extent anti-american. The books required for the IB English classes ALL have a huge bias against Christianity. The history classes take shots at America’s founding, condemn the strategies that won the Cold War and label America as a bully whenever it defends itself or freedom(WWII, Vietnamn, Desert Storm). As to Left-Wing, its not the ‘American’ left per se, just left wing in the Marxist, Lenninist style. Yes there is nothing wrong with thier intention of pushing students to question everything and not be followers, but that could be accomplished without trying to show America as the new Nazi Germany and the commmunist as innocent, good intentioned people/countries. *Correction* Former IB student- I have withdrawn from the program even though I have all A’s and one B because of the above reasons and others. The IB program is a disgrace and should be taken out back and shot.
I taught IB in a Korean school and it is taught all over the world. In those places the leftist rightist politics dont exist, so how can this be leftist?
If IB is anti-christian, then please explain to me why it is taught in 100s of Christian schools around the world?
Now, I teach IB English back home. I am not religious but I taught CS Lewis’s “The Four Loves” and many of Chaucer’s tales have Christian metaphors. I have also taught the story of Parzival and medieval stories that are full of Christian symbolism.
At the same time, I also taught non-Christian and other philosophies such as the Mahabharata. My thoughts are to teach and show all ideas and let the students choose.
Seriously, this is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.
I agree with Zach. The UN admits this program is simply to instill their poliitical ideology, which is world socialism, into students from an early age.
School is no place for political indoctrination.. this program is dangerous and should be sent packing
Check this website:
http://communitytheme.ibo.org/
It’s all about the UN, UN goals, and nothing about ‘education’ for skills or self reliance or individualism.
Without question, the UN promotes international socialism and collectivism – everything must be done for the greater good, secular humanism – no religion must be allowed, only allegiance to the government, global taxation and redistribution of the wealth/class warfare – it’s immoral to be wealthy, relocation of people without regard to national borders/supra-national, abortion on demand, animal liberation and equality with humans, trade should favor poorer nations as a form of redistribution of the wealth – we do this now with NAFTA/WTO (Millenium Goals) the establishment of a criminal court of the world and last but not least, one more very dangerous — total and unilateral disarmament of govt’s and individuals.
The UN has ‘run’ our schools already under Goals 2000 and other ‘reform’ intiatives. Don’t let them further damage our children!
Completely true! I am an IB student and we are forced to recite sections of the Communist Manifesto every morning….right before Flag Burning – Higher Level…Really, America, your interference is long-overdue…..you have to stop this “global awareness” nonsense before it has a chance to corrupt your passive youth
I work in an IB elementary school in Virginia. My school system is implementing IB starting in primary school (where ALL students are required to participate in the program)and the program will gradually progress to middle and high school as these kids move up, which is backwards from most school systems which first implement the program in high school. From what I’m seeing, the IB program has NO place in elementary school. It takes too much emphasis off learning the basics, it takes the teachers out of the classroom for too many meetings, and it takes our administrators on expensive cross-country business trips. The program is costing my county untold sums of money and I see absolutely no return on the investment. This program should be offered no earlier than middle school, and should be voluntary. Parents of students who choose to participate should help foot the bill for all the costs of the program.
The writer makes the point for the opposition unwittingly when he uses the comparison of being a citizen of Pennsylvania not infringing on your being a U.S. citizen. The problem here is that we have local, state and federal government. Those opposed to I.B are against adding an additional layer of government–(global), even further removed from our interest and in many ways directly opposed to them. They are convinced, as am I, that the sole purpose of I.B. is to cultivate the acceptance of World government among our youth, at the peril of our national and individual freedom. There is nothing academic in the I.B. program that we couldn’t offer independently of the U.N. and UNESCO. You’d be quite naive to believe that the U.N. would use education to enhance it’s grandiose design of world hegemony–for our own good of course.
look, I think you all are over reacting.
I’m in IB right now.
how do I feel about this?
I love the environmentof IB, and so I am greatful to the program that brings together so many motivated inteligent students and dedicated teachers which is making my high school experiance enjoyable. I like all my teachers, and respect them all, as well as my fellow students. before, in general elementary and even GATE jr high classes, I had never quite fit in. I was too smart. and many of the otehr IB kids say the same. IB brings us all together, and I have to say being with my own kind is making my high school experiance a hell of a lot better than that of my friends who chose not to.
is it anti-american and anti-christian?
well, history has the potential to be however you choose to tell it. the right thing to do is to present the facts, and let people think about it and come to their own conclusions. like last year, my world history teacher explained what communism was, and why it would appeal to some. which is not anti american, just tring to explain why millions of people turned to it. and after all this was explained, we knew not only that america opposes communism, but why, and most of us ended up agreing that capitalism is better. sure, we were also shown some of america’s mistakes, but is that wrong? from that we leant that mistakes happen- thats why we need to learn history. by studing the mistakes of the past, we are better prepared to deal with the problems of the future.
whoever wrote the 10th comment…ok, to me it seems that you are joking, because my reaction to this was first to laugh and think, how ridicullous, and you’re probally being sarcastic…but if you’re not, you just go to a crazy school. just like the crazy american schools where the administration turns the kids facists. even the best program can be corrupted by bad administration.
um, as for special ed kids…dude, what do they have to do with IB? I mean, IB is like AP, ADVANCED PLACEMENT. its only for smart kids.
so, I guess I agree with whoever said it doesnt belong in elementary, and it shouldnt be mandatory, but I think it could replace AP and other honors programs.
I guess my conclusion is…IB doenst hurt anyone or anything, and I think it actually helps the students, based on their test scores anyway, so why get worked up?
has anyone heard of organizations of evil sadistic comunist IB graduates?
Please hear where I am coming from….I am Republican for past 25 or so years. Upper Middle Class Income…Methodist…Believer in Christ…and member of local CC….
My kid is 16 years old, just completed Sophomore Year in IB at Top 40 High Schools in America (Newsweek 2008…2007 School in Top 10) It is in Ghetto Neighborhood. The School is school within a school….Except for Sports IB kids never see Trad. Kids….
As Soph. my kid has completed everything I did in 4 years of High School….I do have BS from major university…His Sophomore GPA is 5.2sh, he is stack ranked 48th in District of 13,000 Total Kids…he is not the smartest in his school class of 120 Students….Only in 4th Place…To beat the other 3 kids is not possible imho…he has now earned 6 Credits of College History and 3 Credits of College Stats (with 5’s on exams….Next year begins earning
Another 40 or so will have upon grad from IB….By the way, he is Scratch Golfer, and Brings a BB in high 80’s….so not just a nerd….And he kicked the ASS of Black School Bully who was messing with a friend of his who is serious IB Nerd….Knucklehead kid didn’t know he is 3rd Degree Black….and loves to mix it up….
OK…You Academic’s…Let me tell you how it “Really Is”……
ALL ACADEMICS HAVE STRONG SOCIALIST TENDENCIES….AND LIBERAL BIAS….AND ADHERE TO TAUTOLOGIES RATHER THAN TRUE SCIENCES…..witness Darwinism….
Most Academics are Soft Brained Losers…with no comprehension of earning an honest buck….But do love to suck off the Liberal Corporate Teit of Public Education in the United States at College and High School Level….
Next, no matter how hard the education system tries….it is impossible to make a Student become the kind of kid that excels in IB. The “Talent” required to pay the price in committment to academics, the hours to excel in academics, the creativity and intellectual capacity is simply not there in over 98% of the kids in High School anywhere…not just the United States….Get it …. So argue all you want you bleeding heart liberals that want to “herd” kids through some watered down traditional High School Program of the Month….But don’t waste my time or my money with such dribble….The kids that can (the 2% or less) will….with or without IB…It ain’t about the Coach….Its about the kids….
Facts are that it takes Masters and Doctorates to keep up with these kids…IB attracts those kinds of degrees because they are getting kids that truly want to learn and can….And that is a very good thing…..And…in spite of the liberal, biased, and stupid School Districts across this country…..The teachers of the academic elite should have more credentials and be paid FAR MORE than the baby sitters in Traditional High Schools….Shove that up your nose liberals….And don’t use the friggin word “Elite, or Elitism” to decribe IB……Done, correctly those kids are in fact the Best of the Best in this country….mostly from an academic perspective…but sometimes these kids have other amazing talents just like some of the trad students have amazing talents…just not in Academics…and get over you friggin liberals…It is what it is….and there is nothing short of attempting to stymie smart kids that you can do about it….
By the way…True IB will not work, nor should it be made a “Mainstay” for the 98% of High School Students….Such would be serious waste of money and time….The 98% would not and could not hack such stuff….
In our area, entrance into IB is very very competitive….Straight A’s through 8th Grade….Honors Algebra mandatory with A, and Geo advisable with A…..High National Test Scores….and Three References from Academic 8th Grade Teachers….Of 900 who apply…140 get in…..
After 2nd year the 140 has seen the number drop to 120 through forced and voluntary withdrawal….Of the 120, only 108 will get the actual IB degree…all will have enough to go to college of their choice and monetary ablility entering at minimum as Sophomores (except Ivy League)….some schools (Large ones) they will be Juniors…..Because the Universities and Colleges know they are getting the Best of the Best…..
Now IB is not going to affect my kids Culture…or his World View with Marxist and/or Socialist Thoughts….He is already going about the business of seperating the Real World, from the Fantasy World academics live. He wants to be physician….and knows that over 60$ of praciticing physicians in this country know that Darwinism is absolute BS…..
Now the idiots that want to do away with IB….Great…it just makes it that much easier to kid your kids ass academically and get the Ship money…..But Good Luck with your trying to change the Liberal Agenda of Education….While honorable and correct it is just a waste of my time….
Go IB and Any Program like it…..
Yo, number 13, I think you failed to understand what it means to be “special ed”. Have TOK taught you nothing?
As for “morality relativism”, I think it’s partially true, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. We all need to question our beliefs, and with proper reasoning and feelings, our beliefs become stronger. Otherwise, in a world where people blindly follow, maybe it’s not too bad to keep an open mind.
Being called “special ed” doesn’t mean you can’t be “smart”. Bush is far from being “special ed”, as far as we know, but,…
Let’s just say that flunking out of Yale gets you to be a Vice President, and C average gets you to be the President of the United States.
Very American, and Very Christian =)
I found it appropriate to comment today, seeing as it is the day when IB students all around the world eagerly look up their test results and see if they have succeeded in obtaining the seemingly unattainable IB Diploma.
I am sure this discussion has long ended before I even had a chance to read it; however, I feel compelled to comment briefly about the article and statements others have said.
For the record, I am proud to say that I am an IB Diploma recipient. I studied, I worked, and I triumphed. An example of meritocracy at its best one could say.
I found the IB program at my school to be not the absolute best it could be. Like any other school with any other academic standards, there were the bad, miserable teachers; and there were the instructors that inspire their students to go above and beyond arbitrary scholastic boundaries.
However, the main aspect of IB that I would like to emphasize is that it was a community of sorts that grew on me. It was out-of-the-box at first; but as I settled into the school routine, I noticed that my fellow IB peers were people that had the same interests, work ethics, etc. as I did. These were people that I would want to continue to remember years after high school and university.
IB is, I suppose, the initial attraction. People enrolled into the school I attended initially because of IB’s reputation of academic excellence. Every IB student new and old will recognize that the IB curriculum is rigorous and mentally challenging. But beyond the books and tests is a sitting of people filled passions and desires to do something with their lives. I admit IB students are generally procrastinators by nature, but underneath all the outer layer of laziness is that drive to be something greater. For this sole reason, I must adamantly disagree with those who condemn this program as if it does nothing for people.
I know people will claim that I am talking in abstracts and that I am just spewing anecdotal evidence; however, if one looks at the qualities colleges and universities desire and if one sees the people that the IB program produces, then the minds of some people who are skeptical and critical of IB can be changed.
My parents come from not so wealthy families and from countries overseas, and they always emphasized the importance of education and how to take advantage of opportunities to broaden one’s knowledge. Simply put, a person anywhere in the world can enroll into a school with an IB program and succeed. IB aims not to support any kind of ideology, like socialism or communism. Its goal is to level the playing field so that people around the world have fighting chances to do something great with their lives, which is something I think we Americans sometimes tend to take for granted.
Sure, I guess some could say that leveling the playing field so that everyone has equal opportunity is a socialist idea. But if the alternative is to reject options for people in third world countries to be educated and shown the broad spectrum of knowledge, then I do not think the label of socialism is really relevant. I would think at that level as human beings we would try to help a fellow man in need. (I do not mean to come across as snark, but I think being a good Samaritan is an idea Christianity supports.)
On that note, I am sure there are several details in curriculum that are anti-American. But to be frank, when has that been new? America and its policies be it foreign or domestic have been criticized by other countries. But so have theirs. That’s the nature of countries with their own independent agendas and self-interests. We criticize others for their beliefs, we criticize ourselves for being dumb, and we support our views when we are seen as politically and socially correct. That trend has never changed, and I think that firstly, IB takes advantage of this trend and secondly, to ignore the views of others and other countries is, well, ignorant of us.
Yes, as an IB student I learned what Karl Marx believed, but I also learned what Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle believed in Theory of Knowledge. Why on earth was Marxism taught? Because it is a view that had influenced many people and events in history and it would be a shame to not at least analyze. In English, we analyze all sorts of pieces of literature with various universal ideas. Personally, I did not enjoy reading Sylvia Plath’s poetry. I thought it was nonsensical and hoped I did not have to do it for my internal assessment. But that does not mean I should not have been exposed to it. Her poems, Marxism, communism, etc. are all pieces of knowledge, and knowledge is not to be wasted. People often talk of choice. Well, IB offers choice: the choice of what beliefs to believe and what ideas to criticize. IB offers opportunities to learn and analyze the nature of these beliefs so that students are more learned individuals.
In closing, I would just like to say that I think people who believe that IB is anti-Christian, etc. miss the picture of what IB is trying to accomplish. IB, like Wikipedia, is trying to spread vast knowledge around the world so that people can learn and discover for themselves their own pathways to knowledge; and quite frankly I think this idea is truly remarkable and should not be cast into the wind and forgotten.
I only ask that those who are critical of IB to re-evaluate their views using the vision of IB I tried to paint.
I found it appropriate to comment today, seeing as it is the day when IB students all around the world eagerly look up their test results and see if they have succeeded in obtaining the seemingly unattainable International Baccalaureate Diploma.
I am sure this discussion has long ended before I even had a chance to read it; however, I feel compelled to comment briefly about the article and statements others have said.
For the record, I am proud to say that I am an IB Diploma recipient. I studied, I worked, and I triumphed. An example of meritocracy at its best one could say.
I found the IB program at my school to be not the absolute best it could be. Like any other school with any other academic standards, there were the bad, miserable teachers; and there were the instructors that inspire their students to go above and beyond arbitrary scholastic boundaries.
However, the main aspect of IB that I would like to emphasize is that it was a community of sorts that grew on me. It was out-of-the-box at first; but as I settled into the school routine, I noticed that my fellow IB peers were people that had the same interests, work ethics, etc. as I did. These were people that I would want to continue to remember years after high school and university.
IB is, I suppose, the initial attraction. People enrolled into the school I attended initially because of IB’s reputation of academic excellence. Every IB student new and old will recognize that the IB curriculum is rigorous and mentally challenging. But beyond the books and tests is a sitting of people filled passions and desires to do something with their lives. I admit IB students are generally procrastinators by nature, but underneath all the outer layer of laziness is that drive to be something greater. For this sole reason, I must adamantly disagree with those who condemn this program as if it does nothing for people.
I know people will claim that I am talking in abstracts and that I am just spewing anecdotal evidence; however, if one looks at the qualities colleges and universities desire and if one sees the people that the IB program produces, then the minds of some people who are skeptical and critical of IB can be changed.
My parents come from not so wealthy families and from countries overseas, and they always emphasized the importance of education and how to take advantage of opportunities to broaden one’s knowledge. Simply put, a person anywhere in the world can enroll into a school with an IB program and succeed. IB aims not to support any kind of ideology, like socialism or communism. Its goal is to level the playing field so that people around the world have fighting chances to do something great with their lives, which is something I think we Americans sometimes tend to take for granted.
Sure, I guess some could say that leveling the playing field so that everyone has equal opportunity is a socialist idea. But if the alternative is to reject options for people in third world countries to be educated and shown the broad spectrum of knowledge, then I do not think the label of socialism is really relevant. I would think at that level as human beings we would try to help a fellow man in need. (I do not mean to come across as snark, but I think being a good Samaritan is an idea Christianity supports.)
On that note, I am sure there are several details in curriculum that are anti-American. But to be frank, when has that been new? America and its policies be it foreign or domestic have been criticized by other countries. But so have theirs. That’s the nature of countries with their own independent agendas and self-interests. We criticize others for their beliefs, we criticize ourselves for being dumb, and we support our views when we are seen as politically and socially correct. That trend has never changed, and I think that firstly, IB takes advantage of this trend and secondly, to ignore the views of others and other countries is, well, ignorant of us.
Yes, as an IB student I learned what Karl Marx believed, but I also learned what Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle believed in Theory of Knowledge. Why on earth was Marxism taught? Because it is a view that had influenced many people and events in history and it would be a shame to not at least analyze. In English, we analyze all sorts of pieces of literature with various universal ideas. Personally, I did not enjoy reading Sylvia Plath’s poetry. I thought it was nonsensical and hoped I did not have to do it for my internal assessment. But that does not mean I should not have been exposed to it. Her poems, Marxism, communism, etc. are all pieces of knowledge, and knowledge is not to be wasted. People often talk of choice. Well, IB offers choice: the choice of what beliefs to believe and what ideas to criticize. IB offers opportunities to learn and analyze the nature of these beliefs so that students are more learned individuals.
In closing, I would just like to say that I think people who believe that IB is anti-Christian, etc. miss the picture of what IB is trying to accomplish. IB, like Wikipedia, is trying to spread vast knowledge around the world so that people can learn and discover for themselves their own pathways to knowledge; and quite frankly I think this idea is truly remarkable and should not be cast into the wind and forgotten.
I only ask that those who are critical of IB to re-evaluate their views using the vision of IB I tried to paint.
Zach’s comments show that he is definitely not an IB student, he seems to be actually implementing some right-wing agenda. The IB Language A1 program merely publishes a “Prescribed Book List” (PBL) of hundreds of authors from which the teachers choose a challenging syllabus under the supervision of the IBO. I don’t think ANY of the authors are placed on there for any kind of bias, most are just classic American and British authors. The only requirement of all IB students is one Shakespeare work. In fact, for all of you to see, this is an example of an IB English syllabus, my teacher’s:
Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Cherry Orchard, Pride and Prejudice, Hamlet, Othello, Poems by Keats, Browning, and Eliot, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Return of the Native, Their Eyes were Watching God, Essays by Achebe, Uncle Vanya, The Canterbury Tales, and the Handmaid’s Tale.
The only ones with any kind of political leaning were the Handmaid’s Tale and the Essays, and several conservative students had absolutely no problem analyzing them. In fact, the IB explicitly expects and rewards their students to put their own thought into their work in the framework of literary criticism.
That’s just English. For history (History of the Americas) I had a teacher who described herself as a right-leaning moderate, to tell the truth. Those here who try to attack history show that you know nothing, nothing at all about how IB history works. It is quite different from AP history, because it is not very fact-oriented. Sure, you have to learn the facts, and they expect that the teachers cover a wide variety of topics and thoroughly explore an area within a region and explain the histrionics behind 20th Century World History. I’m very sorry that if you feel that history that doesn’t just say “America kicked ass in World War II then we killed all duh Commeez” is the only kind of history one should know. IB actually stresses knowledge of how dictatorships rise and fall, and how corruption therein works. It seems to actually stress democracy in the framework of international understanding and how one can best set up a democracy, to prevent Weimar Republics leading to Hitlers, for example. IB really, really wants its students to recognize that history repeats itself and to prevent conflicts and corrupt governments, in general.
I laugh hardest at the “radical environmentalism” asserted above by the person from Virginia. In chemistry, we studied the Environmental Chemistry option. Yes, one must learn how global warming works and what evidence goes along with it, but never asks you to form an opinion. It also provides a counterbalance, and actually shows how GLOBAL COOLING is occurring. Mostly that option concerns with removing poisonous substances from air and water. Yeah, really. It’s gonna destroy our world if you can’t drink your water with sludge in it or if you have to see some more of that photochemical smog.
In IB, I can say that I actually got further in all of my subjects than any of the AP classes could have provided. I learned literary criticism at a much higher level than AP English students. I can write historical analysis, not just recall facts. I know a great deal of organic and analytical chemistry and can personally analyze the causes and effects of reactions on a small and large scale, on top of everything AP Chemistry has to offer. IB Math HL goes to the same length as AP Calculus BC, with some linear algebra and much deeper thought concerning proof than its AP counterparts. Take AP if you want to learn. Take IB if you want to learn more deeply, learn to analyze, and at the same time recognize that the world isn’t all about you. Take IB if you want to mature.
Maybe best of all, it’s highly regarded by great colleges and universities. I have friends going to Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, UNC-Chapel Hill, Emory, GWU, and so many other great institutions. I can proudly say I’m going to one of the first four of those. Think about that. Is it more important for your kid to know how to properly salute the flag and hate “damm feriners and libruls” or would you rather they be the next leaders of this land, innovators, and able to think for themselves?
Hi every one, the author has a hidden left agenda, I take Ap classes which are are better than IB Classes. I’ve taken IB classes before and let me tell you, its all about other countrys and how there better than America. Everyday they start class with pleges to communist nations and then read books about how communism is great.
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I am a 6th form student in the UK studying the international baccalaureate and I’m shocked at the comments made against the IB. I’ve only been doing the IB for a month now and so far I am extremely enjoying it.
The IB doesn’t just educate a person to pass an exam or to get into university but to live life and question what you are taught in society. How can this be a bad thing?
If you wish for your children to go through life accepting everything that they are told and live the “great” American life, then that is your choice. However, what gives you the right to determine another childs education? Cutting out the international baccalaureate would be a great mistake in both the UK and the USA.
I came across this article when I was looking at American universities and their opinions on the International Baccalaureate. If I go to a university in America, I question how well i shall be excepted after reading this.
To all of those who are pro-IB, I would be happy to speak to you once I’m in America!
+ to number 20- I wish we made pledges to communist countries! The idea of pledging to your capitalist country terrifies me!
The reason the religious Right hate the IB is because it teaches children to think for themselves – the antithesis to what the RR want. Far too dangerous to allow children to think! They might think their way out of the superstitious nonsense which dominates most religions. They might think that cooperation and collaboration is more useful to the world than competition and wars. They might even think that humans are more important than money!! It’d be the end of civilisation as we know it!!
Two things to say about IB. The physics curriculum just cut out three and a half weeks of physics, replacing it with about four weeks of global warming type stuff. Are they serious?! That tells you a lot about who they are and what they value. If you are satisfied with the change then you belong in IB. If you find it ubsurd, then you don’t.
Second thing: as soon as I saw the title of the anchor course, Theory of Knowledge, I knew this was a liberal program. Who else but a liberal would come along and tell you how you need to come to knowledge? And only liberals would try to justify it. Most everyone else would give people the room to determine that on their own. For all their open mindedness, liberals don’t want most people to think for themselves. Small case in point would be the rules in writing a paper in college by APA standards. You can’t use the word homosexual, you must use the word gay. Talk about thought police. If you can’t see the problem here, then you’re a comfortable liberal and IB is the place for you.
I don’t know as much as I should about IB, but the more I learn the more I don’t like.
I am attending a meeting in ohio next month about removing the pledge of allience. I checked out the school website and saw they are in the IB cirriculum. I did some deep research into this and must agree that it is masking a communist/socialist theme. Once the school goes with the program, they relinquish any major say in the program. The program dictates the cirriculum. AND, most of the books they have for required reading are authored by teachers within their program. Hmm, sound cultish? These authors dont even live in the USA, so they are not brought up with our philosophy of life or politics. Just like any good journalist, they have a perfect opportunity to put their own propagandish twist on anything. The United Nations approves of this cirriculum as well, that should say something isnt right. Also, they promote that the students will be more accepted to international universities. Hmm, last time I checked I thought the world was coming to the US to go to school. This IB is very bad news for America. Get it out of here.
Rep 26., you made my day by this sentence: “Last time I checked I thought the world was coming to the US to go to school”.
When was it that you check? Was it 1960?
It’s not the world coming to the US. It’s called Indians and Chinese migration. Yes, they take the IB and they get to the colleges they wanted to and steal some more of America’s jobs.
IB is the UN’s trojan horse to grab the ’smart’ kids and brainwash them into thinking that the UN is their government, America sucks, and that capitalism is evil. It has no place in our public schools using OUR PUBLIC DOLLARS. I OBJECT TO IT.
Sure you can home school your kid to protect him from all this nonsense, but 95% of the kids will be ruined by it just because their parents know nothing better.
I took languages in grade 5, and we did not need the UN to help us have a good curriculum that is rigorous. IB spends too much time trying to change the students’ values, and for many of us, NOT FOR THE BETTERMENT OF SOCIETY IN THIS COUNTRY, which should be the goal…
But there lies the rub — some of you are obviously not for American exceptionalism.. shame on you.
Umm, you guys since when did “international” mean “political”? Really, I don’t understand how questioning your opinion and view on issues is bad. Before I even knew such a thing as IB existed or what political parties were I was questioning whether or not everything people in power do is right. That was 5th grade. I was not a communist or liberal or conservative. I just thought that the pilgrims were inconsiderate and that the cold war was ridiculous (it reminded me of my 1st and 3rd grade sisters in a spat).
Regardless of whether or not its a plot, there is a lot that can be learned from IB. Maybe a new perspective will benefit the extreme “I’m better and more powerful than you” attitude that this country seems to hold. Really. I don’t know where you were in biology class, but the last time I checked we were still all human beings. No alien invasions yet.
Maybe, don’t be naive. Not political? Education for liberals is all about politics. They know that who controls education controls a society.
To show you how unpolitical IB is, the last workshop I went to had what was essentially an Obama commercial. I don’t have a problem with questioning different points of view but please understand that there is a political agenda here.
Well, I just finished the IB programme the last may and it helps me a lot to understand other cultures, religions and ways of thinking. I’m Mexican, oooo wow a mexican who studied the IB… all the american people that I told “i’m a Mexican IB student” always say that… and I think that it is stupid for some reasons… not because i’m from other country that’s not USA does not mean that my education is bad, that i have less opportunities for my future, I do not travel in donkeys and i never use big sombreros… and an american who studied the IB knows that.
Well that was an example, my point is that the IB helps you to expand your mind, to think: “I am human, the chinesse people are humans, the russians are humans, so… why we are fighting? we have more simmilarities that differences”
I’m proud to be mexican, and the IB does not changed that. You as a Proud americans that i think you are, have to understand that if you learn other points of view of other parts of the world, other theories, other countries and religions, at the end you’ll be a better american because you will appreciate more what you have and change what is wrong like making judges of other people without know them and breaking stereotypes.
I think that having that kind of education is the future for making a better world… I think that the real problem is making allways a difference and the fanatism… why we have to choose between white or black when there is the grey and both colors share that?
As a teacher of TOK and World Religions I can tell you for a fact there is no hidden agenda involved in the program…the aim of my classes is to broaden minds and enhance perspective…number 14 above is an idiot…and if he thinks academics are lazy he should try teaching childeren some day….the only problem is they may turn out to be like him…ignorant and close minded
I’m an IB student from an Asian country,learning about world literature from India and Indonesia, from Ireland and Britain, being exposed to existentialism and absurdism, conformist VS non-conformist, schools of thoughts that many never get the chance to consider.
I create my own experiements for Bio IAs and am encouraged to think for myself and hence define my own learning experience.
I ponder about reason and logic in faith, struggle to come to terms with contradictions, and am emerging convicted of my Catholic faith despite being necessarily shaken– a maturation process.
With academic honesty, a necessary desire to learn, a willingness to be accept pluralism and the plethora of opinions that international students can share (like in my school, IB can indeed mould you to be someone vastly different from say, the Cambridge route. Learning to assert, to accept, to ascertain- just some As in the IB i’ve learnt to appreciate. IB students might not be the best, but we are distinct.
But of course, how enriching or fruitful your experience turns out is really defined by you.
CurrentIBStudent: Do they not teach spelling in an IB school? It’s frightening to me that you are in high school and your spelling is so atrocious.