IB. Years 9-11 have all heard about it, years 12-13 live it. I had the chance to interview one of the founders: Michael Knight, who helped create the very first history exam.
1. How did the idea to create the IB come about and what was the first exam?
At that time, in mid 20th century, the teaching of History in the school was still perforce from the national perspectives of school systems in various national states. This was overwhelmingly reflected in the only available school-leaving and university entry qualifying examinations then current, all of which were based on nationally oriented curricular. Obviously this was unacceptable for a school system such as Ecolint which even then contained up to a hundred different nationalities and cultures within the student body. It was for this reason that the idea of a truly international (or as some preferred ‘supranational’) History programme more apt to this student population, and more appropriate for an international school, was urgently needed. (You need to understand that in the fifteen or so years following the end of the Second World War in 1945, and in the time of the recently established United Nations Organisation with its European headquarters and its specialised bodies such as the ILO here in Geneva, the size of the school had increased rapidly and the composition of the student body had become hugely more cosmopolitan than it had been between 1924 and 1945, during which time it had been essentially a small inward-looking Anglo-French school not only in language but also in national composition – although with some traces of a League of Nations type of internationalism.)
This might help to explain why the starting point for what became the whole IB adventure was grounded in establishing a process for the teaching of History from an international (or supranational) perspective. Subsequently this was also reflected in the field of literature by the elaboration of programmes in the broader and contingent field of world literature through some emphasis on ‘literature in translation’ (effectively meaning at the time into either English or French, the two main working languages of the school). Later, as the IB context expanded, Spanish was added to the mix).
As other subjects were incorporated into curriculum by adoption of the IB processes their ‘international’ aspects were either equally or less apparent. Geography and Economics obviously were given broader curriculum. This was less the case, or even not entirely possible, in the matter of the languages as such – although a broadening of outlook remained attainable through their distinctive literatures, if not their grammar and orthography. Less susceptible it might seem to an international approach were the sciences and mathematics. However, at the beginning, in 1964, these were things for the future, and all began from the central perspectives of History and the Languages of Instruction.
4. What would you say is the true purpose of the IB and do you think it has been fulfilled?
A basic philosophy from the start was the creation of a body of studies that propagated an international identity for students in the growing community of international schools, which at the same time respected the values their own national identities. I believe that this ideal has been and is being fulfilled.
5. How do you see the IB in the future? Do you think it will still benefit future generations? How?
Yes, I believe it will still benefit future generations. The balanced and tolerant world outlook that the ‘IB idea’ aims to promote in the context of the community of international schools – (and not only in such schools but also in what are sometimes called ‘internationally-minded schools’ in a national setting) – remains a central unique acquisition as life experiences of international school students broaden out. I can fairly confidently assert the reality this from my own personal experience of now three generations within the international schools/IB community . Indeed some of my earliest students who have now reached the age of retirement continue to tell me how true and valuable this has been for them.
6. Why are the grades out of 7?
In the early days of the origins of the IB programme and exams (and still today) with adopting a 1 to 7 system we settled on a consciously demanding scale of percentages and their corresponding descriptive words. From the start of the IB ‘s history, this structure was adopted from a perceived need to show an expectation of high standards.
Thus: = 97-100% ‘Excellent’ ; 6 = 93-96% ‘Very Good’ ; 5 = 84 – 92% ‘Good’ ; 4 = 72 -83% ‘ Satisfactory ‘ // (These remain the IB ‘passing grades’.)
Followed by : 3 = 61 – 71% ‘Mediocre’ ; 2 = 50 – 60% ‘Poor’ ; 1 less than 50% ‘Very Poor’. (Which while not in themselves ‘ IB passing’ grades’ were originally intended to have some degree flexibility by being ‘cumulative’ within the overall spectrum in terms of the IB Diploma.) But this is a somewhat technical point that has been subject to adjustments over the years.
As you can see the ‘bar’ was originally set deliberately high – although in practice, at least, so far as the examinations were concerned, it was moderated to a considerable degree by the discretionary flexibility originally accorded to examiners (of which I was one between c.1970 and c.2000). As an example of this I remember one Chief Examiner saying to me at an early annual grade boundary meeting “…but we must be prepared to be as generous as possible within the scales we are given to work with; to have anyone actually failing the Diploma should always be a very rare event”. (And looking at the statistics over the past decades I think this has been shown to have been a wise and perceptive remark.)
On the other hand the use of the 1 to 7 scale in respect of classroom coursework and assignments, whilst retaining the same descriptors and implied percentages, does not carry quite the same, implications.
7. How has the IB developed from when it was first created?
What has been most satisfying for me over the first half century of the IB is its development from a purely locally envisaged examination system, involving initially Ecolint Genève in association with UNIS New York and Atlantic College in Wales into a broadly based and internationally recognised educational system with the evolution of comprehensive curricular reflecting the international outlook inherent in IB, that are now being applied worldwide. Specific examples here are the so-named IB Primary Years and IB Middle School Years programmes.
8. What do you think about the new system entitled the universal learning program?
I so far know little about it, but I see it was recently inaugurated last September at Ecolint in association with UNESCO. From what I understand though, it is a complement to what are now IB’s overall concepts.
