Who exactly is a 21st century student? What is his role in this modern world? Where does he fit in and how does he view the world around him? Questions like these are routinely being deliberated and debated by educationist and thinkers. The differences in pedagogy, teacher approach, curriculum, all counts a lot in framing the outcome and mentality of the modern student and his/her eventual as a global citizen in this world.

A university professor once set an examination question in which he asked what the difference between ignorance and apathy is. The professor had to give an A+ to a student who answered:

I don’t know and I don’t care. – Richard Pratt, Pacific Computer Weekly, 20 July 1990

The above example, though cited two decades back, was a shocking reminder of the trend, future education was heading for. Majority of the students did not really care for education per se. For most, it was a means to satisfy their parental expectations by getting their degrees and diplomas, or a passport into a secure future, with monetary considerations at the forefront. Very rarely would there be students who thought beyond their sphere of subjects in school and think of the greater ‘school of life’ and how to contribute towards it. No wonder, G.M Trevelyan, long ago stated:

Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.

However, one could hardly put the entire blame on them considering how narrow minded, tunnel visioned their parents were. (I want my son/daughter to be an Engineer, Doctor or a Scientist. Nothing less would do). No wonder then, the above quoted reaction by the student in the University exam.

However, things have changed a lot since those days. Many reforms have taken place and modern schools these days are not churning out robots, programmed only for one thing. Pink Floyd, with their iconic song, “We don’t need no education” can have a rethink on their observation about society, students and the world in general.

The International Baccalaureate Programme, based on sound and practical philosophy of teaching has formulated the perfect recipe on how a modern student should be, given that he/she is allowed liberty of though, encouragement in activity and, most importantly, the belief that he/she can fail but it is not the end of the world. That failure is only seen as a ‘learning moment’ to discovering success.

IB students are nurtured very carefully right through their formative stage in the PYP Programme, followed by the MYP till the DP level, where they are developed into lifelong learners by learning how to blend with the IB Learner Profile. Hence, students start becoming Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced and reflective.

From being simply ‘book-worms’ or ‘nerds’ or ‘geeks’ , commonly seen in the past, students in the IB Programme have become more ‘rounded personalities. They empathise, they seek, they challenge, they perform and they care. The common platform on which the IB students and teachers stand, the values that all of them seeks to spread, makes the IBO mission statement of creating a self-less Global citizen a visionary but realistic one.

The IB Attitudes, which again are reflective of what a 21st century learner should be, remains the bed rock on which parents, teachers and administrators guide and facilitate the students to be, not only in the academic institution but also, in the school of life. Just imagine a student who shows appreciation, is committed, develops in confidence day by day, cooperates and collaborates with one another in all spheres of life, is full of creativity and curiosity to learn from all sources, empathic with the needs and concerns of others around, shows enthusiasm and is capable of independent thinking , while maintaining his/her own integrity. Add this to respect for others and tolerance and you have the complete global citizen which is visioned by the IBO. The quote below by Sir William Haley encompasses it all:

“Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don’t know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it.”

The units of enquiry in the PYP curriculum which is: who we are; where we are in time and place; how we express ourselves; how the world works; how we organise ourselves and finally, sharing the planet is the starting base from which students assimilates much of their ideas and thoughts. Thus, real world ideas which are generated at this stage is further strengthened in the MYP programme, which focuses on students being able to collate their ideas and extract knowledge and from multiple subjects and create a fusion of new understanding.

By integrating subject areas with interaction, conceptions of health and social norms, experiential learning through community and service work, the student now becomes mentally and psychologically prepared for the rigours of the DP Programme.

Prospective parents of PYP and MYP students are encouraged to go though the IB Learner booklet and the IB Learner Profile video to have a firsthand realization of the programmes. Any normal IB classroom, be it at the PYP, MYP or the DP level always have a display of IB Learner Profile posters. This is so because the teachers are encouraged to discover and profile students according to the attributes they have and what others could be developed. These are also linked to the lessons and texts that they are following. This allows the students to have great fun while identifying characters in, for example, novels and stories with the learner profiles and make connection with them.

The transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of the PYP Curriculum and the MYP programme would seem a bit more flexible and holistic when compared with the Diploma Programme, which is essentially centred on 6 academic subjects. However, the bud which started blossoming during the PYP and the MYP programme now blossoms fully in the DP, with the addition of core components in the DP level like the extended essay, TOK and CAS provide for that window through which students learn about themselves, discover untapped strengths within, learn to accept and respect multiculturalism, in a level headed logical way.

Finally, at the conclusion of the DP Programme, the global citizen walks out, ready with the skills, attitudes and knowledge needed in a global society.

Author: Chiranjeet Bhattacharyya