Why offer the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme? A comparison between schools in Asia-Pacific and other regions

Abstract

The International Baccalaureate (IB) has become a powerful educational brand by developing a reputation for combining progressive approaches with academic rigour. This can be identified by the growing number of schools adopting IB programmes globally and especially in the IB Asia-Pacific region. As part of this trend, the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP), aimed at students between 11 and 16 years old, has expanded significantly in recent years. However, in Asia-Pacific, the MYP remains less popular relative to the IB's Primary Years Programme and pre-university Diploma Programme (DP). This article compares the motivations of IB MYP and DP Coordinators for choosing the MYP in Asia-Pacific with their counterparts in other parts of the world. To achieve this, 175 IB Coordinators across 54 countries were surveyed. Findings revealed that IB pedagogy, holistic approach, philosophy and global citizenship were the most popular reasons to offer the MYP. Yet, IB Coordinators in Asia-Pacific put relatively greater weight on marketing, the MYP Certificate and external validation of school-based assessments. This article argues that this emphasis may stem from a high concentration of schools operating in the private international schooling sector and discusses the potential for the MYP to continue to expand across the Asia-Pacific region.

Impacts of International Baccalaureate programmes on teaching and learning: A review of the literature

“…Another four studies in our sample included participants across the globe, without specifying particular countries. One of these studies, by Wright, Lee, Tang and Tsui (2016), included participants from 54 countries. In terms of research design and methodology, 58% of the articles were qualitative, 22% were quantitative and 20% utilized mixed methods.…”

“…As described earlier, the PYP and MYP are curriculum and pedagogical frameworks; the DP, on the other hand, structures its curricular content offerings and is externally assessed (Hallinger et al, 2011). Many IB teachers and Coordinators across the globe value the opportunity provided by the PYP and MYP to develop their own content, as reported by 71% of participants in the large cross-national study conducted by Wright et al (2016). Using the same dataset, Hallinger et al (2011) found that most participants perceived the structured curricular frameworks of the DP challenging.…”

“…It has also been documented among MYP teachers, as found by Stillisano et al (2011). In their large cross-national study of the MYP, Wright et al (2016) found that the MYP's emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching and holistic approach is highly valued, as reported by 79% and 88% of IB Coordinators respectively.…”

Letting Go of the Middle Years Programme: Three Schools’ Rationales for Discontinuing an International Baccalaureate Program

“…These values are instilled through the IB's Learner Profile, a value system aiming to encourage students to become caring, principled, inquiring, reflective, and openminded, among other traits (Rizvi et al, 2014). The MYP's core concepts of communication, intercultural awareness, and holistic learning are said to develop the "whole person" and not just focus on academic content (Wright, Lee, Tang, & Tsui, 2016).…”

Principals’ Attitudes towards International Exchange Activities in the Context of Taiwan

“…Despite its original aim to provide an internationally standardised education system, it does not escape opposition and criticism. As Wright, Lee and Tang (2016) point out, IB schools focus on cultivating groups of highly competitive students for entering elite higher education institutions. In addition, other critics assert that students' minds may be shaped towards globalism; that is, if students fail to submit to a 'globalist' way of thinking for the examinations, their chances in obtaining adequately high scores to enter elite schools is compromised (Mathews, 2001).…”