Abstract:
This presentation reports on a global study examining the activities and practices used by International Baccalaureate World Schools to support student development of 'International mindedness'. For the International Baccalaureate Organization, education for international mindedness (IM) values the world as the broadest context for learning, develops conceptual understanding across a range of subjects and offers opportunities to inquire, act and reflect. However, Walker (2010) has criticized IM as neglecting non-Western perspectives and Tate (2013) has pointed to the association of IM ‘with the emergence of cosmopolitan or transnational elites remote from the concerns of ordinary people rooted in particular societies’ (p.5). Drawing on nine case studies undertaken on four continents, findings will be shared regarding how International Baccalaureate schools themselves define international mindedness and attempt to enact IM in school policy, curriculum, activities and events. A strong focus of the presentation will be to explore how schools view the assessment of international mindedness and to detail what types of assessments of IM are used by schools. The presentation will also be used as an opportunity to address challenges such as taking IM beyond superficiality, and tensions between school and state policies, reported by the nine International Baccalaureate World Schools who participated in the study.