8 School Library Monthly/Volume XXVII, Number 5/February 2011

Feature
T
he International Baccalaureate Diploma
Programme (IBDP or DP) is a curriculum
available to students in the fnal two years of
high school. Although there are two other
curriculums available from the International
Baccalaureate (IB), an organization focused
on international education, the Diploma program is
the oldest one and is often referred to as just the IB.
However, what it is called is just one misnomer associ-
ated with the Diploma. It has been called a super-test
(Mathews and Hill 2005), considered as appropriate for
only gifted students, and seen as a way of furthering a
students chances in preferred tertiary education insti-
tutions. Others regard it as a vehicle for international
education and a way to help a person become a global
citizen. The IBDP is a curriculum that is set by the IB
and not by individual schools, and is assessed and
moderated externally (though there are some internal
assessment practices, too).
Intent of IB
Te concept of a baccalaureate is to
develop an individual who is balanced in
sciences and humanities, as well as experi-
enced creatively. Students need to follow
six courses across a range of disciplines, or
a subject matrix as it is called in Diplo-
ma terminology. Furthermore, the IBDP
enables a student to develop signicant
skills in research and original and critical
thinking through following a Teory of
Knowledge (TOK) course and complet-
ing the Extended Essay requirement.
(Tere is also a certicate option, whereby
students take only subject courses and do
not complete core requirements of the
diploma itself.)
Because there are a number of impres-
sions about the Diploma, this article
looks at what the IBDP means to various
groups in high school communities
students, faculty and administration, as
well as the IB organization itselfin an
attempt to provide a focus for school
librarians with the DP in their schools.
Tis is especially relevant as the Diploma
is growing in popularity in schools in
North America (Wallace 2006).

International Baccalaureate
Diploma Programme:
What It Means
to a School Library and Librarian
by Anthony Tilke
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School Library Monthly/Volume XXVII, Number 5/February 2011 9
History of IB
It is helpful to remember that the
IB, as an organization, developed in the
1970s, around their then sole product,
the Diploma. It was rst oered in inter-
national schools, which are usually private
institutions around the world that exist to
meet the education needs of children of
expatriates (including diplomats, business
people, and those working in non-govern-
ment organizations [NGOs]). Educators
in international schools were looking for
a program that would help their students
gain entry to various universities and col-
leges in their home or other countries. In
the early days, they may have also had an
optional idea to focus on international ed-
ucation (Peterson 2003). Tese days, the
IBDP has grown to be oered in many,
perhaps most, countries in the world, and
not only in international schools,
but in various types of schools,
both in the private and state sec-
tors (Hayden 2006).
What
School Librarians
Should Know
Tere are a number of big
ideas that are central to the IB
concept and brand, and it may
be helpful for IB school librar-
ians to remind themselves of
these.
International education is
central to the existence of the IB as
an organization and its curricula. Te
mission statement of the IB indicates
that a student should gain interna-
tional understanding from follow-
ing IB programs. Various qualities,
dispositions, and skills related to
this and other aspects of learning are
identied in the IB Learner Prole, a
ten-point plan developed by the IB.
Another aspect is to provide a con-
tinuum of education K-12. Tis does
not mean, however, that a student
must follow all the three IB pro-
grams; it is possible to undertake just
one, and this is not just true of the
Diploma program.
Yet another main aspect of the IB
philosophy is regular development
of the DP with signicant input into
curriculum development from the
teachers of the programme.
Finally, another important aspect is
academic honesty. Tere are strict
guidelines about plagiarism and
much encouragement to promote
high standards of academic honesty
amongst students.
What does all this mean to an IBDP
school librarian? Following is informa-
tion seen through the lens of the potential
main user groups of the library:
Students. A reality for students is
that the DP is a demanding program,
with signicant amounts of work
requirement and deadlines for assign-
ments. Tey also see it as signicantly
helping with entrance to college and
and external assessment of student
work. Te courses have considerable
amounts of content. All these make
for time pressures on teachers. Teach-
ers may also be involved in teaching
or supporting core elements, such as
the TOK course, or being supervi-
sors for individual students who
are completing the Extended Essay
requirement.
Administrators are concerned about
managing resources, whether sta,
space, or expenditure, and a factor
will be whether the school or college
concerned is oering the DP as an op-
tion with other courses, or the main
or sole course available to a particular
cohort of students. Tere are ongo-
ing costs associated with being an
IB school. A key ally will be the DP
T
he school librarian can contribute to the
core of the Diploma and to the subject
matrix, most obviously in an aspect
of the language course, to provide a range
of world literature.
university. Some of their experiences,
such as the Extended Essay, give
them experience in researching and
developing extended pieces of writing
that are particularly helpful in uni-
versity (Sjogren and Campbell 2003).
Tey may be too busy to reect, but
if and when they do, they may nd
that they have a sense of fullment
and achievement, as well as valuable
experiences and skills that will serve
them well in the 21st century (Taylor
and Porath 2006).
Faculty. Teachers are involved in
teaching various subject courses,
dealing with an externally-set curric-
ulum or syllabus and specic require-
ments, with deadlines, for internal
Coordinator, which each school that
oers the diploma must have to over-
see the program at the school and to
liaise with the IB itself (Jones 2004).
Challenges
Tere are then some challenges associ-
ated with being an IB school librarian,
especially in high schools where the IB is
only one of several course options oered
to students. Tere may be resource impli-
cations in supporting the DP while also
facilitating other courses that may not, on
the face of it, require the same resources.
However, in practice, resources such as a
wide-ranging print collection and access
to journals and electronic databases, could
One time permission by Libraries Unlimited for use on April 19-20, 2013 for the IB Nordic Conference, Gothenberg, Sweden.
10 School Library Monthly/Volume XXVII, Number 5/February 2011
be used for other courses as well as the
DP.
It is true, though, that there are
signicant resource implications for the
Diploma, not the least of which is helping
students to complete their 4,000 word es-
say, an original piece of work. Students re-
quire and develop a range of specic skills
in successfully completing the Extended
Essay process (Munro 2003). While
databases can provide a lot of support for
students, the skills and knowledge of the
local information and library infrastruc-
ture of the school librarian are important.
For instance, a number of librarians may
typically help to provide access to local
university libraries, take part in courses
or seminars to help students through the
process, and provide information and ex-
periences in tackling various aspects of the
essay, such as the need to write an abstract
for their essay.
School librarians also provide crucial
support in teaching students how to
prepare good essays such as constructing a
formal bibliography, learning how to cite
in text, and successfully navigating various
databases.
Because of the demanding nature
of the Diploma, it is vital that students
manage their time well, and both library
and librarian can have a role in enabling
students to develop good levels of time-
management skills (Tilke 2009).
School librarians can also help sup-
port the TOK program, not only with
provision of various resources, but also
by contributing to the teaching of the
program. TOK teachers are trained by the
IB, but in practice any member of the fac-
ulty could become a TOK teacher. Tere
may be a role, too, for the library and its
librarian to assist students in identifying
worthwhile local organizations and causes
to full their Creativity, Action, Service
(CAS) requirement.
Te school librarian, therefore, can
contribute to the core of the Diploma and
to the subject matrix, most obviously in
an aspect of the language course, to pro-
vide a range of world literature. Subject
requirements obviously vary with subject
options, but it is always worth liaising
with individual subject teachers to work
out how the library can help students and
teachers.
In Summary
Te library and school librarian
can play a role in the schools Diploma
program, alongside students, faculty, and
administration. School librarians new to
the program often ask about guidelines or
documents that identify the librarys role,
but there are not specic library docu-
ments. However, it is always worthwhile
to talk to school administrators, and
specically the IBDP Coordinator, about
how the school library can support the
Diploma, as well as look at the newly-
issued program standards and practices
that have been revised this year and are
now program-specic (https://www.ibo.
org/become/documents/Programmestan-
dardsandpractices.pdf ). Tese standards
are used by schools to reect on their
provision and practice. Tey are also
used by inspection teams from the IB, so
whether a school is new to the program or
has been oering the DP for some time,
it is helpful for a school librarian to reect
on these standards with the goal of mak-
ing the library rmly part of the schools
Diploma program.
References:
Hayden, Mary. Introduction to International
Education. Sage Publications, 2006.
Jones, Steve. Implementing the Diploma
Programme in School. In Implementing the IB
Diploma Programme: A Practical Manual for
Principals, IB Coordinators, Heads of Depart-
ment and Teachers, edited by Marc van Loo
and Kevin Morley, 31-77. Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 2004.
Mathews, Jay, and Ian Hill. Supertest: How the
International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our
Schools. Open Court Publishing, 2005.
Munro, John. Te Inuence of Student Learn-
ing Characteristics on Progress through the
Extended Essay, a Component of the Inter-
national Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
Journal of Research in International Education
2, no. 1 (April 2003): 5-24.
Peterson, Alec. Schools across Frontiers: Te Story
of the International Baccalaureate and the
United World Colleges. Open Court, 2003.
Sjogren, Cli, and Paul Campbell. Te Interna-
tional Baccalaureate: A Diploma of Quality,
Depth and Breadth. College and University
Journal 79, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 55-58.
Taylor, Mary Lee, and Marion Porath. Reec-
tions on the International Baccalaureate
Program: Graduates Perspectives. Journal of
Secondary Gifted Education 17, no. 2 (March
2006): 30.
Tilke, Anthony. Te Impact of an International
School Library on the International Baccalau-
reate Diploma Programme: A Constructivist
Grounded Teory Approach. Unpublished
Ph.D. diss. Charles Sturt University, Australia,
2009.
Wallis, Claudia. How to Bring Our Schools
Out of the 20th Century. Time 168, no. 24
(December 10, 2006).
Anthony Tilke has worked
with the IBDP for over
ten years. He is currently
Head of Library at the
International School of
Amsterdam in The Neth-
erlands. Email: atilke@isa.nl
B
ecause of the demanding nature of
the Diploma, it is vital that students
manage their time well, and both
library and librarian can have a role in
enabling students to develop good levels
of time-management skills.
One time permission by Libraries Unlimited for use on April 19-20, 2013 for the IB Nordic Conference, Gothenberg, Sweden.