On Tuesday evening, I went to a meeting at the Lone Star Girl's old elementary school (yes - it was nice to be there!) on the International Baccalaureate program that our school district is applying to gradually become part of over the next few years.
At our school district, kids test for the "gifted" program, called Athena, in kindergarten (kids in private kindergartens like the Lone Star Girl attended can also elect to be tested, but they have to score higher to get in). Kids who test in attend a special school for elementary school, and they all attend the same middle school together, although there they are a "school within a school". The program is quite good in terms of advanced academics and enrichment, but there is really nothing set up for the kids in high school - at that time, they just scatter and make do with the somewhat questionable honors classes that are offered. This International Baccalaureate program would provide a strong high school component as well. It is supposed to be inquiry-based , very community service focused and is supposed to focus on making sure kids understand global cultures as they will be living in a global world. It sounds good to me, but we didn't really get any hard information.
A number of parents seemed...concerned....about that whole global cultures component. Sigh. Could we be any more xenophobic in this country? I really don't think they need to worry about it. Considering.
Does anyone have any experience with this program they would like to share?
5 comments:
My "nephew" is in his 2nd year of IB after 8 years of French Immersion Montessori ans ot's been good for him. What IS up with the xenophobia? How can parents not view this as a wonderful opportunity?
Glad to hear it. I don't know...
I don't have experience with that program, but as a college teacher, I wish my students had been exposed to more. I am teaching a class on South African history, and at the beginning of the semester only half my college students didn't know who Nelson Mandela was, and one only knew about him from a Chris Rock joke. I think learning about other cultures will absolutely help them navigate the 21st century. It also teaches things like critical thinking skills, which has broad applications. The only danger, I think, is if they get a polyanna view of the world, just learning about recipes and clothes. I think they should learn that we are all fundamentally, spiritually ONE FAMILY, but that we occasionally have serious differences of opinions about things that we need to learn to navigate. Maybe not all that in Kindergarten, but I hope you get my point.
I am amazed there are concerns. I wish we had something like that here.
Thanks for posting, eileen! I am sorry I so rarely get to your blog these days but my ancient computer can't seem to load it anymore. I agree, though, as a history teacher, I think history curricula currently tend to be so war-focused that we could use some recipes and clothes!
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