The curriculum
The programme consists of eight subject groups integrated through five areas of interaction that provide a framework for learning within and across the subjects.
Students are required to study their mother tongue, a second language, humanities, sciences, mathematics, arts,
physical education and technology. In the final year of the
programme, students also engage in a personal project, which allows them to demonstrate the understandings and skills they have developed throughout the programme. The IB Middle Years Programme, for students aged 11 to 16, provides a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and become critical and reflective thinkers.
Students and parents will develop an understanding of the IB learner profile. The ten aspirational qualities of the learner profile inspire and motivate the work of teachers, students and schools, providing a statement of the aims and values of the IB and a definition of what we mean by “international-mindedness”. IB learners strive to be inquirers, thinkers, communicators, risk-takers, knowledgeable, principled, open-minded, caring, balanced and reflective.
Teachers organize the curriculum through the five areas of interaction:
Approaches to learning is concerned with developing the
intellectual discipline, attitudes, strategies and skills that will result in critical, coherent and independent thought and the capacity for problem solving and decision-making.
Community and service starts in the classroom and extends beyond it, requiring students to participate in the communities in which they live. The emphasis is on developing community awareness and concern, a sense of responsibility, and the skills and attitudes needed to make an effective contribution to society.
Homo faber allows students to focus on the evolution, processes and products of human creativity. It considers their impact on society and on the mind. Students
learn to appreciate the human capacity to influence,
transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. This
area of interaction encourages students to explore the
relationships between science, aesthetics, technology
and ethics.
Environment aims to make students aware of their interdependence with the environment so that they become aware of their responsibility, and may take positive, responsible action for maintaining an environment fit for the future.
Health and social education prepares students for a physically and mentally healthy life, aware of potential hazards and able to make informed choices. It develops in students a sense of responsibility for their own well-being and for the physical and social environment. For example, a group of students in year 1 of the programme could learn about pure substances and mixtures in sciences (chemistry). As part of their laboratory activities, students apply simple techniques to separate different types of mixtures, including techniques for separating impurities from water.
The skills to be developed would include:
• using simple equipment
• making straightforward observations and measurements
• drawing scientific diagrams.
The teacher could then lead the students to explore issues linked to environment and homo faber by posing questions such as:
• How pure is pure?
• Can the energy costs involved in the production
of pure substances be justified?
• Why is only a fraction of the world’s water directly
drinkable?
• How can we produce enough drinkable water to meet
our needs?
The teacher could use these questions as a focus for discussion, for written responses or to lead into a further topic. They provide an authentic means of looking critically at an increasingly relevant resource problem with ethical dimensions
Find out more
Read online documents
You can read and download information about the three programmes and the continuum on the document library pages.
These documents are also available to buy from the IB store.
Academic committee
Terms and conditions [292 kb, PDF]
