International Mindedness
How best do we prepare our students to live in a highly interconnected and rapidly changing world?
One way in which the IB addresses this is in aiming to develop in each person international-mindedness in a global context. Being an IB World School is to recognize the importance of the world as the broadest context for learning.
International-mindedness lies at the very heart of the IB Mission which aims to develop young people "who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect ...who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right." International-mindedness is referenced throughout the IB Standards and Practices, the checklist for both IB authorization and five year evaluation.
The development of international-mindedness in a school is an ongoing process involving the whole learning community.
The aim of all IB programmes is for students to develop and demonstrate international-mindedness. It is a multifaceted concept that captures a way of thinking, being and acting. Internationally minded students are open to others and to the world, and are cognizant of our deep interconnectedness (IB, The learner, PYP, 2018 p22)
- The PYP offers opportunities to inquire into human commonalities through the transdisciplinary themes.
- The MYP offers opportunities through the interdisciplinary units.
- The DP offers opportunities through the Core: Theory of knowledge, Creativity, Activity, Service and the Extended Essay.
"As educators, we must put in work to ensure that we are teaching and leading responsibly and respectfully. Being well prepared and staying up to date on the latest discussions about teaching internationally diverse populations and courageously engaging in the deep work needed to tear down cultural biases and discrimination is essential. So many international teachers think that they have transcended racism, sexism, homophobia etc. simply because of the frequency of their proximity to people from those communities. However, as international school leaders, we need to be more intentional about intercultural training. We should start by remembering that international schools have functioned as neo-colonial constructs for far too long, creating cultural bubbles that have kept host countries out and sheltered international families from the realities around them. Some of us have rested on the notion that by having colleagues from diverse backgrounds, we are somehow not among those who could be racist and culturally biased. We need to be more responsible - by being intentional about learning what it means to be respectful to our students and colleagues. In this way, we will foster intercultural understanding and respect in our communities. People who are understanding and respectful of their community contribute to a better, more peaceful world." (Abenaa Uttenthal, MYP Coordinator at the International School of Hellerup in Copenhagen, Denmark)
Professional Inquiry
Our professional inquiry will explore the following questions:
- What is meant by international-mindedness?
- How is international-mindedness nurtured and developed?
- How are local and global issues addressed through all the IB programmes?
IB Community Blog
What the IB taught me about international-mindedness,July 29, 2020 IB Community Blog
DP graduate Maja Johansson Hedstroem of Katedralskolan discusses how the DP and her experiences travelling taught her to seek understanding of others. She reminds us of the importance of recognizing both differences and similarities when solving global problems. This is her second story in our graduate voices series.
Key documents
The IB have commissioned a number of research and position papers into international mindedness. Due to copyright protection I cannot provide you with a direct link to them. However, if you copy and paste the following information into a search engine you will easily access them.
Promoting International Mindedness in Our Schools, Davy, I., IB, 2005.
Research summary: Conceptualizing and assessing international-mindedness (IM): An exploratory study,Paloma Castro, Ulla Lundgren and Jane Woodin, 2013, IB.
21st century international mindedness: An exploratory study of its conceptualisation and assessment Michael Singh & Jing Qi, IB, (2013).
Teacher thinking on developing informed and engaged students for a globally connected world, Merry M Merryfield, Tami Augustine, Moonsun Choi, Jason Harshman and Melinda McClimans, IB (2012).
Learning stories and global engagement pieces on the IB Online Curriculum Centre. Your IB Coordinator will be able to access these in the list of general IB publications.
Research and Case Studies
The International Mindedness Journey: School Practices for Developing and Assessing International Mindedness Across the IB Continuum, Elisabeth Barratt Hacking, Chloe Blackmore, Kate Bullock, Tristan Bunnell, Michael Donnelly, Sue Martin Department of Education, University of Bath August 2016, is a research study aimed at systematically examining how IB programme schools conceptualise, develop, assess and evaluate IM, and to understand related challenges and problems. It uses nine case studies from IB schools. It concludes: “While the study captured many ‘fuzzy’ definitions of IM, it found that stakeholder conceptions converged on three philosophies. First, IM is relational in that it is about reaching out to how we perceive and interact with others from diverse cultures. It then becomes intra-personal or reaches in to better understand ourselves with respect to different others. Above all, IM is a process or a journey and that this process is more important than any fixed definition. Useful and noteworthy practices in schools were also collected, and presented as vignettes. These were found in leadership practices, Professional Development opportunities, the IB curriculum, extra-curricular events and activities, the hidden curriculum and relationships with the community. A cross analysis suggested that the Case Study Schools saw little benefit in the summative assessment of IM, but most recognised that internal formative assessment was helpful in understanding and developing IM. Formative assessment was considered to be constructive for students, teachers and schools.” It can be accessed HERE.
