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1. Introducing IB History

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  • Getting started: Students/
  • 1. Introducing IB History

History and the IB learner profile

Studying IB History gives you the opportunity to develop an in-depth knowledge of different aspects of history from different regions of the world and across different time periods.

This is an exciting prospect; it means that by the time you have completed your IB diploma, you will have a greater understanding of the world in which you live. Indeed, one of the aims of the IB Diploma is to encourage you to develop as: ‘internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.’ (IB History guide pg vii). 

Your development as an IB learner will be helped and encouraged through the study of History.

What skills will you need to develop as an IB History student?

In order to get the most from your history studies and to ensure that you also receive the best grades possible in this subject you will have to work hard to develop certain skills. Indeed, as a history student, you face a demanding task. Not only do you have to read and learn the detailed content for the case studies you cover but also understand the key conceptual frameworks and be able to analyse and evaluate different narratives and perspectives.

The kind of skills you need to develop can be linked to Bloom’s taxonomy of skills. Bloom saw the top of the pyramid as representing the highest level of skills – and indeed, this is ultimately what you will need to do in your essay writing and source work. However, the bottom of the pyramid – knowledge and comprehension - provides the basis for all of the higher levels. You cannot demonstrate one with out the other!

If you refer to the History guide for the IB Diploma you will see that these skills are the basis for your assessment objectives.

  • Knowledge and understanding  - Assessment Objective 1
  • Application and analysis - Assessment Objective 2
  • Synthesis and evaluation - Assessment Objective 3. 

You also need to be able to present your arguments in a structured way, reflect on the methodology used by historians, develop focused research questions and be able to research and select appropriate resources. (These skills are part of Assessment Objective 4).


All of this will require good study skills, an ability to think things through, and the skill of communicating effectively. Also of course a love of history and a desire to find out about the past!

We aim to help you develop these skills through the activities on this InThinking History site.

You will notice as you work through the activities on this site that we refer to ATL. These are the IB Approaches to Learning skills which you will find in all subjects.

Each activity is linked to one or more of these ATL:

    Thinking skills
    Social skills
    Communication skills
    Self-Management skills
    Research skills

Discussion Task

The aims of the history course at SL and HL are to

  • encourage students to engage with multiple perspectives and to appreciate the complex nature of historical concepts, issues, events and developments
  • promote international-mindedness through the study of history from more than one region of the world
  • develop an understanding of history as a discipline and to develop historical consciousness including a sense of chronology and context, and an understanding of different historical perspectives
  • develop key historical skills, including engaging effectively with sources
  • increase students’ understanding of themselves and of contemporary society by encouraging reflection on the past.

IB History Guide, First Examinations 2020, pg 10

Look at the characteristics of an IB learner (see above and also the appendix of History Course guide pg vii).

How might the study of History help in your quest to become an IB learner?

Where can IB History take you?

The skills you develop while studying History will help you in a broad range of other IB subjects and will be applicable to any higher education courses that you take.

They will also prepare you for a range of careers which need these skills.  Your ability to extract relevant information from a wide range of sources, to analyse that information, to understand different perspective, present different arguments, to reach conclusions and to communicate all of this effectively will give you a skill set that employers value highly.

Thus history students go on to careers in journalism, law, civil service, marketing, sales, banking, management, teaching, computing and politics.