IB vs International school

NAJ

Not many schools in HK got the official IB World School status at present.  It is normal to take three years for a candidate school to become IBO approved.

For primary schools:
http://www.ibo.org/school/search ... =&find_schools=Find
For Secondary schools (MYP/DP):
http://www.ibo.org/school/search ... =&find_schools=Find
http://www.ibo.org/school/search ... =&find_schools=Find

[ 本帖最後由 NAJ 於 09-12-8 13:11 編輯 ]

NAJ

原帖由 monkeydog 於 09-12-8 21:05 發表
What is the difference between IB diploma and MYP? Can they both sit in the IB diploma exam.?

MYP = Middle Years Program,  a bit similar to F.1-F.5
Diploma is similar to F.6-F.7

If you study all the way in IB schools, you will go thru PYP -> MYP -> DP, then University after the diploma exam/assessment.

NAJ

原帖由 daisy17772 於 09-12-8 20:52 發表
Probably Logos is the only school in HK that claims to target for her students to attempt both exams. All other HK schools would only target for IB or let their students to choose either 334 or IB d ...

Logos is targeting to integrate NSS with IB DP into a single cirriculum, according to the comprehensive review report:
http://www.logosacademy.edu.hk/LA_chinese/News/CR%20Report%20_Secondary.pdf

If this ambitious goal is successful, then the students can probably sit for both exams, but the IB DP also requires the student to spend effort to submit an extended essay.

NAJ

原帖由 daisy17772 於 09-12-8 23:58 發表
That is because the cost for getting IB certified all the way from PYP, MYP to DP is substantial.  So some schools like CKY  they only target for Dip.

Agreed.  IB is a costly program to run, though it also offer a quality education experience if implemented properly.

If you look at the number of years:
- PYP (exclude kindergarten) = 6 years
- MYP = 5 years (Creative has shortened it to 4)
- DP = 2 years

Getting DP certified is relatively easier and it involves much lesser cost to a put a school on the IBO radar.

I tend to believe the value of running IB is to offer the students a quality development experience, e.g. a whole-year personal project during MYP.  Just hope all these DP-only schools already have nice cirriculum frameworks before DP, or in the process of being MYP certified.

[ 本帖最後由 NAJ 於 09-12-9 09:26 編輯 ]

NAJ

原帖由 gingerale 於 09-12-9 12:55 發表
其實很多家長都搞不清甚麼是IB﹐只知不是傳統教學﹐又有D似活動教學﹐學費又比較高。  看起來﹐IB的理念和NSS的通識科差不多﹐都是著重批判思考﹐也沒有課本﹐大家有沒有看上週的新聞透視﹖  
一科通識﹐都搞到教局和所有中學頭都大﹐辦I ...

Frankly speaking, the DP part of IB is more for connecting/preparing IB-trained students to enter University, that's part of the reasons why there are exams for DP but no exams (just assessment) for the rest.  In fact, during DP study, there is a core subject like an extended version of 通識 called "Theory of Knowledge", which encourages each student to reflect on the nature of knowledge by critically examining different ways of knowing (perception, emotion, language and reason) and different kinds of knowledge (scientific, artistic, mathematical and historical).  Adding to this is the effort to write an extended essay on one of the subjects studied.  Getting good result in IB DP is obviously no easier than A level.

A school need to have enough qualified IB teachers/admin to get certified, that means it either need to hire (from abroad or limited local pool), or to train its teachers/admin and get them pass the assessment.  A candidate school thus need to spend the time and money to eventually become certified.

Btw, doing IB DP only is a pragmatic way to connect its students to U world-wide, but perhaps the true value of IB lies in the long term training of youngsters to grow-up and mature in a rich and non-spoon-fed environment.

[ 本帖最後由 NAJ 於 09-12-9 15:17 編輯 ]

NAJ

原帖由 monkeydog 於 09-12-9 17:18 發表
I think to answer A level or IB is easier really depends which kind of students you are talking about. IB must be easier for a student trained under western teaching mode/western countries. HK student ...

Just for sharing, I had a couple opportunities to visit some IB PYP schools as potential student's parent.  Not all IB schools are created equal, just like traditional schools, some are more outstanding, but out of the considerable cost to operate the program, at least some common standards set by IBO are observed.

The better ones that I had chance to visit, the students are in general quite well-disciplined but eager to express.  They started to do unit works via Google search and deliver regular presentations in front of unfamiliar peoples from early years of PYP.  They did not excel at dictation and probably are not good at exam techniques yet, but seems to have better teamwork and planning ability.  The PYP also requires quite intensive involvement by parents, at least for earlier years.

NAJ

原帖由 BB小WIN神 於 09-12-9 19:55 發表
本港的IS都以IB為教學方針

Not 100% true, most IS use IB-DP to connect their students to U worldwide, but many of them are using their country's education framework to teach primary/secondary years, e.g. SIS is using the Singapore framework, not even DP.

[ 本帖最後由 NAJ 於 09-12-9 20:39 編輯 ]

NAJ

原帖由 BB小WIN神 於 09-12-9 20:33 發表
咁就想請問下有無BK的會員有兩個或以上的小朋友是分別在IB local schools 及International schools就讀過或中正就讀，他們的意見會比較中肯，否則很難比較！
別外，IB local schools 到目前為止仍沒有往績可尋，如何比 ...

So few local IB school now, Creative and ISF just got IBO-approval this year, and both ISF and VSA runs more like international school.

I think a better comparison is to contrast IB IS and non-IB IS, especially pre-DP years.

[ 本帖最後由 NAJ 於 09-12-9 20:53 編輯 ]