What are the top schools offering IBDP courses in Mumbai and how is the teaching methodology of IBDP courses?

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is unique in the way the curriculum is structured, to provide holistic learning to its students. It helps students to keep their options open and explore the various disciplines further. The possibility of keeping a broad choice of subjects coupled with the option of doing them at the HL and SL along with the core components of TOK, EE and CAS helps build the knowledge and skills for higher education and life beyond.

The teaching methodology is guided by the approaches to teaching and learning (ATL), a set of deliberate strategies, skills and attitudes that marinate the teaching and learning environment. These approaches to teaching and learning are also intricately linked to the development of internationally minded students.

The term “skill” is therefore used in a broad sense in the Diploma Programme to encompass cognitive, metacognitive and affective skills. Cognitive skills include all the information-processing and thinking skills, often helping students to move from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking skills. Affective skills are the skills of self- management and emotional management underpinning traits of resilience, perseverance and self-motivation. Metacognitive skills are the skills that aid students to become aware of their thinking process and thus reflect and evaluate their learning.

The IB school learner is positively challenged to think critically and to learn in a flexible environment across areas of knowledge and disciplines. The emphasis on horizontal and vertical articulation helps to broaden thinking and establish connections which develops them into lifelong learners.

The teaching methodology is also governed by the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The UDL guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. The focus is on student agency, personalised learning, mastery based learning and developing deep relation.

Differentiation too is practiced that helps teachers support students in the teaching and learning through their focus on content, process, product and learning environment. Students characteristics of readiness, interest and learning profile too are considered as basis for effective differentiation.

IB school students take responsibility for their own learning and their teachers are facilitators in this process. The unique TOK course helps students ask challenging questions and think critically. The TOK facilitator is not a sage on the stage but a meddler in the middle who churns the thoughts and beliefs of students.

The extended essay provides practical preparation for undergraduate research, an opportunity for students to investigate a research question which relates to one of their six DP subjects. Through the research process for the extended essay, students engage in a personal exploration of the topic, communicating their research findings supported with the help of primary and secondary data.

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) is one of the three essential elements that every student must complete as part of the Diploma Programme. Completed throughout the two years, CAS involves students in a range of activities, which inculcates in them the need to give back to the community. It is not formally assessed. The students record and reflect on their CAS experiences and their CAS projects to achieve the seven learning outcomes for CAS.

The DP internal assessments measure the extent to which students have mastered advanced academic skills that help to challenge, analyse and present their understanding, constructing arguments and solving problems. Basic skills of conceptual understanding and application are also assessed. The Internal assessments include oral work in languages, fieldwork in geography, laboratory work in the sciences, investigations in mathematics and artistic performances. The assessments are thus criterion referenced rather than norm referenced.

The external examinations on the other hand, help in culminating the learning of the two years. The external examination includes essays, structured problems, short-response questions, data-response questions, text-response questions, case-study questions, multiple-choice questions – though these are rarely used. Student results are determined by performance against set standards, not by each student's position in the overall rank order.

The IBDP learner profile describes a broad range of attributes and responsibilities that go beyond academic success. They imply a commitment to help students to ingrain in the philosophy that other people with their differences can also be right. The profile aims to develop learners who are: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced and Reflective.

Thus the DP empowers the students to direct their own learning pathway and develop the skills and confidence they need to make a lasting difference. The teaching methodology of the DP thus works on developing the innate potential of each student and enabling them to move to their best-fit higher educational institutions. The DP methodology thus enables students to blend in well to meet the intense demands of teaching and learning at universities within the country and overseas.

Also read: https://www.adityabirlaworldacademy.com/blog/why-ABWA-is-the-best-IBDP-school-in-mumbai
https://www.adityabirlaworldacademy.com/blog/why-should-parents-consider-IB-schools-for-their-kids

You can visit the IBDP school in Mumbai at the below address:
ADITYA BIRLA WORLD ACADEMY OFFICE
Vastu Shilp Annexe, Gamadia colony, J D Road, Tardeo Mumbai -400007

Contact:
022 2352 8400
abwa.info@abet.co.in

Admission Helpline
022 2352 8400