How do IB schools help children follow their passion? Which are the IB schools in South Mumbai to look at?

A cursory understanding of the IB curriculum only sees a rigorous journey on a road to a university admission overseas post-secondary education. However, what the IBDP journey of two years does is that it seeks to place student interest and passion at its core and it nourishes the passion of the children and provides them with a map and a compass for their present and onward journeys. For some students, it ignites their existing passion whereas, for others, it helps them discover new passions. Aditya Birla World Academy is one of the best IBDP schools in Mumbai that understands that passion is one of the key values in education and is, therefore, able to align itself perfectly well with the IB philosophy.

To understand how ABWA, an IB school in South Mumbai helps children follow their passion, we are sharing the experiences of ABWA students and alumni.

For Samara Mulchandani, her choice of subjects and the CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service) component of the IB Diploma Programme gave her the opportunity to nurture her passion. She says, “the teenage years are prime for following your passions and discovering new ones. This is something that was understood and woven so well into the ethos of ABWA. IB at ABWA gave me the time and motivation to pursue so many of my passions while showing me new avenues to explore. Through English HL, I was given the opportunity to pursue my love for English and learn so many new ways of analyzing and understanding texts. ABWA provided me with the opportunity to continue my love for football by participating in tournaments. Along with this ABWA created multiple opportunities through CAS for us to contribute to the community by partnering with different NGOs. In my case, I was able to show my love for animals by volunteering at an animal shelter. The diverse IB subjects that ABWA offers helped me discover two new passions of mine that I really treasure: Psychology and Spanish. These subjects helped me learn so much about the world around me and I am currently studying both of them at university”.

CAS has been the space for many students to explore, discover and pursue their passions. Arshia Dolwani shares that it was CAS that forced her to look for many varied avenues to engage with experiences of Creativity, Activity, and Service. She adds, “Because our school has a thorough CAS programme and so many opportunities in the form of Happy Place, Fete or even the weekly NGO Service collaboration, one is exposed to so many experiences that there are many chances that you would find or develop a passion through this”.

For Frehan Mehta, the support system that ABWA provided in the way of research and reflection based inquiry and the faculty support helped him discover and pursue his passion: “The IBDP curriculum at ABWA inspired me to follow my dreams, engross myself in subjects that I was passionate about and actually do something about that passion. They taught me how to fuel my passion for those subjects through dynamic cycles of inquiry, action, and reflection. In my personal experience, ABWA laid the foundations for an interest in economics and the IBDP curriculum really taught me how to expound on those interests by pushing me to research and understand world economics while developing my analytical and presentation skills. At the end of the day, what I appreciated the most was the strong support system that the teachers provided every student with”.

Aanya Jajoo corroborates Frehan’s thoughts and experiences and also argues that the Internal Assessments(IA) and Theory of Knowledge(TOK) helped her define and refine her passion. She says, “each subject was taught in a method that went beyond just the information taught and included applications in society in the form of the IAs and various internal projects that our school facilitated. I also thoroughly enjoyed TOK and my language subjects because although I wasn’t going to pursue them at the university level, I was passionate about learning them and the IB allowed me to study subjects I didn’t necessarily want to pursue.” Furthermore, for Aanya, the relationship with her teachers proved to be absolutely crucial in helping her grow. She adds, “due to the small class size and individual attention per student, I was able to form real connections with my teachers and understand concepts better. By studying for the sake of learning and not for marks, I had a more whole-faceted learning experience and understood what I enjoyed, how I liked to learn, and what I was passionate about. For example, Spanish, a subject I hadn’t learned before, ended up being my favourite subject in IB purely because of the way the IB curriculum designed it, and how our teachers facilitated it”.

IB has an array of subjects with the possibility of choosing a great combination of subjects and for Mallika Maroo, it was the subject of Visual Arts that helped her develop her passion for arts and helped her choose a career in Visual Arts. “In visual arts, I was taught by my teacher to explore different kinds of mediums and concepts and since the curriculum gave the scope to create 10 or more artworks and also encouraged us to try a variety of mediums, I could explore new techniques, mediums and styles and that too in-depth. In addition to that, because of the process portfolio, I read a lot about art and various arts”. For Mallika, it is also the interdisciplinary nature of the IB curriculum that she saw as further enabling. She adds, “English Lang and Lit completely change the way I think, communicate and write. And it helps me now with the write-ups I need to create for Art and Design”.

For Nayana Vaccharajani, who is currently studying in Grade 12 at ABWA, IB has given her the tools to expand her horizons to produce better quality work. She argues, “my artwork has now so much more thought behind it. Furthermore, I’ve picked up new passions through IB like learning the keyboard or learning a new language, Spanish!” She believes that she is also more reflective and passionate about what she does because of the very design of the IBDP curriculum.

Standing firm, tall and mighty at the heart of South Mumbai, Aditya Birla World Academy’s recognition of passion as one of its core CRISP (Commitment, Respect, Integrity, Seamlessness, and Passion) values and the synchronous blend with the IB Philosophy gives each and every ABWA student a sense of being valued, respected, recognized and the confidence to soar smooth and high wherever they choose to go!

Also read,
https://www.adityabirlaworldacademy.com/blog/teaching-methodology-of-ibdp https://www.adityabirlaworldacademy.com/blog/how-is-the-international-school-curriculum-different

Author

Prodipta Hore

Gayatri Viswanath

CAS Coordinator & Spanish Teacher International Curriculum

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