Abstract
The IB Educator Certificate course is comparatively recent and courses offered have unique attributes depending on the university. The author's purpose in this chapter is to explore the impact of an overseas school visit on the undergraduate students' understanding and perception of the IB, especially in their attitudes towards other cultures. The author organized a study trip to Malaysia and Singapore, visiting four International Baccalaureate (IB) schools. Implications of the trip were explored through a qualitative survey and semi-structured interviews to analyze the effect on students' views, their understanding of IB, with a particular focus on international mindedness. A comparative interview was also conducted to compare experiences and reactions of students who only visited IB schools within Japan. The author found that overseas school visits do have an effect on students' attitudes in relation to international-mindedness and cultural awareness.
TopBackground
Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s second term in office, the Headquarters for Japan's Economic Revitalization was created and the Revitalization Strategy – under the slogan “Japan is Back”- was approved by the cabinet in June 2013 (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, from now on MEXT, 2014). Within this Revitalization Strategy, a goal was established to increase the number of IB schools in Japan to 200 by 2018. This was an effort to prepare the future workforce for globalization, and in doing so, the goal was to increase the number of students who go abroad to study. In addition, another aim was to change the education system so that students can acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills, in addition to a second language. Disseminating the IB curriculum by increasing the number of IB schools was one of the strategies by which the government decided to tackle this problem. MEXT and IBO collaborated to create a Japanese Dual Language diploma, which allows students to take a maximum of four out of the six IB subjects and the core subjects (Extended Essay (EE); Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS); and Theory of Knowledge (TOK)) in Japanese. The preparation for this started in May 2013 and was implemented from April 2015. Offering the IBDP as a Dual Language diploma reduced the language barrier considerably with the aim of putting more focus on the development of critical thinking abilities and expressive skills rather than an emphasis on language ability (Moriguchi, 2018).
Key Terms in this Chapter
International Baccalaureate Educator Certificate: A teacher training program specifically for the IB curriculum offered by the IBO, in partnership with universities and institutions.
International-Mindedness: A view of the world in which people see themselves connected to the global community and assume a sense of responsibility to its members.
MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Japanese educational curriculum is governed and operated by this ministry.
Cultural Awareness: Being conscious of other cultures in their differences as well as understanding one’s own culture.
Globalization: The movement of people at a world-wide level, and interaction of people, economy, and the government of different nations.
Teacher Training: Training that the student must undergo in preparation to become a teacher.
School Visitation: Similar to classroom observation, it is a formal or informal observation of teaching in the classroom and observation of other areas of the school.