Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
Critical Thinking and Conceptual Enquiry: A Report on the Pilot of the International Baccalaureate World Religions Course
Author: Helen James and Clive Erricker
Journal Title: Discourse
ISSN: 2040-3674
ISSN-L: 1741-4164
Volume: 8
Number: 1
Start page: 91
End page: 97
Return to vol. 8 no. 1 index page
Critical Thinking and the International Baccalaureate Curriculum
The main characteristics of the IB Diploma are that there is a requirement to study six subjects from different discipline areas, three at higher level and three at standard level. The central core also requires students to complete a course in Theory of Knowledge, an Extended Essay on a topic of their choice and a programme of CAS which involves community service and activities.1
World religions is becoming an increasingly important and popular area of study. The significance of religious beliefs as a driving force in social and political developments is being recognized in all countries and communities. Increasingly young people are showing an interest in a sophisticated understanding of religious beliefs and practice. Disappointingly, media coverage of religious affairs often distorts and simplifies belief systems, but courses such as IB world religions can act as a counter point to this, allowing students to study religions in a complex and satisfying way.
The decision to develop the IB world religions course as a pilot therefore was based on three factors. First, a solid cohort of schools already studied world religions as a school based syllabus and were keen to continue with a course in this discipline; secondly, the belief that as an area of study it is highly appropriate for students studying in the 21st century; thirdly, it accords well with the aims and objectives of the IB Diploma.
The appropriateness of a study of world religions in the International Baccalaureate Diploma is illustrated in a number of ways. The Mission Statement states that the organisation believes in fostering 'intercultural understanding and respect'2. The learner profile, which describes the student that the programmes are aiming to produce, speaks of them being 'open-minded and principled'3. In addition, the aim of Group 3 subjects to encourage 'the systematic and critical study of human experience and behaviour'4 very much accords with a study of world religions.
In 2005, a small curriculum review committee composed of experts in different world religions was assembled to develop the new course, and they proposed a radical re-think of the previous syllabus which had existed as a school-based syllabus. If a subject is mainstream and established, the curriculum review will tend to be more cautious and piecemeal. In this case the six schools belonging to the pilot were receptive to change and the committee saw they had an opportunity to develop an exciting and challenging course which included a strong methodology. Helen's job was to ensure that it complied with the standards and philosophy of subjects in Group 3 of the Diploma programme. Much of the inspiration for the course structure and methodology came from Clive.
The IB world religions course aims to encourage students to think critically about religions whilst approaching their study through an awareness of other people's beliefs. This can best be summed up as a kind of hard-edged empathy in which the student is encouraged to put themselves in the shoes of the believer, not in a lazy, sentimental way but rather through an appreciation of the conceptual heart of the religious experience of the believer.
The International Baccalaureate world religions course consists of three parts: Part 1: introduction to world religions; Part 2: in-depth studies and Part 3: internal assessment. It provides a combination of breadth and depth and a range of methods of assessment. For the introduction to world religions, students must study five world religions from the following chart choosing at least one religion from each column:
| Hinduism | Judaism | Taoism |
| Buddhism | Christianity | Jainism |
| Sikhism | Islam | Baha’i Faith |
Table 1: Taken from World religions pilot guide 2007, p.11.
This requirement ensures that students are exposed to religious ideas from a wide range of faiths, an appropriate requirement for an international education. The fundamental questions that guide the teacher through this part of the course ensure that the approach is analytical and critical.
Part two of the course represents an opportunity for students to explore two religions in depth each chosen from a separate column, again to ensure breadth of perspective. Each religion is approached through concepts and themes and the syllabus provides considerable guidance in approaching the subject matter critically.
The third part of the syllabus, the internal assessment, is a critical analysis based on an investigative study in which students are encourage to reflect on their methods of research. This exciting part of the course allows the students to follow their interests and is assessed internally by the teacher and moderated by an external examiner.
The pilot course has been in operation for two years and schools that follow it have just gone through their first examination session. All schools participating in the pilot have the opportunity to feedback on how the syllabus and assessment instruments are working and to participate in training exercises to improve pedagogy. In a recent meeting a day was set aside to visit the United World College of the Atlantic to work with both the world religions classes on improving understanding of the syllabus and on encouraging students to get to the conceptual heart of the programme.
Currently there are six schools following the pilot, four in the United States (one of which is a public or state school) one in the UK and one in Peru. In September 2008 one additional school in India will join and one more in the USA. As two of the participating schools are part of the United World College movement the classes have students from a wide variety of countries and religious backgrounds in them. This presents exciting challenges for teachers and students alike.
Feedback on the pilot course has been very positive both from the teachers and students. Below are some comments from students in participating schools:
How can you ever hope to understand other cultures if you do not understand the beliefs that motivate them? World religions has enabled me to focus on not only the differences but also the similarities that exist between different religions. (Atlantic College, UK.)
IB world religions is a class in which for the first time I felt as if my eyes were truly opened to the world and the diversity that it contains. I believe that it is essential for a true seeker of an international diploma to take this class. Not only does the course broaden the mind and open doors into uncharted territory but it also encourages a sense of empathy and understanding for others. (James Robinson School, USA.)
A Curriculum Pedagogy: Conceptual Enquiry
As mentioned earlier, designing the new world religions curriculum involved the careful consideration of appropriate and effective learning and teaching approaches. Because the curriculum demanded both a study of themes and an enquiry into concepts, the relevance of these to one another would provide both the breadth (themes) and depth of enquiry and critical response (concepts). The themes (which relate to Ninian Smart's dimensions of religion5)—ritual, sacred texts, doctrines/ beliefs, religious experience, ethics and moral conduct— provided the areas of knowledge and understanding required from students.6
However, to gain insight into and critically assess the nature of the religious worldviews themselves a list of key concepts was compiled that were distinctive to each religion, for example, the concept of resurrection in Christianity, or the concept of tawhid in Islam.7 Whilst the theme of doctrines/beliefs obviously included the key concepts it was much broader. For example, beliefs in forgiveness and salvation appear in a number of religions but do not define the distinctiveness of the religion that separates it from others. The key concepts also operate as a means of understanding the distinctive way a religion interprets human experience, its hermeneutic, and how that becomes manifest within its symbolic activities (ritual, worship, iconography) and informs its ethical judgements. At a more refined level distinctions between groups or denominations, within the same religion, can be analysed at a conceptual level and in a systematic way, to determine how and why their hermeneutical frames of reference vary according to their interpretations of key concepts and their understanding of the inter-relationship between concepts. For example, in Buddhism in relation to the concept of sunyata in Mahayana Buddhism and its effect on conceptions of nirvana, sangha and the bodhisattva. In this way, by putting the horizontal axis of the themes (knowledge and understanding) against the vertical axis of conceptual development a template is formed that provides the basis of the pedagogical strategy, or methodology, required. The priority, for learners and teachers, was conceptual engagement but this was to be achieved through covering the body of knowledge of the curriculum. This reflected the demands of the highest generic grade descriptor requirement (grade 7) of the IB:
- Conceptual awareness
- Insight and knowledge and understanding which are evident in the skills of critical thinking
- The ability to analyse and evaluate evidence
- The ability to synthesise knowledge and concepts
As a result of this approach teachers had to revise their understanding of the requirements involved in a study of world religions. Conceptual enquiry was not simply extending knowledge and understanding, nor was it teaching to extend the same. Rather, it involved setting up learning on the basis of explicit conceptual engagement to enhance the skills of critical thinking: insight gained through analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
The teaching and learning days for the teachers focused on how a concept or concepts could be introduced and then linked to the themes in the curriculum, and the stimuli used, to set up student enquiry. In many ways this reversed the teacher's planning procedures and applied greater rigour to the learning process. A template for this was provided with the conceptual cycle of learning methodology from the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus8. However, this is still a work in progress.
In the first examination in 2008 questions were designed to ensure that candidates had the opportunity to use this conceptual enquiry approach. As a result it was diagnostically possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of candidates responses according to the conceptual awareness present in their answers. Where there was little, answers were largely descriptive or involved some explanation. Where conceptual awareness was present the answers became richer and more complex involving the higher level critical skills. In effect, using a conceptual enquiry approach effectively moved students on from covering the curriculum to gaining higher levels of religious literacy and focusing on worldview analysis.
Endnotes
1 For more information on the structure of the Diploma Programme see: http://www.ibo.org.
2 http://www.ibo.org/mission/24 July 2008.
3 http://www.ibo.org/programmes/learner profile/24 July 2008.
4 World Religions Pilot Guide, (IBO, 2007) p.6.
5 Smart, N., The Religious Experience of Mankind, (London: Fontana, 1971) pp. 18-21.
6 World Religions Pilot Guide, (IBO, 2007) pp. 16-18.
7 World Religions Pilot Guide, (IBO, 2007) pp.18, 22, 25, 28, 31, 35.
8 Living Difference: the Agreed Syllabus for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, Hampshire, Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Councils, (Hampshire County Council, 2004) p. 18.
Return to vol. 8 no. 1 index page
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
