Tasfiah Rahman, Class II
One of the attributes that make TBLS stand out from other NYC high schools is the IB program it offers to 11th and 12th graders. According to the official IB website (ibo.org), the IB programme “aims to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge—students who flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.”
Students who choose to follow the IB diploma route have to take an additional class once a week called ‘Theory of Knowledge (ToK), complete the Extended Essay (EE), and actively perform CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service). As someone that partakes in the IB program, I wondered how other students felt about the IB curriculum. I conducted opinions and short interviews with juniors and seniors and received varied responses. Some were positive while others had mixed feelings.
Sophia Chen, a class II discipula stated, “I disliked how sophomores were introduced to the IB so late. I felt that there was not enough time to process and make proper decisions. They might want to change electives over the summer.” Sophia also wished she could choose two electives rather than one. “I wanted to take computer science and visual arts,” she says.
Hebe Lu, another class II discipula says that “the homework is always constant and if there is no homework, a project replaces it '' Hebe feels that the classes we currently have are “basic” and wishes they were more diverse and that she could play musical instruments. Hebe believes aiming for the diploma gives you a challenge.
Another discipula from class II felt satisfied with taking HL classes but not the diploma. For her, taking HL English had a similar pace to sophomore year and as someone fluent in Spanish, taking IB Spanish was no big deal. Some students had a different outlook on the IB program.
Senior Cindy Truong says the “IB program developed my writing skills and critical thinking skills.” Matthew L., another senior, said “The IB program prepares you for college because of all the writing you have to do, you learn to write a lot of very long paragraphs.”
I asked some teachers about the IB program: whether they required any special training to teach the IB, and they did not. However, specific training is needed when helping students with the Extended Essay.
While collecting opinions and researching, I started to wonder how our school actually selects what IB classes and electives to offer us. Mr. Lao, our IB coordinator says, “We need to balance the requirements for the IB Diploma program with the requirements for a New York State high school diploma. All of our students take IB classes, but not all of our students end up with the IB Diploma. However, all graduates from TBLS will earn a New York State public school diploma, so we need to be sure that whichever IB courses we offer also satisfy the requirements for NY State.” That being said, it makes sense “we offer English Literature as an IB course because it also satisfies the NYS English credit requirement.” When it comes to the electives TBLS offers, “we are often constrained by staffing restrictions, student interest, financial considerations, and our physical school space.” Mr. Lao continues. Financial considerations are sometimes hard to avoid. Some courses require more materials than others, and materials can be expensive. For instance, IB Music requires space and sometimes instruments that are very costly. Additionally, physical space plays a key role. Our school does not have the capacity yet to have more spacious rooms. The more electives there are, the more classrooms would be needed.
If you are a current freshman or sophomore reading this article and want to pursue the IB diploma, ask yourself a few questions. Are you committed and willing to put in extra work than your fellow-non IB diploma peers? Do you feel comfortable with skipping lunch once a week to attend TOK class and writing a 3000-4000 word extended essay by senior year? It can be very hard to balance a lot of things at once and many students feel the IB diploma may not be for them. Many discipuli want to prioritize their mental health first and that is totally fine! Brooklyn Latin offers all juniors and seniors to take IB classes whether they are doing the diploma or not. Students that don’t complete the IB diploma still get certificates for classes they do excel in.
How do you feel about the IB program? Are there any changes you would like to see implemented in our school? Let us know! If you have any questions related to the IB program, feel free to reach out to Mr.Hill or Mr. Lao, our IB coordinator.