January 29, 2013
I headed out west over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend to attend an International Baccalaureate (IB) Conference. The three-day event was held at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Stuck at the airport, I may not have seen too many of the sights of greater Los Angeles but all ten conference sessions took place on the 18th floor of the hotel and provided sweeping views of the LAX runways. Something about that opportunity brought out the ten year old boy in me as I made sure I was close to the windows so I could watch, over and over again, takeoffs and landings at the world's sixth-busiest airport.
The conference itself was a mixed bag. I was fulfilling the obligation heads of school have to attend an IB conference. IB Coordinator Andy Collins had told me months ago that I needed to go to one, so I went. I suspect that part of the reason that heads of school are required to attend is to provide a sort of brand assurance for the IB organization. A majority of the content I had already gleaned from observation and review of IB materials.
The true value of the conference was in the personal connections made and the sharing of experiences delivering the same IB Diploma Programme in remarkably different contexts. Sharing the table in the 18th floor cohort were superintendents, heads of school, principals, and IB Coordinators from: Mumbai, India; Portland, OR; San Diego, CA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Norfolk, VA; Dublin, GA; Kokomo, IN; and, of course, Olney, MD. Most were from public school settings; the US is one of the few places in the world where public schools outnumber private schools in offering the IB program.
What was striking was the extraordinary challenge many of these leaders face in sustaining their programs. One principal reported that state funding is such that he may not run any class, IB or otherwise, that does not have at least 40 students. As a former English teacher, my head spins at the notion of grading that many papers. In many cases, the funding for their IB program is under constant threat. Yet, they persevere. They are passionate in their belief that an IB Diploma Programme is worth fighting for.
I'm not sure how much fighting was involved in the bold decision more than 18 years ago to pursue an IB Diploma Programme here at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. I am grateful to my predecessors who not only saw the value of IB, but were willing to take on the considerable expense and the stress of adopting new curricula and pedagogies. We were ultimately authorized as an IB World School in July 1995. That's a long time ago, and we are seeking confirmation of our belief that we have the longest-running IB Diploma program of any Catholic school on the East Coast, and possibly the entire country.
The IB learner profile seems very Xaverian. It refers to ten types and qualities IB students strive to be: inquirers; knowledgeable; thinkers; communicators; principled; open-minded; caring; risk-takers; balanced; and reflective. These mesh well with at least four of the five core Xaverian values: humility, compassion, zeal and trust. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to learn more about the learner-centeredness at the heart of the International Baccalaureate organization's mission and how it helps develop students with the skills to be successful in today's world. In our context as a Xaverian Brothers' Sponsored School, it is a great fit. IB works here.