In 2021, after 11 years teaching music in a state school in the home counties, I moved to Europe and began teaching music in an international school. This was my first experience of the International Baccalaureate (IB), which is taught in my school across both the Middle Years Programme (MYP), years 7–11, and the Diploma Programme (DP), years 12–13. After two academic years I am moving on, which gives me a chance to reflect on my time with the IB and consider what I’ll take forward into the next chapter of my teaching career.
Before I begin it must be noted that I am speaking from my experiences in one school, with some knowledge of other contexts, through CPD, training, and my professional networks. By no means is my experience indicative of the IB as a whole.
Inquiry
Central to the IB is the principle of ‘inquiry-based learning’. The inquiry cycle of ‘inquiry – action – reflection’ forms the core of all units across the MYP and the DP. Students are encouraged to ‘construct’ their understanding through this inquiry cycle, using case studies to support this process. Two common types of inquiry are structured inquiry and open inquiry. The former involves the teacher guiding students through case studies, using pre-determined processes and questions, in order that students reach a specific understanding. The latter is, by definition, more ‘open’; students have control over the methods of inquiry, case studies, and often the learning itself. In the IB there is a focus on ‘conceptual’ learning; it is important that student understanding can be transferred to new topics and areas.
Silicon Valley International School ©
Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle
I really like structured inquiry, particularly in the MYP. I was forced to think carefully about my case studies (repertoire), and clearly define the musical understanding I intended for my students. In the UK, I often found myself thinking ‘there are so many possible learning outcomes here, I’ll just see what happens’, which doesn't work in the IB. Medium-term planning is so important; I am constantly asking myself ‘what will students understand from this case study, that they will be able to apply in the next?’. The order of pieces within a unit becomes key to a learning journey.
Bringing case studies to life
Perhaps the approach to inquiry and case studies can be summed up by way of an example. In MYP5 (Year 11) I taught a unit based around music and plagiarism. Essentially, several real-life cases of (alleged) plagiarism were selected, each of which allowed us not only to discuss the ethics and validity of the claims, but to teach specific musical concepts arising from the pieces involved. For example, the estate of Marvin Gaye's plagiarism suit against Ed Sheeran for the track ‘Thinking Out Loud’ provided an excellent opportunity to discuss harmony and explore popular-song chord progressions. Plagiarism cases involving sampling allowed us to spend a few lessons on hip-hop, composing short pieces using samples and technology. The same was true with cases involving a melody, such as the Coldplay vs. Joe Satriani case, or musical texture in the example of Marvin Gaye vs. Robin Thicke.
Many of the case studies could be explored through performance, and the musical analysis we did had a clear purpose. Not only did students explore musical concepts but they used this understanding to form coherent arguments around intellectual property and the artistic process. Perhaps my favourite part of this unit was the ‘summative task’, which is assessed and brings together student learning from across the unit. Instead of a composition, performance or piece of written work, students created videos in which they ‘argued’ a side from a real-life copyright case. They were required to re-create elements of two or more songs (performed live or using technology) as musical ‘evidence’ to illustrate their arguments.
This innovative approach to popular music allowed students to explore case studies, gain understanding of musical concepts, and illustrate this musically in their final piece of work. The discussions around plagiarism in art, reinforced with musical examples, allowed them to transfer their learning, bringing together different disciplines and ways of thinking. The unit moved from structured to open inquiry in an organic and meaningful way. In my next context, a unit like this will form a core part of my curriculum.
Limited reach and depth
Open inquiry is tough to do well and is found more often as we move further up the school. The DP Music programme has no exam, and the emphasis is on students themselves choosing the music that they use to complete their course components. As a teacher, I would use my own carefully selected case studies to model the potential processes students could apply to their own work; from selecting repertoire, analysing it, and using this analysis as a springboard for composition or performance. My concerns with open inquiry in the DP Music programme, through my specific experience, are two-fold.
Despite my best attempts, I felt students did not stray far enough from their pre-existing musical preferences when choosing repertoire for their DP submissions (and I struggled to justify ‘forcing’ repertoire on them). For me, despite the breadth of music I used to model work for students, this did not manifest itself in student submissions. The openness of the inquiry model in some cases narrowed the breadth of music students explored themselves.
Secondly, with such broad possibilities in the DP, it was impossible to cover all possible musical understandings they may need through the case studies I choose. I moved so quickly, in order to give them enough examples that would allow them to complete tasks themselves, that depth was often sacrificed. Inquiry is hard when you don't have the ‘tools’ to inquire, and giving students these tools through an inquiry-based approach is valuable, and powerful, but not always practical. There was so much they needed to understand before they could transfer their knowledge, that it was hard to balance inquiry-based approaches with more traditional instruction-based ‘teaching’.
Service
As part of the MYP, students complete ‘Service as Action’ (SA), a requirement to contribute to their community, be that local or global. This is built upon and extended in the DP programme with ‘CAS’ (Creativity, Action, Service). Essentially, students’ actions outside of the classroom become ‘a requirement’ to move through the IB, rather than something that is done ‘in addition’ to their academic studies.
At the beginning of my journey through the IB, this excited me hugely. As a music teacher, there is so much potential here; from membership of ensembles to concert admin and leading bigger projects, the Arts in general should be an important part of ‘service’ in any IB school. I've seen this element of the programme done really well, and also not so well, sometimes within the same institution. In practice, I often come across a few issues due to this ‘requirement’ of service in the IB programme.
When proposing projects, clubs or events, students would often automatically ask, ‘can I use this as a service activity?’, and when students had reached their service requirement, they were more reluctant to take part in extra-curricular projects. It was difficult to convince students that things were worth doing for their own sake, when the ‘requirement’ of SA or CAS was looming over them.
There is an inherent injustice in ‘extra-curricular activities’; it is so often the preserve of the privileged, those with the time, and increasingly the funds, to take part. This element of the IB is a well-intentioned attempt to ensure all students benefit from the potential values of service, or experiential learning. My worry is that in reality we see the same divisions; those who would access extra-curricular ‘normally’ continue to do so, and those who might feel excluded will do the ‘minimum’ to complete the requirements. For me, we need to look at the activities offered themselves and ensure they are inclusive; that all students see themselves represented both in and out of the classroom.
The future
I have discussed the IB with my colleagues in the UK for countless hours, and I will be thinking about my experiences for years to come. Ultimately, I have grown as a teacher through experiencing and thinking critically about the IB.
What are my key takeaways? It is so important for teachers to make choices about both repertoire and learning outcomes based on the students in front of them. Case studies can be so powerful, and learning is of so much more value when it can be used again and built upon in different contexts. Any curriculum and co-curricular offer must be considered and justified in terms of its relevance for all students within an institution. Our subject thrives when music-making and gaining musical understanding is seen as having intrinsic value in and of itself.
I look forward to seeing how my experiences with the European Baccalaureate in my next school further enrich my journey through music education.
