01.10.2020

Beacon Talks esclarece dúvidas sobre o Diploma Programme, do International Baccalaureate

The third Live of the new season of Beacon Talks, held on September 30, clarified the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme teaching dynamics. To address the subject, the guest for the conversation was the coordinator of the High School Diploma Program – IB of the Beacon School, Karine Vairo, who spoke with one of the school’s educational directors, Audrey Peverelli.

The theme focused on an essential phase for teenagers: high school, which will start at Beacon in 2021, proposing the training of young people to make choices and promote multiple opportunities for the exercise of citizenship and autonomy with a program challenging academically.

The coordinator explained the International Baccalaureate in English International Baccalaureate (IB), a global and multilingual teaching certificate starting the transmission. The IB is divided into four educational programs: Primary Years, High School, Careers and the Diploma Programme, or Diploma Programme, adopted by Beacon, which, through an internationally accepted qualification, prepares students for entry into higher education, with attention to national issues, which guarantees a wide range of academic possibilities.

“This integration allows students to take the compulsory subjects and make choices of their academic paths with autonomy, to mold themselves to the areas of greatest interest,” explains Karine.

The three Core Elements of the DP adopted at Beacon are the Extended Essay, a dissertation text project in which students engage in independent research on any subject related to one of the DP disciplines studied; Theory of Knowledge (TOK), which proposes a reflection on the nature of knowledge and develops an approach that unifies academic disciplines; and Creativity, Action, Service (CAS), activities and projects created by students, following the three elements, which enhance their personal and interpersonal development through experimental learning.

Karine also explains that, during the program, in addition to the mandatory subjects of the Brazilian curriculum, students can choose up to at least five of the six subject groups. At the end of the program, for approval, students must reach a minimum of 24 points.

Another question referred to students who want to attend universities in Brazil. Karine explained that renowned Brazilian institutions currently accept candidates who have participated in the Diploma Programme, which encourages students to develop critical thinking, independence, individual and collective awareness through a “dense program and academic rigor” for “ teach for life.”

Another point reiterated by both Audrey and Karine was about welcoming students during high school through individual tutoring programs – this one with teachers in specific areas of the student’s interest and career guidance and choice of a university. “The school offers all the necessary support and, throughout the course, they will not be alone,” she adds.