Business and Management (SL/HL)
Course Description
Business and management is a rigorous and dynamic discipline that examines business decision-making processes and how these decisions impact on and are affected by internal and external environments. It is the study of both the way in which individuals and groups interact in an organization and of the transformation of resources
The Diploma Programme business and management course is designed to develop an understanding of business theory, as well as an ability to apply business principles, practices and skills. The application of tools and techniques of analysis facilitates an appreciation of complex business activities. The course considers the diverse range of business organizations and activities and the cultural and economic context in which business operates.
Emphasis is placed on strategic decision-making and the day-to-day business functions of marketing, production, human resource management and finance. Links between the topics are central to the course, and this integration promotes a holistic overview of business activity.
The business and management course aims to help students understand the implications of business activity in a global market. It is designed to give students an international perspective of business and to promote their appreciation of cultural diversity through the study of topics like international marketing, human resource management, growth and business strategy.
The ideals of international cooperation and responsible citizenship are at the heart of Diploma Programme business and management. The course encourages the appreciation of ethical concerns and issues of social responsibility in the global business environment. Students should be able to make sense of the forces and circumstances that drive and restrain change in an interdependent and multicultural world. The business and management course will contribute to students’ development as critical and effective participants in local and world affairs.
Economics
Course Description
Economics is a dynamic social science, forming part of group 3 – individuals and societies. The study of economics is essentially about dealing with scarcity, resource allocation and the methods and processes by which choices are made in the satisfaction of human wants. As a social science, economics uses scientific methodologies that include quantitative and qualitative elements.
The IB Diploma Programme economics course emphasizes the economic theories of microeconomics, which deal with economic variables affecting individuals, firms and markets, and the economic theories of macroeconomics, which deal with economic variables affecting countries, governments and societies. These economic theories are not studied in a vacuum; rather, they are applied to real-world issues. Prominent among these issues are fluctuations in economic activity, international trade, economic development and environmental sustainability.
The ethical dimensions involved in the application of economic theories and policies permeate throughout the economics course as students are required to consider and reflect on human end-goals and values.
The economics course encourages students to develop international perspectives, fosters a concern for global issues, and raises students’ awareness of their own responsibilities at a local, national and international level. The course also seeks to develop values and attitudes that will enable students to achieve a degree of personal commitment in trying to resolve these issues, appreciating our shared responsibility as citizens of an increasingly interdependent world.
Geography
Course Description
Geography is a dynamic subject that is firmly grounded in the real world and focuses on the interactions between individuals, societies and the physical environment in both time and space. It seeks to identify trends and patterns in these interactions and examines the processes behind them. It also investigates the way that people adapt and respond to change and evaluates management strategies associated with such change. Geography describes and helps to explain the similarities and differences between spaces and places. These may be defined on a variety of scales and from a range of perspectives.
Within group 3 subjects, geography is distinctive in that it occupies the middle ground between social sciences and natural sciences. The Diploma Programme geography course integrates both physical and human geography, and ensures that students acquire elements of both scientific and socio-economic methodologies. Geography takes advantage of its position between both these groups of subjects to examine relevant concepts and ideas from a wide variety of disciplines. This helps students develop an appreciation of, and a respect for, alternative approaches, viewpoints and ideas.
The geography course examines key global issues, such as poverty, sustainability and climate change. It considers examples and detailed case studies at a variety of scales, from local to regional, national and international. Inherent in the syllabus is a consideration of different perspectives, economic circumstances and social and cultural diversity.
Geography seeks to develop international understanding and foster a concern for global issues as well as to raise students’ awareness of their own responsibility at a local level. Geography also aims to develop values and attitudes that will help students reach a degree of personal commitment in trying to resolve these issues, appreciating our shared responsibility as citizens of an increasingly interconnected world.
The optional themes covered in this course will be: Extreme environments; Hazards and disasters – risk assessment and response; and Leisure, sport and tourism.
Global Politics
Course Description
The twenty-first century is characterised by rapid change and increasing interconnectedness, impacting people in unprecedented ways and creating complex global political challenges. The study of global politics enables students to critically engage with new perspectives and approaches to politics, in order to better make sense of this changing world and their role in it as active citizens. Global politics is an exciting dynamic subject which draws on a variety of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, reflecting the complex nature of many political issues.
The Diploma Programme global politics course explores fundamental political concepts such as power, rights, liberty and equality, in a range of contexts and at a variety of levels. It allows students to develop an understanding of the local, national, international and global dimensions of political activity, as well as allowing them the opportunity to explore political issues affecting their own lives. The course helps students to understand abstract political concepts by grounding them in real world examples and case studies. It also invites comparison between such examples and case studies to ensure a transnational perspective.
The core units of the course together make up a central unifying theme of “people, power and politics.” The emphasis on people reflects the fact that the course explores politics not only at a state level but also explores the function and impact of non-state actors, communities and individuals. The concept of power is also emphasised as being particularly crucial to understanding the dynamics and tensions of global politics. Throughout the course issues such as conflict or migration are explored through an explicitly political lens; politics providing a uniquely rich context in which to explore how people and power interact.
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History
Course Description
History is more than the study of the past. It is the process of recording, reconstructing and interpreting the past through the investigation of a variety of sources. It is a discipline that gives people an understanding of themselves and others in relation to the world, both past and present.
Students of history should learn how the discipline works. It is an exploratory subject that poses questions without providing definitive answers. In order to understand the past, students must engage with it both through exposure to primary historical sources and through the work of historians. Historical study involves both selection and interpretation of data and critical evaluation of it. Students of history should appreciate the relative nature of historical knowledge and understanding, as each generation reflects its own world and preoccupations and as more evidence emerges. A study of history both requires and develops an individual’s understanding of, and empathy for, people living in other periods and contexts.
Diploma Programme history fosters an understanding of major historical events in a global context. It requires students to make comparisons between similar and dissimilar solutions to common human situations, whether they be political, economic or social. It invites comparisons between, but not judgments of, different cultures, political systems and national traditions.
The content of the history course is intrinsically interesting and it is hoped that many students who follow it will become fascinated with the discipline, developing a lasting interest in it, whether or not they continue to study it formally.
The international perspective in Diploma Programme history provides a sound platform for the promotion of international understanding and, inherently, the intercultural awareness necessary to prepare students for global citizenship. Above all, it helps to foster respect and understanding of people and events in a variety of cultures throughout the world.
Information Technology in a Global Society
Course Description
The IB Diploma Programme information technology in a global society (ITGS) course is the study and evaluation of the impacts of information technology (IT) on individuals and society. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of the access and use of digitized information at the local and global level. ITGS provides a framework for the student to make informed judgments and decisions about the use of IT within social contexts.
Although ITGS shares methods of critical investigation and analysis with other social sciences, it also considers social and ethical considerations that are common to other subjects in group 3. Students come into contact with IT on a daily basis because it is so pervasive in the world in which we live. This increasingly widespread use of IT inevitably raises important questions with regard to the social and ethical considerations that shape our society today. ITGS offers an opportunity for a systematic study of these considerations, whose range is such that they fall outside the scope of any other single discipline.
The nature of the subject is defined by the use of fundamental ITGS terms. For the purpose of the ITGS syllabus the following definitions apply.
• Information technology (IT) is the study, design, development, implementation, support or maintenance of computer-based information systems.
• Social and ethical significance refers to the effects that the development, implementation and use of information technology has on individuals and societies. Social impacts and ethical considerations are not mutually exclusive and are therefore categorized as a single entity. However, in general:
1. social impacts tend to refer to the effects of IT on human life
2. ethical considerations tend to refer to the responsibility and accountability involved in the design and implementation of IT.
• An information system is a collection of people, information technologies, data, processes and policies organized to accomplish specific functions and solve specific problems.
ITGS has links with subjects not included in group 3, notably computer science, but it should be noted that there are clear differences between the subjects. The main difference between ITGS and computer science relates to the focus of study. ITGS is about how people are affected by systems already in use and those planned for the future. Computer science looks first at the technology and then later at its interaction with those affected by it. Some degree of overlap between the two subjects is intentional, inevitable and desirable.
Philosophy
Course Description
This course will be delivered via an on-line platform and is limited to a maximum enrolment level of five students. These students will work under the guidance of an on-site coordinator who will monitor student progress as they work in the Pamoja Education on-line environment. Only highly-motivated students with high effort scores in KS4 will be permitted to enrol in this course. Please note that there will be a non-refundable technology fee associated with the delivery of this course.
Philosophy deals with issues that are profound, complex, challenging and important for humanity. The Diploma Programme philosophy course aims to be inclusive and to deal with a wide range of issues that can be approached in a philosophical way. A concern with clarity of understanding lies at the core of the philosophy course. This clarity is achieved through critical and systematic thinking, careful analysis of arguments, the study of philosophical themes and a close reading of texts. Through this examination of themes and texts, the philosophy course allows students to explore fundamental questions that people have asked throughout human history. For example: What is it to be a human being? How do I know what is the right thing to do? Moreover, it confronts new problems arising within contemporary society, including those that result from increasing international interaction.
The emphasis of the philosophy course is very much on “doing” philosophy. Doing philosophy requires a willingness to attempt an understanding of alternative views by applying intellectual rigour and cultivating an open and critical mind. It also invites the development of perspectives that encompass cultural pluralism and an awareness of the international context within which it unfolds. This constitutes a new challenge for students doing philosophy within a worldwide perspective—an important feature that is reflected in the themes and activities of the course.
Psychology
Course Description
This course will be delivered via an on-line platform and is limited to a maximum enrolment level of five students. These students will work under the guidance of an on-site coordinator who will monitor student progress as they work in the Pamoja Education on-line environment. Only highly-motivated students with high effort scores in KS4 will be permitted to enrol in this course. Please note that there will be a non-refundable technology fee associated with the delivery of this course.
Psychology is the systematic study of behaviour and mental processes. Psychology has its roots in both the natural and social sciences, leading to a variety of research designs and applications, and providing a unique approach to understanding modern society.
IB psychology examines the interaction of biological, cognitive and sociocultural influences on human behaviour, thereby adopting an integrative approach. Understanding how psychological knowledge is generated, developed and applied enables students to achieve a greater understanding of themselves and appreciate the diversity of human behaviour. The ethical concerns raised by the methodology and application of psychological research are key considerations in IB psychology.
IB psychology takes a holistic approach that fosters intercultural understanding and respect. In the core of the IB psychology course, the biological level of analysis demonstrates what all humans share, whereas the cognitive and sociocultural levels of analysis reveal the immense diversity of influences that produce human behaviour and mental processes. Cultural diversity is explored and students are encouraged to develop empathy for the feelings, needs and lives of others within and outside their own culture. This empathy contributes to an international understanding.