|
Our perspective
on the International
Baccalaureate Program and how it compares to classical
Christian education.
Several Boise area schools
including Northstar Charter and Riverstone International School
use the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
Parents occasionally ask how these compare with classical
Christian education. IB programs have high academic
standards, as do classical Christian schools. The main
difference is in the IB worldview. IB program is
typically recognized and preferred by liberal colleges
because it combines strong academic standards with the
progressive (liberal) multicultural view. The main difference between the two
systems is that classical education bases itself in the
traditional Western cultural and Christian ideal of Truth, Goodness, and
Beauty. The IBO pursues a postmodern view of tolerance
and relativism.
Below is the mission statement
of the IBO:
The International
Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring,
knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create
a better and
more peaceful world through intercultural understanding
and respect.
To this end the IBO works with schools, governments and
international
organizations to develop challenging programmes of
international education
and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to
become active,
compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that
other people, with
their differences, can also be right.
From this mission statement,
families can expect an approach that is not sympathetic with
the Western cultural tradition of America's founding fathers
(the position generally described as "conservative").
Of course, nothing in the IBO's statement is directly
objectionable. As classical Christian educators, we want to understand other cultures
and respect their people as image bearers; we want students
to be caring, knowledgeable, and inquiring; and we want our
students to be humble in understanding that other people can
be right.
However, these phrases are
euphemisms that mean much more than they
say. They represent postmodern ideas that permeate the
educational environment and reject
a divine standard of Truth in favor of personal truth, God's
goodness in
favor of social relativism, and Beauty in favor of personal
preference. What is really meant by progressives is that we cannot claim that
a Western idea of justice is superior, for example, to the justice system
which includes human sacrifice. The IBO's values are
more in alignment with the Humanist Manifesto which represents the moral
system of progressives.
Classical Christian educators
discuss the great ideas of human history and judge them
based on their conformance to the standard of Truth outlined
in Scripture and through reason. This is what develops
our students' passion for Truth, and their verbal reasoning
skills. This is also what offends many on the Left.
The claim that Truth can be judged by a universal standard
violates their value system.
Many major universities are philosophically
committed to tearing down the traditional educational
absolutes because they reject America's Western cultural
roots. At the same time, many of the countries finest
colleges recognize students who have a "Great Books" type of
education in the Western Classical tradition. We've
found that colleges are quite impressed with graduates from
Classical Christian schools.
So what should a parent
conclude? If you seek an education based on the left's
values of tolerance and relativism, without a common
understanding of Truth, then the IB schools are probably the
right choice for your family. If, however, you desire
your student to be taught under the assumptions that built
traditional American values, you may want to consider
classical Christian education.
|
