International Baccalaurate

The IB method makes us Innovative and International

We work with the IB method (International Baccalaurate). Created at the end of the 60s in Geneva (Switzerland), it is currently one of the most important educational programs worldwide, since it is already in 141 countries and has more than one million students. It is an innovative and international method focused on developing the abilities of each student, and that requires the continuous training of the teaching team.

 

Our goal is to train young people with an international mentality, educated in the value of solidarity and trained in communicative and critical skills, which allow them to be able to create more peaceful societies, governed by mutual understanding and respect for all the cultures. Multilingualism is basic to shaping this international mentality, even more so today, within the framework of a global society that speaks in countless languages, but which communicates internationally in English.

 

Our educational proposal is innovative. In addition to being the only school in the city of Barcelona to apply the PYP (Primmary Years Program), in the 2017-2018 academic year we started to apply the MYP (Middle Years Program). This work of the teachers of Princess Margaret International School has been recognized with the official certification of the PYP, in which we were  awarded 5 special mentions, 3 of which referred especially to the cohesion of the entire faculty of the school.

 

In Princess Margaret International School, the IB methodology is taught in Infant and Primary Education through Units of Inquiry, a series of projects that revolve around marked objectives and clear guidelines for children; and in which each student is the center of learning. This is done collectively and the role of the teacher is to guide the student in the way of their personal formation. Each one of the different Units of Inquiry has toguide  the student to answer the following questions, which help them to situate themselves and relate to the global society and in short, provide them , with a holistic approach to any subject worked on in the classroom: The questions are: who we are? , where are we in space and time?, How do  we express ourselves?, How does  the world work?, How  do we organize ourselves? and how do we share the planet?.

 

But in order to place ourselves, as people, before the reality of the world, we must first build and strengthen our values as individuals. For this, we focus on transmitting ten clear attributes that make up the Profile of the IB Community to the young people 

1. We are inquirers because, thanks to research skills, we learn to learn autonomously, in our youth and throughout life. 

2. We are instructed because we use our conceptual understanding through the exploration of knowledge. Knowledge leads us to commit ourselves to local and global ideas. 

3. We are thinkers because we reason. We use critical and creative thinking on a day-to-day basis. Our reasoning is ethical. 

4. We are good communicators because we master different languages. We express ourselves with confidence and listen carefully to the perspectives of others. 

5. We are honest because we act with justice and respect the rights of people around the world. 

6. We are open minded because we look at our own cultures, traditions and history with analytical and critical capacity. We are willing to learn from experience. 

7. We are supportive because we commit ourselves to help others and show empathy, sensitivity and respect. 

8. We are balanced because we give importance to physical, mental and emotional health, which are indispensable to positively influence oneself and others. 

9. We are bold because we respond to problems with foresight and determination. We show integrity and resilience in the face of challenges. 

10. We are reflective because thanks to everything we have learnt, we evaluate the world thoroughly as well as our own ideas and experiences. In the same way, we look at our weaknesses to reverse them in our personal development.

 

The International Baccalaureate is a non-profit organization. There are no shareholders and the profits are always reinvested in to  our work, which is nothing more than teaching and educating using innovation and an international perspective in the skills of thought, research, communication, self-management and  empathetic and tolerant relationships with others. Focusing as we do on the personal abilities of each student requires that the teachers of Princess Margaret International School never stop working and expanding their own training. All this extraordinary effort is supported by the academic results in the Spanish baccalaureates that work with the IB methodology: in them, the pass rate is higher than 80%, 8.5 points above the average.