Group 3: Individual & Society

HISTORY  HL *
Grade: 11 & 12 (2 year course + May Exam)

IB History, at the Higher Level will be taught as a 2-year course. The course is designed to develop and expand the students’ understanding of the history of the United States, Latin America, Canada, Europe, and Asia, focusing on the events of the 20th Century. IB History is a dynamic, contested, evidence-based discipline that involves an exciting engagement with the past. It is a rigorous intellectual discipline, focused around key historical concepts such as change, causation and significance. The course also fosters a sense of inquiry. It is also an interpretive discipline, allowing opportunity for engagement with multiple perspectives and a plurality of opinions. Studying history develops an understanding of the past, which leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of humans and of the world today. The IB Diploma Programme (DP) history course is a world history course based on a comparative and multi perspective approach to history. It involves the study of a variety of types of history, including political, economic, social and cultural, and provides a balance of structure and flexibility. The course emphasizes the importance of encouraging students to think historically and to develop historical skills as well as gaining factual knowledge. It puts a premium on developing the skills of critical thinking, and on developing an understanding of multiple interpretations of history. In this way, the course involves a challenging and demanding critical exploration of the past. Throughout the course, students have the opportunity to explore historical events that have played a key role in shaping the world today, deepening their understanding of the complex and interconnected nature of past and present events. For example, students explore historical examples of many of the global challenges facing the world today, such as conflict, rights and governance. This helps to meet one of the central aims of the course—to increase students’ understanding of themselves and of contemporary society by encouraging reflection on the past.

PSYCHOLOGY SL
Grade: 11 (1 year course + May Exam)

Psychology is the rigorous and systematic study of mental processes and behaviour. It is a complex subject which draws on concepts, methods and understandings from a number of different disciplines. At the core of the IB Psychology (SL) course is an introduction to three different approaches to understanding behaviour: • biological approach to understanding behaviour • cognitive approach to understanding behaviour • sociocultural approach to understanding behaviour. The knowledge, concepts, theories and research that have developed the understanding in these fields will be studied and critically evaluated to answer some of the questions being asked by psychologists today. The option chosen for an area in depth study in this course is Psychology of Human Relationships. Students will investigate the contribution and the interaction of the three approaches through this area of applied psychology. As part of the requirements for the course, students will replicate an experimental study to fulfill the Internal Assessment requirement of the IB course. Furthermore, the primary way students will be assessed in the course is through writing assessments in order to prepare students for IB Psychology External Exam. The goal of the IB Psychology (SL) course is to develop the students’ critical inquiry, writing skills, and understanding of the various approaches to research. Lastly, IB Psychology studies human beings and as such students will explore and understand the ethical implications of doing so and follow ethical guidelines while doing so.