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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n IBDP in Scotland\u2019s Prestigious Independent Boarding Schools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The International\nBaccalaureate (aka the IB) is an international educational system that has\nhundreds of schools around the globe. Since I work as an IB Diploma Programme\n(IBDP) teacher in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseo Upper Secondary School in Finland, I applied\nfor an Erasmus+ KA1 Job Shadowing project. This project offered me a one-week chance\nto familiarize myself with how the IBDP is managed outside Finland and develop\nmyself as a TOK and IB Psychology teacher at same time. I chose Scotland in the\nUK as my target, because I had never been to Scotland before my Job Shadowing\ntrip. I found four IBDP schools in Scotland through the IB Organization\u2019s web\npages and two of those school were willing to accept me as a visitor. In the\nmiddle of March 2019, I spent two days in Fettes College in Edinburgh and three\ndays in St. Leonards School in St. Andrews. Both schools are prestigious,\nrespected and expensive independent boarding schools, absolute top-notch\nschools in Scotland. During my one-week Job Shadowing period I experienced all\nthe seasons of Scotland, met wonderfully polite and considerate Britons and\nlearned a lot about how the IBDP can be managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s start with\nFettes College. Although a matter of great debate, J. K. Rowling, the famous\nauthor and creator of Harry Potter from Edinburgh, probably got the idea for\nHogwarts from Fettes College. The main building of Fettes College, built in the\nlate 19th century, is undeniably overwhelmingly original in design. The rest of\nthe school premises are equally impressive. To mention a couple of examples,\nthere are several sports fields, a swimming hall, a theatre, a concert hall and\na chapel with Fettes College\u2019s own hymn books. A tourist visiting Edinburgh\ncannot visit the school area. Security measures are very strict. Fettes College\nforms a school bubble of its own in the middle of Edinburgh. There are\napproximately 750 lower and upper secondary students in Fettes College. Up to\n90 per cent of the students live within the school area as boarding students\nunder strict discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the\ndifferences in framework, the IBDP in Fettes College is surprisingly similar in\ncomparison to Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseo Upper Secondary School. Fettes College follows\nthe British A-levels for the most part and IBDP is just a part of the whole.\nThe challenges the IBDP faces in Fettes College are similar to Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n\nLyseo, but the solutions are a bit different. The well organised collaboration\nof teachers in Fettes College impressed me. I got very useful advice on how to\nmanage TOK and how to teach IB Psychology in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseo Upper Secondary\nSchool. I warmly thank the whole staff of Fettes College for the possibility to\nfamiliarize myself with the school for two days. Special thanks go to IB\nCoordinator Mr. Mark Henry, IB Psychology teacher Dr. Julia Teale, TOK\nCoordinator teacher Mr. Iain Loudon, CAS Coordinator teacher Mrs. Clare Gomm\nand the Head of Higher Education and language teacher Mrs. Caroline Davies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n St. Andrews is situated about 60 kilometers north from\nEdinburgh. This charming small town by the North Sea is famous for the oldest\ngolf club in the world, its sand beaches and the oldest university in Scotland\namong other things. Like Fettes College, St. Leonards School forms its own\nbubble within the town. Very few inhabitants in St. Andrews even know about the\nschool, because it\u2019s hidden behind a huge stone wall. When one gets inside the\nschool area through security, an extremely charming maze-like collection of\nbuildings opens up. The oldest buildings date back to the 15th century and the\nnewest are from the 1960\u2019s. The majority of the buildings, however, were built\nin the 18th and 19th centuries. Quite an impressive \u201cHogwarts\u201d as well. St.\nLeonards has several sports fields, a swimming hall and a concert hall inter\nalia, but maybe not on as flamboyant a scale as in Fettes College. St. Leonards\nschool has a Primary school following the British system, IB Primary Years\nProgramme (aka IBPYP), the IB Middle Years Programme (aka IBMYP) and the IBDP.\nThere are about 500 students and 20% of them live within the campus area as\nboarding students. St. Leonards School is the only school in Scotland to follow\nthe IBDP exclusively. This offered an interesting parallel to both Fettes\nCollege and Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseo Upper Secondary School. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The general\natmosphere in St. Leonards School was a bit more relaxed than in Fettes\nCollege, but a certain tone of British discipline still oozed from everything.\nBecause St. Leonards School can concentrate solely on the IBDP, the school had\na more holistic approach to the IBDP in comparison to Fettes College. However,\nSt. Leonards School has partially the same kind of problems with the IBDP as Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n\nLyseo, but the solutions were an indication of a long-term commitment to the\nIBDP. I got lots of ideas on how to develop the core subjects in the IBDP (TOK,\nCAS and EE). Furthermore, the collaboration with St. Andrews University seemed\nto work surprisingly well in TOK. Every two or three weeks a visitor from the\nUniversity comes to give TOK lessons for the IBDP students in St. Leonards\nSchool. In addition, I learned a great deal about how the tuition of IB\nPsychology can be managed. I thank the most considerate and helpful staff of\nSt. Leonards School for the opportunity to visit the school for three days.\nSpecial thanks go to IBDP Coordinator Ben Seymour, IBDP Psychology teacher Dr.\nLin McLean, Head of Sixth Forms Mrs. Aileen Reese and teacher of Geography and\nTOK Mrs. Amy Henderson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In all, the\nwell-disciplined British school culture and all permeating atmosphere of\nconversation and argumentation was something that the Finnish school system\nshould learn from. This could serve the purpose of the IBDP in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseo\nUpper Secondary School as well. I hope that my visits to Fettes College and St.\nLeonards School will result in future cooperation. Together we can develop the\nIBDP further. Likewise, a visit from Scotland to Finland would be a wonderful\nthing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Markus Lajunen<\/p>\n\n\n\n Filosofian, IB TOK:n ja IB psykologian opettaja<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teacher in Philosophy, IB TOK and IB Psychology<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseon lukio<\/p>\n\n\n\n puh. 040 3414 703<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International Baccalaureate eli IB on kansainv\u00e4linen koulutusj\u00e4rjestelm\u00e4, jonka mukaisia kouluja on satoja ymp\u00e4ri maailmaa. Koska toimin Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Lyseon lukion IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) linjan opettajana, hakeuduin Erasmus+ KA1 Job Shadowing hankkeeseen. Hanke tarjosi minulle mahdollisuuden tutustua viikon ajan siihen, miten IB Diploma Programme on j\u00e4rjestetty muualla kuin Suomessa ja samalla kehitt\u00e4\u00e4 itse\u00e4ni IB TOKin eli … Jatka lukemista IB-lukiot Skotlannin arvokkaissa yksityiskouluissa<\/span>