IN CONVERSATION WITH
IN CONVERSATION WITH
Keystone Academy ’ s college counseling program will be up and running soon . Gareth Rees is one of the consultants supporting and advising the school on the matter . Mr . Rees holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from Exeter University and has taught previously at De Montfort and Leicester Universities . Most recently he was the Vice Principal of Atlantic College where he has been the IB Coordinator for six years and an Economics teacher for twenty . He also has a wide range of examining experience , and is a workshop leader in all IB regions . Mr . Rees speaks to The Keystone Magazine about the IB Diploma Programme , its merits , and what it means to be a successful IBDP student .
Q : This is your first visit to Keystone Academy , what are your first impressions ? A : I love it . I have worked with Malcolm before , but it was in a school that was very mature , a school that had been running for many years before he and I arrived . So in that way , Keystone is special because everything is new . But I am astonished how mature it seems though it is rather new . The school seems to have assembled a very talented and experienced group of teachers . It seems also to have a remarkable social chemistry . For instance , I went to a class at the end of last week , and I was astonished at the way the students support each other , although the particular class was designed to have them argue against each other . They managed to do that with a mixture of hostility and friendship as though they knew each other really well . It was social chemistry working in an extremely good way . Of course a very talented teacher had put them in that situation .
Q : Why is the IBDP a good high school or pre-college international curriculum compared to the several others out there ? A : I have taught it since 1983 . My wife has taught it since 1985 . Our children took the IBDP so we were able to see the impact it had on them . I do think the people who designed the IBDP many years ago were extremely clever , in that they produced a system that somehow involves concurrency of learning . The students leave one class with their head full of ideas , which they then take to the next class . So it might be that the teacher of one subject might hear the end of a discussion from the previous class , and pick it up . So the history and physics teachers are not in separate boxes any more than the students are . They carry their learning around with them .
The other aspect is that students like to have their teachers in a box . That teacher is a physics teacher . But because of the community service programme , and because of the extended essay and theory of knowledge , no teacher is limited to one box . So the students see them in different capacities , and come to know them better as a result . So the teacher-student relationship is quite unique and inspiring . And I do believe that a boarding program , such as the one at Keystone , goes very well with the IB because what happens in the classroom can continue in the evenings .
Q : How important do you think is creativity and innovation when it comes to being successful in the IBDP ? A : Let me talk about thinking here . The theory of knowledge course is supposed to tie together all of the loose ends of all the subjects , and take everything further . And all of the textbooks , and teacher support material that goes with the IB encourage that . In my subject , which is Economics , we have had many occasions even in one week where what
40 THE KEYSTONE MAGAZINE looks like a specific question will turn into something that the students may realize has incorporated an assumption or values that might be discussed further . For instance , in my old school I was very friendly with the Physics teacher . And Physics and Economics are not close . We would often argue about the underlying nature of our subjects as friends , and we decided that we would do this in class . So sometimes I would go and sit at the back of his Physics class and say something rude and critical . He would do the same in my Economics class . The students would look around thinking we didn ’ t like each other . They thought there was feud between the two of us and between Economics and Physics . This was enormously productive from the students point of view because they started to trade off the underlying value of our subjects – the rigidity of laws in Physics against the adaptability of laws in Economics . The students really enjoyed that .
I can see this happening at Keystone , because the Theory of Knowledge course is being carefully planned . But in the end of two years , there is a test . And yet as an examiner quite frequently I see the answer that I want to see from the limits of my subject . But then I see something else that comes from a discussion or argument at which I was not present . But I can see the reflections of the student in the writing . They would have to be risk-takers to do that . Students are probably thinking , “ Oh ! The Economics examiner will only want to see this !” But I want to see more . I want to see ideas related to the context as well . Let me give you a silly example . I went to get a haircut at a local salon here , close to Keystone . And when I went to pay , the person saw my Keystone name card and asked me , “ Are you a teacher ?” When I said yes , I immediately got a discount . As an economist , this is fascinating . It seems to imply that teachers have a greater value in Chinese culture than in my country .
There is also the curious nature of the IBDP structure . Students would usually choose subjects they are interested in at the higher level . But at the standard level , students may be forced to study subjects they might not necessarily be good at – there is a slight level of involuntariness . For instance , a student who is interested in Humanities or Language , would have to study Math at the standard level ; they have to . The programme is configured in such a way – three higher-level subjects , three standard subjects , one first language , one second language , one Arts subject . So in a way the depth of thinking does not come from individual subjects , but from the space between them , from the perception of the overall education they get . And we must not forget that the exam takes place only at the end of the two years , when they are at their best .
Q : What does success look like in the IBDP ? A : In one word , it would be contestability . I would like to think that if