THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE - INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is an internationally accepted pr e-university qualification which, since its origins in the 1960s, has increased in popularity to the point where it is now offered in more t han 70 countries worldwide. As a university entrance qualification acc epted internationally, it aims not only to provide an appropriate acad emic curriculum, but also to support geographic and cultural mobility and to promote international understanding. It claims to do so by both inculcating international attitudes in its students and by encouragin g the maintenance and development of their cultural identities. This s tudy examines the extent to which the IB actually appears to achieve t hese aims, by exploring the views of an opportunity sample of esc-IB s tudents, IB teachers and staff at the University of Bath who have dire ct experience of the IB programme. The findings indicate that the IB c an clearly facilitate mobility and can contribute to the development o f international understanding, whilst at the same time supporting the preservation of individual cultures and national identities, provided contextual factors are appropriately arranged.