The International Baccalaureate in Australia: trends and issues

Abstract

The presence of International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes in Australia has grown significantly over the past decade. Despite this, little critical research exists on the IB in Australia. This article provides an analysis of the IB currently in Australia, outlining the trends in growth across the various IB programmes over the last decade and compares this to international trends, including those of the Asia-Pacific region in which Australia is located. This profile is then contrasted against the profile of research that has been conducted into the IB in Australia during this same period. A discrepancy is apparent between implementation of the IB and critical analysis of that implementation. Much of IB practice in Australia therefore remains unresearched. Suggestions for future research to address this discrepancy are offered.

Keywords:

• International Baccalaureate
• Australia
• international education
• curriculum
• government and non-government schools

Notes

1. The IB introduced a Career-Related Certificate in 2006 and relaunched it as the Career Programme (CP) in 2014; it is currently offered in only 148 schools, including one school in Australia.