Lifelong learning where students take the initiative, going beyond mere memorization of knowledge.
Finding Solutions for the Successful Implementation of the 2022 Revised Curriculum in the IB

The core of the 2022 revised curriculum, which will be applied to elementary schools starting in 2024 and secondary schools starting in 2025, is 'concept-based inquiry learning.'
It goes beyond simple memorization of knowledge and focuses on developing students' ability to think conceptually and expand their learning on their own.
To realize this kind of education that leads to lifelong learning, ‘literacy’ and ‘thinking skills’ are necessary.
This direction also aligns with the core competencies pursued by the International Baccalaureate (IB), which began 57 years ago to provide a balanced education to the children of diplomats and is now recognized as the most credible educational program for fostering global talent.

The author, who currently serves as the deputy head of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's elementary school IB support team and as a teacher at an IB-focused school, has consistently been interested in international comparative research and has researched the curricula of various countries.
Then, I came across the IB curriculum and, to explore it more in depth, I completed the IBEC, a certification course for IB teachers, and visited IB international schools and observed classes.
In the process, we were able to confirm that IB inquiry classes effectively cultivate the literacy and thinking skills necessary for concept-based inquiry learning.
This book introduces real-world examples of IB-style inquiry classes for current teachers struggling to understand and apply the newly revised curriculum, as well as for educators and parents interested in the IB.

IB school classes are similar to, yet different from, our country's education.
IB inquiry classes, which generate questions and solve problems based on students' curiosity, are similar to ours, but they differ in that they pursue "conceptual understanding" and systematically implement the curriculum according to the school's own inquiry stages.
Also, the system in which all teachers collaborate to plan an inquiry program that includes all students from grades 1 to 6, and in which teachers of the same grade discuss the program several times and create inquiry units together, was refreshing.


When looking at the stages of the inquiry class, ‘generalizing,’ ‘transferring,’ and ‘reflecting’ were new.
'Generalizing' is the process by which students conceptually organize what they have discovered through research and exploration.
In 'Transferring,' students check whether the generalizations they have made apply to other new situations.
'Reflection' occurs throughout the inquiry process and gives students the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned and how much they have grown from their studies.
The more I learned, the more I wanted to try IB-style inquiry classes with regular school children.
With that in mind, this book contains the process of reading books related to the IB learner profile, creating inquiry questions, finding answers, and planning and conducting classes to derive generalizations.

--- p.4~5

One of the things I struggled with in my inquiry classes was providing students with appropriate materials and books.
I wanted to utilize a variety of meaningful resources that could aid students' exploration, such as picture books, knowledge books, and newspaper articles, in addition to textbooks.
Because when I visited an IB school, the homeroom teacher and librarian emphasized the importance of providing high-quality online resources and books, and I strongly agreed.
I believed that by exploring materials from diverse perspectives and contexts, children's thinking would deepen, and by fully experiencing the world of inquiry, they would be able to benefit when they face problems they must solve on their own outside of school.

--- p.33~34

After completing the IB-style inquiry class, which was a tumultuous process, I realized that it is possible to conduct IB-style inquiry classes even in non-IB schools.
Since each student's situation will be different, I believe that if IB-style inquiry classes are implemented, each classroom will be colorful.
I believe that inquiry classes have a goal rather than a correct answer.
I hope that children will have their own questions, think proactively, and become masters of their own exploration.

--- p.45

Picture books or fairy tales featuring multiple characters can be meaningful teaching materials related to exploring the IB learner profile, as they allow students to explore the characters' personalities and qualities.
In fact, if you just look at the meaning of the word "learner," it's confusing to know exactly what kind of person it is, so I thought that if I brought in stories about people around me or characters from fairy tales, children would be able to understand it much more specifically.
By exploring the IB learner profile one by one through the book, you will be able to form your own concept of the learner profile.

--- p.50

To understand the learner profile described by the IB, it is best to meet someone who shares the characteristics of that learner profile and explore the experience together.
But realistically, it is difficult to meet such a person in person.
So, we decided to explore the IB learner profile through books with children, and selected four books featuring characters who possess the characteristics of an “inquirer,” a “knowledgeable person,” and a “thinker.”
For 'inquirers', we looked for books that portray people who are curious, passionate, and learning; for 'knowledgeable people', we looked for books that portray people who are interested in important issues and explore knowledge from various disciplines; and for 'thinkers', we looked for books that portray people who think critically and creatively and put that thinking into action.

--- p.55

The reason I have taught you the basic framework of writing with a thought routine, writing with questions, writing the plot in five steps and asking questions, and writing with the six principles of W and H is because it helps you write frequently and at length.
Practicing writing requires experience.
I write using the six principles of writing, and once I get used to it, I write by taking into account the characteristics of space and time as well as the characteristics of the characters.
Lynn Erickson said that in the structure of knowledge, concepts are formed based on several facts and generalizations are built on top of them.
Because you can only generalize well if you have clear specific knowledge.
By reading a book and organizing the content by considering time, space, and people, children learn specific knowledge.

--- p.161~162

To develop basic literacy skills, we emphasize the need to 'read a lot and write a lot', and among the many methods, the most basic is focused reading, or immersive reading.
If you secure time for children to focus on reading, either during school free time or during creative experience club time, they will be able to read books without the burden of post-reading activities.
Then you can choose a book that suits your level.
Through this process, children will come to love books, and as they read with concentration, remember and understand the content, not only classes that pursue conceptual understanding but also general subject classes will become much easier.

--- p.184

Learning should not be limited to school knowledge, used only for the college entrance exam, and then forgotten afterward.
Knowledge must be organized in a form that helps analyze and solve various problems in real society.
To achieve this, education is necessary to pursue conceptual understanding through a process of inquiry that involves creating questions, researching and exploring data, creating generalized sentences, and transferring and reflecting.
In this trend, a curriculum that presents a "core idea" is being implemented in Korea, and the IB program is being introduced to public education and operated in various places.

--- p.189~190

In keeping with the trends of the times and educational needs, we explored what IB education is like and planned and conducted classes in regular schools to create 'generalizations' using books based on the IB learner model.
(…) There are many teachers around us who are diligently researching, trying, and working hard on classes such as inquiry-based classes, project-based classes, concept-based inquiry classes, and AI-based classes.
Seeing those people gave me the courage to prepare a generalization class through books.
The method presented in this book may not be the only correct answer.
However, if there are those who want to try IB-style inquiry classes in their own positions, I hope you don't feel sorry that your children have too much difficulty with generalization or that generalization classes are impossible.
Instead, we need to think about what our children need and recognize that classes that pursue conceptual understanding require 'a lot of reading and a lot of writing.'
Now is the time to believe that we can teach such classes to children.

--- p.191~192