Within my Practicum III I observed under my mentor teacher at a local high school as he taught two different levels within the History International Baccalaureate Program. The IB courses I observed were titled "IB History of the Americas" (Part I, Juniors) and "IB 20th Century World History" (Part II, Seniors) [the latter I observed more so] . In fact the school I observe at is the only public school in Delaware to offer the IB Program. My teacher designs and teaches the lesson as college level. My mentor teacher learned all of his knowledge and understanding regarding the IB Program from initially attending a seminar in addition to an accumulation of years of teaching the course. When designing his lessons for the IB students he designs it with the students in mind while teaching students how to analyze, develop their own conclusions, and of course the historical content. My mentor teacher designs his IB curriculum with a muli-perspective approach incorporating a range of hand selected primary and secondary sources for students to learn from. Moreover the curriculum not only encompasses historical content knowledge, but it centers around historical aspects of change, causation, and significance as well. The course is meant to be rigorous as it can potentially count as a college credit. In addition to learning and content knowledge, the IB program teaches students strong organizational, management, and study skills. Moreover, within the IB course students are surrounded by intellectually driven peers, as they must apply, interview, and be selected to be within the course. 

A grand majority of my observation time was allocated towards two senior history classes, the "IB 20th Century World History" (Part II). I had the unique opportunity to observe a difficult yet common current situation, as my mentor teacher transitioned from previous online teaching (due to the Pandemic) to face-to-face teaching again. More interestingly, the first year of teaching these students was through a computer screen, and now students (and teachers alike) must retransition back to learning in a classroom environment. Additionally, due to the difficulty of teaching online and the challenges of the Pandemic my mentor teacher began this semester with both classes actually finalizing the previous course. Therefore, I observed as my mentor teacher taught essentially from President Nixon to Jimmy Carter, which was originally meant to be part of last unit of "IB History of the Americas" (Part I). As I finalized my observation hours students were transitioning to a new topic and learning about the emergence of "Authoritarian States."

Unlike "typical" high school history courses that go in order of time, the "IB 20th Century World History" (Part II) course focuses one of three potential historical topics, which will then prepare them for their final IB exam. The IB World History Higher Level Diploma Program curriculum consists of one prescribed subject (1-5), one World History topic (1-12), and a historical investigation (IA). My mentor teacher then has the freedom to choose the sources, examples, lessons, and even topics for students to learn from. For example, there are multiple potential topics that include: 1.) Challenges to Democratic States in 20th Century, 2.) Authoritarian States, 3.) Cause and Effects of the 20th Century Wars, and 4.) The Cold War to name a few. Additionally, my mentor teacher must select material related to the Regional Option for the Americas that pertains to topics in the history of the 20th Century world. For the "IB 20th Century World History" Senior course my mentor teacher specifically selected the two topics "Rights and Protest" (Prescribed Subject 4) and "Authoritarian States" (World History Topic 10) for the two papers students must complete within the course. For the Paper 1 "Rights and Protest" topic, my mentor teacher focuses on two case studies from two different parts of the world (the U.S. and South Africa). For the Paper 2 "Authoritarian States" topic my mentor teacher challenges students to analyze the rise of authoritarian states, the consolidation and maintenance of power, and the aims and results of policies from around the world; specific authoritarian states analyzed include: Germany (Hitler), USSR (Lenin/Stalin), Italy (Mussolini), Cuba (Castro), and more. Attached is the syllabus, which more provides a more detailed description.

Lastly, students must complete an Internal Assessment (IA). The IB History IA is a 2,200 word research project in which students will: identify and evaluate sources, analyze and provide conclusive analysis through historical investigation, and reflect on what undertaking their investigation highlighted to them the challenges facing, the historian. This counts towards 20% of the IB History Higher Level Exam score, and is scored out of 25 points.