IB Group 6 subjects

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The Group 6 (or The Arts) subjects of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme consist of four courses at both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL): Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Film.^[1] There is also a pilot Dance course at SL and HL^[2] and a Text and Performance SL transdisciplinary pilot course (satisfying the requirements of Groups 1 and 6)^[3] that are currently offered only at schools participating in the respective pilot programmes. Students seeking the IB Diploma may substitute courses from the other five Subject Groups instead of taking a Group 6 course (see below). A school-based syllabus devised by an IB World School, as approved and externally moderated by the IB, may also form the basis for a course taken in place of a Group 6 course.^[4]

Music SL & HL

IB Music can be taken at either the standard level (SL) or higher level (HL). For both levels of IB Music the candidate must conduct a musical investigation. This requires research of two completely different musical genres with comparable qualities (e.g. Tuvan throat singing and Baroque opera). The information will then be presented in the form of a media script which will be assessed externally.

There are three paths in which the IB Music SL course can be taken: group performance, solo performance, or composition. For the group performance, the candidate should participate either in the school ensemble or a similarly serious group. To fulfill the solo performance requirements, the candidate must perform an accumulation of approximately 20 minutes as a solo instrumentalist. It is in the candidate’s best interest to limit him or herself to a single instrument, but this is not a requirement. A candidate who chooses composition should compose between 5–15 minutes worth of original music, consisting of three contrasting pieces. Each of the three compositions should be recorded for assessment purposes.

The IB Music HL course combines a medley of the IB Music SL options into a single curriculum. To satisfy IB Music HL, the candidate must perform solo for an accumulation of 20 minutes (again, it is in the candidate’s best interest to play only one instrument) and write three contrasting compositions that last between 5 and 15 minutes.

At the conclusion of both the SL and HL courses, the candidate must take a written examination that will be assessed externally. In preparation for the exam, the candidate will be provided with a soundtrack and complete score for a specified composition. The exam itself will include five questions. The first question will have two parts and will be in relation to the score provided prior to the examination. The remaining four questions will be based on four excerpts the candidate has not heard before. All of the questions will ask for a written response, analyzing each excerpt based on three given aspects of music. The examination will last two hours and thirty minutes.

Further details of the course can be found in the IB Music Wikibook. [1]

Theatre SL & HL

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According to the new syllabus introduced in 2009, the IB Theatre Arts programme is made out of four components, two are internally assessed and two are externally assessed. The external components are a Practical Performance Proposal (PPP) and a Research Investigation Portfolio (RIP). For the PPP the student has to come up with a concept for a play using one of the prescribed stimuli and it is made out of three components for HL: a pitch of 250 words, a file with vairous material (images, music, videos) that are inspiring for the creation of the play and a rationale (1000-1250 words). SL students are not required to write the rationale. The RIP is a 2000-2500 word essay (HL) in which the student presents his/her research on a previously unknown theatre practice. The internal assessments are the Theatre Performance and Production Presentation (TPPP) and the Independent Project Portfolio (IPP). The first is a reflection the student does on his/her IB theatre experience and is mainly focused on two productions he/she has been involved in. The presentation is 30 minutes long for HL and 20minutes for SL and should be supported by visual material. The Independent Project Portfolio is an essay of 3000 words at HL and 2000 at SL in which the student reflects on his/her learning and development during the production of the Independent Project, which is a project in which the student explores a role in the theatre (actor, director, dramaturg, scriptwriter, etc).

Visual Arts SL & HL

There are two areas of focus in the IB Visual Arts subject. The first is studio (practical work) and the second is the research workbook. The Visual Art program aims to teach the student about design, structure and the aesthetic development of work. The candidates must demonstrate creative and personal thinking, feeling and interaction with their work.

The exam for Visual Art encourages the candidate to articulate their concerns and development over the course of the two years of study. An exhibition will be constructed of the candidates work and an external examiner will visit and talk to the student about their pieces. This given mark is then moderated against the Record of Workbook, which contains a collection of photographs of the candidates work and a number of photocopied pages from their research workbook.

The candidates' research workbooks are also marked, once internally and once externally. These books aim to show the candidates journey over the two years of study. They document art and design history that is relevant to the candidate’s exploration of ideas and will also contain notes, sketches, photographs, mind-maps and pictures of inspiration, development and final works. The candidate must also document a number of art exhibition visits.

For the final asessment, either the studio work or the investigation work book can be asessed externally. With 60% of the final grade bein placed on that which s externally asessed, and the remaining 40% on the internal asessment.

Substituting courses from other subject groups

Group 6 subjects are considered electives, thus an IB Diploma candidate may substitute a variety of courses from other subject groups in lieu of taking a Group 6 course. This would result in a student studying an extra language, taking an extra social science or experimental science course, or taking Computer Science or Further Mathematics SL (provided that student is already taking Mathematics HL). The Group 3 Information in a Global Society (ITGS) course or the Group 5 Computer Science would be taken only as sixth subjects, as they do not satisfy the IB Diploma requirements for their respective subject groups.

Footnotes

References

• Diploma Programme, Dance draft subject guide 2009. International Baccalaureate Organization. (2008). 
• Diploma Programme, Text and Performance draft subject guide 2008. Geneva, Switzerland: International Baccalaureate Organization. (2008). 

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of International Baccalaureate