This week we check in on Humanities for a change in History course focus and get an update on French interdisciplinary learning in Languages.

Action in Humanities - History in the NZ Context

There has been a recent change in focus within the IB History course, with the development of a new regional focus. While IB is a global qualification and as part of History includes a wide range of global history topics, such as the Cold War, Dictatorships and Civil Rights, there are now topics with an Oceania and Asia focus. These cover a comparison of the Colonisation in Australia and New Zealand, and the development of an independent New Zealand after WWII as we have moved away from the strong influence of Britain and America. These areas of study have a significant relevance to our students, offering another level of engagement. The Year 12 and 13 courses compliment each other with a strong development of skills and critical thinking in this learning area. 

What’s happening in IB  - French SL

The wonderful thing about language teaching at Standard Level IB is that we can read authentic fictional and non-fictional texts. In our interdisciplinary unit about “bien-être” (wellbeing), the IB French Year 12 class has firstly discussed questions linked to TOK (Theory of Knowledge) such as “How do we know that we are happy?”
After that, we have studied Guy de Maupassant’s novel “Le bonheur” (happiness) (1884) in the original version. Texts in translation are subject of study in IB English, so the students come across 19th literature movements and French authors such as Flaubert and Maupassant in both subjects.

To develop a deeper understanding of the text we used a creative method in class. After finishing the novel, the girls produced a watercolour painting based on the story. The students commented their paintings using quotes from the text and then explained their choice of colour and theme to the class in French. The girl unanimously loved this different approach to studying literature and are keen to repeat the experience.