IB vs GCSE exam

mattsmum

thank you for your advise on bilingual cert. as my concern is in chinese, i only comment on chinese lang. I also assume all other lang. are in english.

actually the IB coordinator said that some university are hesitate to accept chinese student taking lang. B HL in chinese, ( a bit as " not fair to other" attitude) as that is supposed for student learning this lang. for 4-5 years.

[ 本文章最後由 mattsmum 於 08-5-21 16:01 編輯 ]

warrrren

原文章由 mattsmum 於 08-5-21 15:59 發表
... actually the IB coordinator said that some university are hesitate to accept chinese student taking lang. B HL in chinese, ( a bit as " not fair to other" attitude) as that is supposed for student learning this lang. for 4-5 years.

That's what I heard too.  Somehow I share the same concern - Achieving high proficiency in English is a piece of cake for a good student.  And, a good HK student should do well in Chinese as well.

mattsmum

I think chinese A1 or english A1 are not easy. some other teachers also told me so, I want to see samples of this.

i saw sample exercise of chinese B, well, like Form 3's chinese.

father_ho

Dear All,

I would like to provide another view on the issue of IB or GCE/GCSE. It is not the organization profit taking that leds to high charge of maintaining fee, it is the maintaining quality procedure and the high percentage of inhouse mark from school that leds to they charged as such. What I mean is providing IB is not as a fashion or as marking tools for school(at least it will not convince me), it just assure parent the school are not exam. orientated and not as our’s day we just score high marks but know nothing other than those exam. scope. If some cal. as precise as those mentioned above, no matter local elite school or IS can achieve to top US U’s provided that your kids can follow your’s “recommendation”.(is that true they will happy? please forgive them).
Everyday I meet those student who upset me so much as they just ask what will you exam us, don’t tell us how to study, just tell us those issues which is exam. related or else we will complain you talking nonsense so much (that is the tertiary education in Hong Kong, can you imagine that?). I don’t mean all of them but at least 60 to 70 % are as much. I really impressed it is not their fault, it’s the ten’s of year training make them behave like and I know exactly I can’t save them all. What I can do is try my best to let my kids away from those nonsense exams. and really learn something. Should they enter the top U’s(must not in HK if their ability can do that) won’t be the major issue(all depends on their ability in long run).

mattsmum

I agree, IB's training is very different form local school, you need to know why, how and what is your own opinion.

teachers emphasis that if their schools go for IB, the mode of teaching need to be modified since F1 or even primary, i guess IS's mode of teaching is smiliar to IB.

text book is another interesting issue in IB MYP/PYP.

warrrren

Well said father_ho.  Cheers.

father_ho

Dear mattsmum,

IS's mode of teaching is not necessary the same as IB's approach. It's just the conducting language is different and the assessment is not by HK's exam. structure. It's very important and many parent misunderstand. That's one of the reason why lot's of IS still struggle whether they should go for IB or not.

warrrren

Sorry that I cannot contribute more.  Need to go now.  There are two elite first class ladies (No, it is not what you think. I am talking about my wife and my daughter) and a lovely meal waiting for me at the most elite top class first-tier prestigious and exclusive place.  And, I have to clear the mess of the most stupid dog which I keep as a marketing tool to foster the image of a kind humorous healthy dog loving guy.  Good day.

hysterical

If you are targeting top universities in US or UK, I would assume that you must take English HL as A1 language. This is necessary to show your English level.

For Extended Essay, it can be in any language, but English would be a good choice for universities in English-speaking countries. If you can write the 4000 word essay in French/Spanish/German, more power to you!

As for second language, I guess bilingual is good but not necessary. Just try to achieve the best level that you can. I think targeting Chinese SL at Language A2 would be very good.

Any comments?

tingtingting

I only want to provide another view point from a different angle.  No hot argument please.  

I think the top IS do not choose MYP and PYP because of the "Ain't broke, don't fix it" mid set.  They are so successful with their GCSE that it would be too risky for them abandon their glory history and do something completely new.  For newer schools, they can do whatever that suits them best.  If they think IB MYP is better, why not?  It may well be an advantage to them that they do not have the historial burden.  Isn't it nice that all the teachers in the school from grade 1 to grade 12 know IB inside out?

mattsmum

thank you for your advise. I know how local schools teach children as we all went through the same process but not IS. Is there any local school changing the mode of teaching? maybe VSA /ISF are.

I want to share my opinion in the need for MYP / PYP and text books.

ESF still use GCSE for F1-F4, they might just use their old text books, with proven record. so I guess they can all built up a solid fundation  and finish F4 wiht a GCSE certificate, then decide if they still want to go IB.

for one shcool's PYP section that I visited, they have their own text books published by a publisher in hong kong. I always wonder if this is the good approach, as I found local publisher's text book on maths very confusing ( from my child's experience).

I hope more IS parents can share how their text books are like, what subjects they got, etc.

tingtingting

原文章由 christf 於 08-5-21 18:04 發表
No, the main reason is not like what you have said. I have read the analysis report.

Could you pls send me the analysis report or post a link?  Thanks in advance.