Theory detached from practice: A critique of the History course and exams of the IB Diploma Programme

Abstract

This article aims to make a short analysis of the manuals of the History course of  the Diploma Program, a high school program of the international curriculum established by the International Baccalaureate. Through the program's own teacher's manuals, and some examples of History teaching material, we seek to perceive the contradictions between the learning objectives and their practical application. If the textbooks preach a modern and interpretative historiography, the didactic materials and tests of the program are still very attached to a traditional, content-based and positivist vision of history, contradicting what the IB preaches what it expects from its students, and what it demands in its evaluations.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2024.003-007