Abstract
The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) endeavors to promote both challenging academic instruction and more holistic aims--namely, intercultural understanding and respect. Throughout its history, the IB system has managed at least three ongoing tensions, which stem from its multifaceted aims and which the system has evolved to manage. These three tensions are between: (1) academic rigor and equitable access; (2) more traditional academic achievement and more holistic teaching and learning; and (3) providing supports to schools and teachers to promote fidelity of implementation and also permitting practitioners enough discretion for local adaptation. These tensions are especially apparent at three points in time throughout the IB system's reform journey: when IB began in the 1960s, when the Primary Years Programme was created in 1997, and when the PYP was enhanced in 2018. As enduring as these tensions may be, the IB system also offers policymakers lessons on how to manage them. [For the full report, "Transforming Education for Holistic Student Development: Learning from Education System (Re)Building around the World," see ED626329. For the technical report, see ED626330. For the other case reports in this series, see British Columbia (ED626332), India (ED626334), Iowa (ED626337), and Ireland (ED626338).]