Navigating the neoliberal tensions during the Covid-19 pandemic-IB practices within Singapore

Abstract

<p>This paper is part of a recent comparative and qualitative study of IB practices in the Southeast Asian contexts of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In Asian societies, such as Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the number of IB schools has experienced a quick rise since the turn of the millennium. As a distinctive curriculum, the IB is gaining recognition and growing within the global education system. Over 7,500 IB programmes are offered worldwide, spanning 5,500 schools within 159 countries (International Baccalaureate Organisation, 2021). The number of IB programmes offered worldwide has grown by 33.3% between 2016 and 2020. Across the Asian Pacific region, there are 1,663 IB World programmes, constituting 22% of the global programmes. The state governments have also incorporated international curricula into national education systems. This development in IB schools in the three contexts has been uneven, with some countries more advanced in their practices and others still at their infancy stage of development. Despite the varying conditions, IB's links to the future of global capital, the internationality of education continue to grow in influence. The IB has also been marketed as a form of qualification recognised by universities worldwide, thus establishing a strong global brand. The study highlights the reimagination of schooling emerging because of the covid pandemic and the tensions from the economic domains across the three contexts. It examines the nature of the neoliberal shift and propose a reassessment of the engagement and enactment of the neoliberal rule post pandemic. We argue that although the conformance to the neoliberal rule has taken on a new shape and direction within the current pandemic state, as shown in the data collected from three varying contexts, establishing positive shifts towards a more collective and connective stance within the countries' practices did not fully eradicate the tensions that had to be overcome to ensure that schools were more equitable in their practices. Within the European context, which have faced mass migration, one of the key challenges is catering to a diversified population and allowing for different groups to co-exist harmoniously with a common sense of identity. The adoption of an internationally minded curriculum is aligned with the practices of international schools and providers, which have faced myriad issues catering to diverse school populations (Hayden & Thompson, 2016). More recently, the IB curricula has also take precedence and is in competition with local curricula, offered to both the international cohort as well as the local students. Given its strong positioning within the European context as well as globally, the IB has built a reputation for "elite academically challenging" standards and this branding has appealed within a global front, competing with other international curricula and international examination systems by Cambridge University (Doherty, 2009). The study involves 15 international schools across three different contexts: Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. As the study explores the case study schools’ IB curriculum planning, establishment, implementation and adoption, a case-oriented approach allowed for a more interpretive analysis. The focus was thus on answering firstly, the “how” question, examining closely “How is the IB curriculum contextualised in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan?”. It examined three domains, the planning and establishment, the implementation and adoption as well as the intercultural and international constructs.</p>