PERCEPTIONS OF GLOBAL MINDEDNESS IN THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME: THE RELATIONSHIP TO STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate student perceptions of global mindedness between students who participate in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) compared to students who do not participate in the MYP or who are new to the MYP in the 9th grade. The study further analyzes the relationship between these students' perceptions of global mindedness and academic performance and course enrollment. It also explores teacher perceptions of global mindedness and relates the findings to specific teacher characteristics. There are mixed findings on student acquisition of global mindedness when comparing MYP students to non-MYP students suggesting that student development of global mindedness could evolve over time and is not significantly impacted by one experience, as previous research also suggests. Teacher and student understanding of global mindedness in the MYP could be underdeveloped and focused on global centrism and cultural pluralism. Findings from this research suggest that students participating in the MYP score highest on the global mindedness subscales of global centrism and cultural pluralism. The MYP could unintentionally be more explicitly focused on academics compared to explicitly teaching, learning, and assessing global mindedness because there was a significant relationship between participation in the MYP and academic performance and course enrollment over time. There are specific teacher characteristics that predict global mindedness and vice versa and these findings are aligned with previous research. The participant sample was from one school district and the survey was done at one point in time, which created certain limitations. The mixed findings of this exploration suggest that more research is needed to better understand the relevance and development of global mindedness on student and teacher perceptions in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme.