When a person mentions summer, a few things come to mind; soaking up the sun, eating ripe fruit, and going on adventures with family and friends. Unfortunately for those who are in the International Baccalaureate(IB) programme, summer planning also consists of the idea of completing a summer homework assignment before the three months of break are over. This may not seem like a big deal but when vacations and jobs detract time from a already involved schedule, a summer assignment becomes procrastinated and is arguably valued as less important in the view scope of some individuals.
The IB program is intended to provide guidance to students who choose to be academically challenged in classes. With this, the program requires students to fulfill the task of completing a annual summer assignment. The assignment consists of an in depth analysis of a specific work of literature in which will then be projected into a written essay composed by the student. Not only is this a method of preparation, giving an example of what is expected in the the following year, it is meant to target each student’s writing ability. Given this objective, summer reading ultimately can be seen as an advantage because it establishes the expectation of the course and further enhances an individual’s skill going into the next year.
“Summer readings are good. They introduce you to new books where you learn how to critique them before starting the school year. Something I wish that the IB program would provide is more guidelines,” Soriah Abraham ’22.
The International Baccalaureate program was founded in the 1960’s with the intent to create a alternative method of education, a system that encourages knowledgeable and caring students world wide to become academically involved within the community in addition to classes. The IB Summer Reading incorporates this ideology by having students work on an assignment in a unstructured education environment, using knowledge of previous teachings or surroundings to influence the writer. This further creates a unique perspective to what is usually required of a student.
“Personally I think the summer readings were fine. Most of them were decent reads, and it was nice to get a ‘school warm up’ before the year started. I do admit that I found some of the reading to be fairly dull but that was because I was being forced to read them,” Meg Takara ’18.
Indeed, the IB Summer Reading assignments are beneficial when wanting extra practice in order to be prepared for the year to come, however, summer was made for teachers and students to enjoy. It is a way to celebrate students’ hard work, presented throughout the school year.
“I have had to do one before and it is not fun at all. Summer is supposed to be fun,” Gato Letis
In spite of the controversial views that are placed upon the summer assignments required from IB, the majority of students see it as an opportunity rather than a chore, leaving each individual to decide their fate; IB or not.
