SESSION FIVE

“Think globally, act locally”

So where are we?Yesterday we CONSIDERED:Why CAS? Caring and respectCAS can’t be tokenReflection makes learning activeThe reality in daily practice of the IB’s educational philosophyWhat is Creativity, Action and ServiceWhen do we know it is CAS - when student growth occurs – CAS Aims: reflective, aware, willing, active, and balancedCAS Outcomes: Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas

for growth Undertaken new challenges - Planned and initiated activities Worked collaboratively with others – Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities – Engaged in issues of global importance – Considered the ethical implications of their actionsCAS AND TOK

Similarities and differences

“Think globally, act locally”

The CAS guide quotes the following from the learner profile booklet:

“The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.”

Fortunately it qualifies this ominous task by suggesting small steps: Localnational

and eventually perhaps, international.

It makes the suggestion that working with people from different social or cultural backgrounds and circumstances near to the school, can do as much to teach and increase mutual understanding as large international projects.

Ideas to balance a CAS programme

Begin close to home:

Share your school:

Time wise – afternoons, evenings, weekends

Space wise – think through what your facilities really offer, be creative with this

Person power wise – don’t underestimate your wider school community, there are often parents with talent and time to help you bring people in to share your school

Share your school:Within the school Can a local school bring a team to play one of yours once a

month A/S Can a local team practice on your courts after school? S Can your students coach a local team? C/S

Can local kids use your music rooms? art rooms? dance place? pool? track? IT labs? S

Can your students assist? S Can they teach? C/S

Can your school be used as a place to organize a clothing drive? A collection of something for people who need it?

Can your school be used to fund raise?

Share your school:In the wider community

Can you run enrichment holiday camps for sport, art, music, dance, English, IT, science, at your school for a less resourced school/orphanage in your city?

It could be in your holiday and their

term time and run for three days. Tt could be in your term time and their

holiday and run over a weekend.

Out and about in your town/city

Can your students visit – an orphanage, old people, a hospital, a prison, a disabled workshop, street sleepers, an NGO?

And do what? - play, talk, sing, listen, help out with people, feed

Can your students help with – clean ups, maintenance/beautification tasks, cultural events?

Can your students collect - clothes, toys, other requested small articles for disadvantaged groups with which they have regular contact?

Can your students raise money for small articles for disadvantaged groups with which they have regular contact?

Nationally Intensive work in an orphanage, aged care

home, hospital, school: much the same choices as for town and city. More extensive maintenance like larger painting jobs, building jobs, etc. is possible.

A special project contained in your country, e.g. Tabitha in Cambodia or Habitat.

But there must be a cheap, safe facility nearby in which to stay. Usually, four days to one week is the limit of a national trip.

Internationally

You can :• make a connection with a project you hear

about from another school• read about a group you admire and make

contact• use the information on IBO Schools to Schools

– projects – to help you

SESSION SIX

Setting up and running a CAS programme

Responsibilities of the school

1)Schools provide appropriate resources and staff to support the delivery of an appropriate and varied CAS programme

Responsibilities of the school

2)Students have opportunities to choose their own CAS activities and to undertake activities in a local and international context as appropriate

Responsibilities of the school

3)Students have appropriate opportunities to reflect on their CAS experiences guided by teacher advisors who provide appropriate feedback.

Break into groups of 4 and discuss these three requirements from your school. It may help you to consider:

How will you make this happen? How will you cost your activities? Do you have translation problems when

working outside your school? Do your teachers have to do some extra

curricular activity? Does any of it have to be service?

Do you have enough time with students to achieve this?

What will you need to say to your school for it to give you the help you need?

The CAS coordinator and the advisors

The key to the success of the CAS programme is the CAS coordinator. In larger schools a team approach under the direction of the CAS coordinator is essential if students are to be helped to make the most of their CAS experiences. The core team members are the coordinator and the CAS advisers, who provide personal advice and support to individual students. CAS advisers will usually be teachers.

The Essentials of a good CAS programme

Coordination:This involves overseeing of every aspect of the school’s CAS

programme.

It includes: Developing and maintaining policy statements Providing leadership for staff involved in CAS Training activity supervisors Supervising the professional development of CAS advisors Ensuring that staff, parents, and other students are kept informed

about CAS Publicising achievements Ensuring that students are prepared for the challenges they will

face (actual training/preparation provided by an appropriate person)

Reporting student achievement to the IB, as required by the Handbook of Procedures for the Diploma

AdministrationA CAS programme of any size requires support in order to ensure that it runs smoothly.

This includes: Contact with outside individuals and

agencies Consideration of safety issues (risk

assessment) Record keeping

Go back to your groups and discuss this list. How will you manage to do this?

Take the tasks one at a time and define

what they really mean. What do you have in place now to

achieve this and what will you need to get.

Responsibilities of the Student

To fulfill the IB programme standards, students need the chance to choose their own CAS activities in a local, national or international context. They need to “own” their personal CAS programmes. With guidance from mentors and advisors they should also initiate activities where appropriate.

Students are required to:

Self-review at the beginning of their CAS experience and set personal goals for what they hope to achieve through their CAS programme.

Plan, do and reflect (plan activities, carry them out and reflect on what they have learned)

Undertake at least one interim review and a final review with their CAS advisor

Take part in a range of activities, including at least one project, some of which they have initiated themselves

Keep records of their activities and achievements, including a list of the principal activities undertaken

Show evidence of achievement of the eight CAS learning outcomes

Easy really

Evaluation

The most important part of evaluation is the self-evaluation led by the student.

The school needs to provide the student with formative feedback on progress and offer guidance on future activities. The school also makes the final decision on completion, which is reported to the IB regional office. There is no other assessment of student performance in CAS.

The IB regional office systematically monitors school CAS programmes and provides feedback to the school

SESSION SEVEN

Range and diversity of activities

• vary in length• none should be trivial• ongoing relationships with local

organizations• major, concentrated, one-off

activities• activities which satisfy a state or

other award scheme qualificationNOT

part of subjects, EE or TOKroutine practice by music or dance subject people

Projects, themes, concepts

•at least one involving teamwork, integrating two or more of C,A,S, of significant duration

•perhaps along the lines of an IB identified theme

• www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ •global issues search

JF Richard’s twenty global problems (R ’02)

Creativity

Personal challenge – task must extend the student

A music, dance or art activity outside the DP

Action (in DP must be physical)

• Setting goals, planning and reflecting on achievements

• Individual and team sports• Non-sporting or competitive

• Physical as part of service

Service

• Have learning benefits• Prior identification of needs,

consultation with community or individual (and students if possible)

• Service learning linked to a subject, but as an extension

CANNOT COUNT TWICE, should be student initiated

NOT• Mundane, repetitive, with no responsibility

Political activity

Can be if safe and appropriate

Religious activity

Secular objectivesNOT

Devotion or proselytizing

RUNNING A CAS PROGRAMME FOR THE NEW AND FOR THE EXPERIENCED

Building a new CAS programme takes time. It involves making contact with appropriate partners and deciding that some activities are no longer valuable. It also involves following student initiatives which lead in new directions.

Starting out: for new and experienced

Step 1

Consult the Handbook of Procedures for the Diploma Programme to ensure the requirements related to monitoring and reporting are met. Also to ensure that sufficient resources are available before the CAS programme commences.

Administrative resources A condition of the Diploma Programme

Authorisation is that schools demonstrate a commitment to CAS from all members of the school community. The school therefore must provide the budget, time, staffing and resources necessary to run a successful CAS programme.

CAS is central to the Diploma programme and its organization and resourcing must not be left solely to students. Asking students to raise funds to provide a CAS budget is not appropriate.

Step 2

Information available to students

Step 3

Sufficient contact time

Step 4

Monitoring of programme in placeReflections and interviews

Step 5

Record of personal CAS upon completion – Individual Student Completon Form

Step 6

School review CAS programme as necessary

CAS MOMENTS

10 MINUTE STORIES