Faith in Scholarship
Scholarship and the Quest for Truth
Outline of the iBacc Scholarship Programme
Holistic Values
Mental Development as the Quest for Truth
Distinctive Ethics
Cultivating an Ethic of Enquiry
Personal Imperative
Learn Intelligently
Deep Culture
Access to the Academic/Professional Culture of the West and the Islamic world
Enhanced British Values
Valuing Research & the Professions
Pedagogy
Integrative scholarly Learning habits applied to every subject
Resourceful
the cognitive aspects of learning
Questioning; Making Links; Imagining; Reasoning; Capitalising
Questioning: you are curious about things and people, you often wonder why, you play with ideas, asking “How come?” and “What if?”
Making Links: you look for connections between experiences or ideas, you find pleasure in seeing how things fit together, you make patterns
Imagining: you picture how things might look, sound, feel, be; you envision possibilities and let your mind explore and play with ideas
Reasoning: you create logical arguments, you deduce what might happen, you look for evidence
Capitalising: you draw on your own past experience as well as the full range of resources from the wider world —other people, books, the Internet
Recollecting
the informative aspects of learning
Learning By Heart; Testing; Recording; Peer Tutoring
Learning By Heart: you learn core knowledge by rote, repeatedly recalling facts to mind & committing learning to long term memory, freeing your mind for more advanced learning
Testing: you enjoy proving yourself in quizzes & tests, you learn from omissions & mistakes, checking and correcting your work, & know what to master next
Recording: you keep a record of what you’ve mastered, collecting &organising information in ways that make it easier to learn by heart, use as a reference or communicate to others
Peer Tutoring: you demonstrate your mastery by sharing what you’ve learned with others, you model good learning habits and teach others by passing on your interests, skills and understanding
Curriculum
Cambridge University International Curriculum or reputable alternative leading to recognised GCSE and A Levels compatible with (inter)national curricula
Arabic IGCSE
This syllabus is designed for students who are learning Arabic as a modern foreign language. The aim is to develop an ability to use the language effectively for practical communication. The course is based on the linked language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, and these are built on as learners progress through their studies.
The syllabus also aims to offer insights into the culture of countries where Arabic is spoken, thus encouraging positive attitudes towards language learning and towards speakers of other languages.
iBacc schools will link this subject to Islamayat and knowledge of Quranic Arabic
Islamiyat IGCSE – a GCSE in Islamic RE (Religious Education)
This syllabus enables learners to develop an understanding the importance of the major beliefs of Islam, and of the early history of the Islamic community. As a result, learners develop their knowledge and understanding of the main elements of Islamic faith and history, evaluating the meaning and importance of these elements in the lives and thoughts of Muslims. Although the syllabus is studied in English, some familiarity with passages from the Qur’an and Hadith in Arabic is assumed.
