Disappointed in IB class -- should I transfer?

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I’m posting in the parents’ forum because I’ve always received great advice here, and I need someone else’s opinion.</p>

<p>I just started the IB Diploma this year. For the most part I love my classes, but I’m disappointed in my art class. The assignments so far have been uninspiring, and I feel like we’re pressured to be unconventional for the sake of unconventionality, without any real purpose behind it. </p>

<p>The teachers (we have two; they alternate as they see fit) already seem to have favorite students, and mostly ignore everybody else. One class we were working on our projects, and the teacher in charge walked around critiquing students’ work. After a while, my friend and I noticed that she’d talked to nearly everyone except us. My friend, by the way, is an amazing artist.</p>

<p>My friend: Ms. Z, can you come here for a minute? I’m having trouble with my piece, and I’d really like some advice.
The teacher: Well, Sara, I don’t feel that you’re receptive to criticism, so I decided not to offer.</p>

<p>It’s true that my friend can be very stubborn, but I thought that was extremely unprofessional of the teacher.</p>

<p>It’s ironic, because this is a class that I looked forward to taking. Now, though, I feel more frustrated than anything else. </p>

<p>I’ve been thinking about transferring to biology, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea. I don’t want my parents to worry unless I definitely decide to switch, so I was hoping some of you could give advice.</p>

<p>By the way, I’m not asking what will look best to adcoms. I suspect I already know the answer to that, but that’s not a factor in my decision. I just don’t want to spend the next two years in a class that makes me feel unhappy and exasperated.</p>

<p>IB Art definitely isn’t a “slacker” class; my art history textbook weighs 10 lbs, and I have more homework in art than I do in history. Senior year, at the end of the course, each student presents his or her work to an outside examiner. More than that, art (specifically photography) is a major EC of mine, so it’s not just a random choice.</p>

<p>To give you a better idea of the situations, these are my current classes:
IB Chemistry HL
IB English A1 HL
IB French A1 HL
IB Mathematics SL
IB History SL
IB Art SL
Journalism
Theory of Knowledge</p>

<p>Biology is in a different scheduling block, but luckily there are no conflicts with my current schedule–I’d only need to rearrange some of my free periods.</p>

<p>I suppose I sound as if I have it all planned out, but I do have some doubts.</p>

<p>*We’ve been at school for just over a month. It’s impossible to know whether things will improve.
*Transferring a month into the year might be a hassle. Would I be able to make up the work?
*I took biology in ninth grade, but not in tenth. I don’t think that would be a problem, but you never know.</p>

<p>I’m undecided. What do you think I should do?</p>

<p>Thanks, and sorry about the long post,
Anya</p>

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<p>thisyearsgirl - You may remember that I am one of your fans. Going solely on your experience in the art class (not on analyzing your overall curriculum) I believe you should consider staying. Sometimes we learn different things from what we expect in different ways from how we expect it.

From my perspective, this was a moment of learning opportunity for your friend. Not a very easy moment. Not pleasant. And the teacher perhaps could have been more diplomatic or taken her comments outside of the classroom to a private word with your friend. So, I’m not thinking it was unprofessional. There may have been other better ways to teach that lesson, but - in particular for an artist -it may be one of the most important lessons for your friend to learn. She may someday thank this teacher for showing her how much she may miss by being “stubborn.”</p>

<p>Stay in the class, is my opinion.</p>

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<p>jmmom: Thanks for your reply. :slight_smile: I think what bothered me most about the conversation was not the message, but the fact that my friend politely asked for help and in return received a very rude answer.</p>

<p>I think my main problem with the class is that it’s so pretentious. We’re not allowed to draw representational figures because we’re “not mature enough” for anything other than abstract shapes, never mind the fact that most of us have been taking art since sixth or seventh grade. When we follow the rules of an assignment we’re told “you’re not taking enough risks”; when we break the rules we’re told “that’s not what your assignment is”.</p>

<p>I definitely see your point, but it feels like I’m wasting time trying to conform to some elusive, arbitrary standard of What Art Should Be, and it makes me very uncomfortable.</p>

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<p>Check out the biology course by asking friends how it’s going, and talking to the teacher. If it seems that you’d enjoy it more, transfer. There’s no reason to do 2-years of a class that makes you miserable and is not required if there’s a better alternative available. That’s particularly true because of all the work it would require to test out of art. If you’re not enjoying it, I can’t see a reason to bother with it if you can find something more pleasureable.</p>

<p>If you like art, take an evening class at an art studio or enroll in a summer art program.</p>

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<p>thisyearsgirl - I see your point.</p>

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<p>

I’ll try that; thanks for the suggestion. :)</p>

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<p>thisyear, my son’s experience with IB Higher Art was extremely negative. He is a talented artist both technically and creatively. </p>

<p>He felt that the IB evaluation system completely beat the fun and excitement out of making art. The emphasis on theory and critical analysis far outweighed process and experimentation and the instructor was cowed by the need to get the kids through the IB system. As in your class, kids with potential to score well within the IB constraints were given more support than kids who were more creative.(I know this is subjective, but so are all arts: that’s exactly the problem with the IB evaluation system.</p>

<p>All in all, we were very pleased with the IB program. Theory of knowledge was superb, the extended essay an excellent experience and really, all of my son’s other courses were topnotch. It just seems that IB and creativity are at odds with each other. In fairness, other parents have strongly disagreed, so maybe it depends on how the individual teacher interprets the IB guidelines. In my son’s case it was a stultifying experience.</p>

<p>I’d go for biology and make art on your own time.</p>

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<p>

That’s not natural… :eek:</p>

<p>Anyway, most of the people that took IB Art HL at my school had a love-hate relationship with it. They liked parts of the course, but the reports and external criteria were bleh. One of my friends, who is such a terrible artist that he draws stick animals (he’s nearly as bad an artist as me), breezed through the course, so I got the feeling many people didn’t get much out of it. </p>

<p>Getting into and keeping up in IB Bio shouldn’t be hard. Like NSM suggested, talk to your friends- you don’t want to exchange one bad class for another. Don’t expect to get too much out of IB Bio, though- the course is very broad, but it doesn’t go into too much depth, especially at SL.</p>

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<p>Can you ask upperclassman or recent grads about their experience with these teachers? Sometimes first impressions may not be accurate (on the other hand, maybe yours are).</p>

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<p>momrath, thanks for sharing your son’s experience. I agreed with this part especially:

I already take photography outside of school, and I’m sure I could find a painting class at the same studio.</p>

<p>warblersrule86,

They told us from the very beginning, “You’re not here to draw pretty pictures.” I agree that there is more to art than making pretty things, but I almost feel as if we get penalized for trying to make our pieces look appealing. It doesn’t matter one bit if it’s ugly; the only important part is how well we can explain What We Were Trying To Do With It.</p>

<p>audiophile, I’ve actually had both teachers before, though separately. One of them is fine, but the other (the one I referred to in the anecdote) is pretentious and picks favorites. I knew that both of them would be teaching the class, but I thought that teacher #1 would have more of a presence… unfortunately she’s remained in the background, and #2 seems to be in control.</p>

<p>I’m definitely leaning towards switching. I’ll have to talk to school administrators Monday to see if it can be worked out.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your advice.</p>

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<p>I talked to the bio teacher, my parents, and someone in the administration, and found out that it isn’t too late to transfer, it doesn’t matter that I didn’t take bio in tenth grade, and I’d have to make up the work I missed (a unit on cell structure that shouldn’t be too strenuous).</p>

<p>From the school’s part, the only requirement seemed to be that (1) it fit into my schedule and (2) I wasn’t doing it to boost my GPA. I haven’t officially switched yet, and I still have to talk to the art teachers, but I’ve essentially been given permission to go ahead with it. My parents are completely supportive. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the help! :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the update! Best wishes to you!</p>

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<p>Actually, my experience with HL art has been good so far. Last year was more structured projects, but it was a great introduction into all different types of media and different types of art. This year I basically get to do whatever art I want to do which surrounds my theme, and it’s fun watching all of my classmates develop their different pieces and ideas in class. There is a lot of research involved before each project, and you need cultural connections and influences, which at some times is annoying, but at the same time, I have learned and gotten ideas from my research. I feel bad that your teacher isn’t great; actually I know several people in my class had some issues with the way my teacher graded, but you just have to go along with it. It sounds like you have it worse though. I took chem instead of bio, but in my second year of chem IB it really just started out the same as my first year of chem, so i think you’ll be fine there too.
Just letting you know, there are two types of IB art sl, one completely researched based, and one completely studio based. Maybe one would benefit you better.</p>