Le Baccalauréat International comme complément avant-gardiste

Que ce soit intellectuellement, culturellement ou psychologiquement, le système éducatif traditionnel dispensé par l'Etat et le privé ne répond plus aux exigences de la mondialisation. C'est le cas à Maurice comme dans plusieurs autres pays, même les plus développés. Il y a eu certes des tentatives pour remettre en phase nos écoles et nos collèges, mais elles se sont échouées sur des ajustements superficiels et contradictoires. On serait même tenté de parler de décrochage, tellement le fossé s'est creusé.

Une transformation mal ficelée et mal agencée butera toujours sur une résistance, surtout si la structure de base a été rongée par plusieurs années de conflit entre conservateurs de différents bords. Il n'existe pas de modèle idéal. En revanche, il y a des programmes qui s'efforcent d'adapter leur pédagogie aux attentes de nos sociétés en mutation permanente. Ce sont les programmes du Baccalauréat International (IB), notamment le Programme primaire (PYP), le Programme de premier cycle secondaire (MYP) et le Programme du diplôme (DP).

Le siège social du IB se situe à Genève, en Suisse. Des chercheurs internationaux à l’université de Bath, au Royaume-Uni, déconstruisent l'évolution de la pédagogie aux quatre coins du monde (de la Scandinavie à l'Inde en passant par la Nouvelle Zélande) et formulent des recommandations régulières au Centre des programmes et de l’évaluation basé à Cardiff, toujours au Royaume-Uni.

Depuis son lancement en 1968, le IB a connu une progression constante. Si à l'origine le IB était destiné aux enfants des diplomates, des cadres et militaires expatriés, aujourd'hui la communauté du IB regroupe plus de 665 000 élèves et 2 424 établissements scolaires répartis dans 131 pays, avec une forte concentration en Australie, au Canada, au Royaume-Uni et aux Etats-Unis. La scolarité est financée par l’État (dans plus de 50% des cas) ou des fonds privés.

Sans la diversion occasionnée par la politique étrangère, Tony Blair, grand admirateur du IB, aurait très probablement converti la grande majorité des établissements britanniques. En effet, il est difficile de résister à la déclaration de mission du IB: "développer chez les jeunes la curiosité intellectuelle, les connaissances et la sensibilité nécessaires pour contribuer à bâtir un monde meilleur et plus paisible, dans un esprit d’entente mutuelle et de respect interculturel".

En mars dernier, la Voice of America titrait "Le IB prépare les étudiants américains pour la mondialisation". Contrairement aux idées reçues, le IB n'est pas conçu exclusivement pour les enfants les plus brillants, son approche très ludique est une incitation à "apprendre à apprendre". Bien entendu, la relative petite communauté du IB lui confère une certaine agilité, facilitant ainsi la mise en place des programmes.

Cependant, même si dans sa dimension abstraite le IB suscite un enthousiasme débordant, l'engagement des enseignants, des parents et de la direction y est plus déterminant que dans la méthode traditionnelle. Parce que l'enseignant agit beaucoup plus comme un guide que comme un émetteur de formules et rhétoriques à mémoriser et pondre sur un papier d'examen. De fait, l'apprenant IB est un chercheur. Les parents de ces élèves, même les plus avisés, sont tentés de comparer la méthodologie IB et la méthodologie traditionnelle. D'où l'importance de leur éclairer la voie avec d'autres repères palpables.

Actuellement, le IB n'est proposé que dans le privé à Maurice; deux établissements offrent le DP et un autre offre le PYP. Le MYP devrait logiquement être disponible à l'avenir. La majorité des établissements à travers le monde n'offre que le DP avec parfois un autre diplôme traditionnel en parallèle. Depuis quelques années il y a un engouement vers le programme complet du IB (PYP, MYP, DP) afin d'imprégner une cohérence une méthodologie qui est loin d'être conventionnelle, même si elle demeure très flexible et libérale. Ce qui sous-entend qu'on ne peut pas vraiment se référer à une école type IB.

Le IB épouse totalement la "glocalisation", un concept savant qui signifie agir localement pour se doter des aptitudes (empathie, cosmopolitisme, quête du savoir et de son application, intelligence critique, sens de la responsabilité, esprit d'initiative etc.) pour affronter les défis de la mondialisation. Pas étonnant que le développement d'une telle personnalité attire l'attention des universités, surtout américaines. Il faut aussi noter que l'université d'Oxford, par exemple, accepte la candidature de postulants IB à partir d'une note de 38 à 40 (incluant un mémoire et un engagement communautaire), la note maximale étant de 45.

Le gouvernement mauricien pourrait intégrer le IB dans un plan stratégique échelonné sur plusieurs années. Il est tout à fait envisageable de créer des établissements régionaux disons en 2012, le temps d'obtenir l'accréditation et de former les enseignants. On introduirait ainsi des enfants en pré-primaires et en premières années au PYP, lesquels poursuivraient ensuite leur scolarité MYP et DP. Simultanément, les étudiants ayant obtenu leur School Certificate auraient l'option de s'orienter vers le DP uniquement.

Même si le IB est bien rôdé il faut surtout veiller à ce que son implémentation se fasse en cherchant l'adhésion de toutes les parties (étudiants, enseignants, parents, direction, board etc.) et en évitant de mettre la charrue avant les boeufs. Ces conditions réunies, il n'y a aucune raison pour que le IB ne puisse pas conquérir un grand nombre de Mauriciens. N'empêche, il devra évoluer côte à côte avec le système traditionnel pendant encore très longtemps. Et c'est tant mieux, cela pourra rassurer et donner un choix aux parents réfractaires.

Néanmoins, le système traditionnel ne peut plus exister dans sa forme actuelle. Tous les enfants mauriciens doivent pouvoir débuter leur scolarité de la manière la plus équitable, les enseignants doivent être revalorisés et les programmes scolaires doivent être revus de fond en comble. Bref, le IB a suffisamment d'atouts pour agir comme source d'inspiration décisive. L'essentiel est de dégager une notion de l'excellence. La finalité est de ne pas enfermer les adultes de demain dans un ghetto culturel et intellectuel.

The Mauritius Consensus

Any observer emancipated from the blinkers of partisan politics, from the intoxication of the "Mauritian miracle" and from the relativism of benchmarking with countries trapped in an even more "autistic" state than we are, would cast doubt over our achievement as a nation since our independence. So would the thousands of Mauritians who have sought greener pastures abroad and the thousands more presently tempted by emigration sirens. What went wrong?

So as not to taint further the credibility of our political masters since 1968, it must be acknowledged that among the many misguided policies endorsed by our successive governments, there have certainly been many that are forward-looking too. What has been conspicuously missing is a strategic plan that synergises all the policies as they are implemented so that the benefits of one policy do not weaken the benefits of another. A piecemeal and haphazard approach can only yield short-term gratification.

Reality Check

Through the compulsive demise of cross-border regulations and with technological breakthrough, the world is moulding itself into a "global village". Subtly but in dynamic terms, globalisation is shaping our lifestyle. Arguably, even if it wants to, a nation cannot stop the disruptive impact of globalisation, it can only strive to minimise it, without downplaying it, while endeavouring to grab the opportunities it unleashes.

The prerequisite for citizens to integrate globalisation comfortably is a domestic system that has successfully integrated them. That is an environment where a decent standard of living comes as a reward for diligence and talent expressed on a level playing field. For a right-minded Mauritian, this is hardly a depiction of post-independence Mauritius. If your interlocutor does not concur, you can be sure that she is just a ruthless self-seeker!

Fundamentally, our model of development revolves around privileges. At the local level, the modus operandi is essentially determined by a citizen's skill to activate her social network: the common citizen thrives through small privileges, the mighty citizen cruises through big privileges. Not surprisingly, goods and services are even bartered in some circles. All in all, a collective schizophrenia persists where on the one hand "refuseniks" lag behind and on the other hand, "cheerleaders" indecently exploit the rigged contest.

At the international level, our economic expansion has been secured through a series of negotiated privileges from "developed" countries to access their markets with dissimulated reciprocity. The problem with preferential treatment is that the more you get, the more you expect. To maintain a status quo as long as possible, the end then justifies the means. No matter how smart our "economic diplomacy", our survival in the post-privilege era will ultimately depend on our tireless efforts to improve our real competitiveness.

The predominant "nou" and "bann-la" mindset pervades every sphere of our society. In the process, the whole political system is perverted: it particularly offers disenchanted citizens a democratic wishfulfilment of booting ineffective governments out during periodic elections while cynical voters and candidates, a minority one would like to believe, merely participate in a bid to rode enn bout.

In the absence of an adequate mechanism of checks and balances and of an electoral system conducive to the emergence of alternative voices, our "democracy" itself is hijacked. What a waste for the so-called beacon of civic responsibility and its absolute disregard of how much citizenship and civility are subsequently trampled on!

How much louder the wake-up call before our political, business and intellectual elites whistle the end to the pas-moi-li-sa game, restrain their greed and wrestle their conceit? Yet the protectionist impulse and the downbeat mood are distinct symptoms of a nation dreading the future. The longer we ignore the symptoms the fitter we will be to join the league of "sick states of globalisation". The more we procrastinate before dealing with the root causes, the longer it will take to defuse the social time bomb.

Placebo Effect

The enlightened leadership that the great majority of Mauritians have been yearning for is still elusive. A leader must not only have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities of globalisation but also a precise assessment of our own failings and intrinsic potential. Everybody, indiscriminately, must be aware of where we are heading and must be constantly reminded of how we are getting there with all the stages clearly defined. Globalisation is a multidimensional phenomenon that can only be embraced with hybrid and contextualised domestic policies. It does not matter which economic thinker we draw our inspiration from, be it Karl Marx, Adam Smith or Amartya Sen. All our policymakers need is to focus on how to sustain our momentum for growth, not the growth rate per se.

This will happen when policies are implemented with a win-win perspective, rather than coercively and doctrinally. "Conjoncture internationale" cuts both ways and the prospect of creating a "second miracle" derives more from fetishism than anything else. Consensus cannot rest on a flimsy foundation and an abstract concept, but around the whole package. We have no alternative than to shift our paradigm from our delusive model of development to an inclusive society operating with global, predictable and transparent norms.

Policymakers have a primal mission to prevent us from drifting further away from English language and the American dollar or increasingly the Euro, not because we are mesmerised by "God save the Queen" and Britney Spears or Carla Sarkozy, but because they are the medium of exchange in the "global village". The wider the gap grows, the greater the number of Mauritians who will remain entrenched in their "local village" that an exposure limited to "Bollywood", "Premier League" football and French-centric intellectualism can only exacerbate. Little wonder our "debates" emanate more hot air than they light up our way.

To cope with the pluralism that globalisation fosters, albeit under Western hegemony, we need to celebrate it jointly with our roots to build a "composite identity", otherwise an inward-looking "borrowed identity" with a binary psyche that sees "bijoux" everywhere will flourish! Pragmatism, not to confuse with realpolitik, must be the engine of our policies. We must not hesitate to travel as far as Canada, Finland or New Zealand, for example, to seek fresh ideas and befriend new people instead of relying exclusively and desperately on the benevolence of the few "pays amis" or the one-size-fits-all "expertise" of the World Bank.

Whether global capitalism becomes a rollercoaster or a bandwagon ride will depend firstly on the solutions we devise for ourselves, secondly on how the people chairing our institutions safeguard our rights and finally and crucially on how civil society and the media keep our politicians on their toes. Simply put, we must make our mediocrity history.

Is Wall Street's Meltdown a Blessing in Disguise?

As China, and to a lesser extent India, Russia and Latin America, continue to flex their muscles, the American financial debacle is very likely to hasten the demise of the unipolar world that rose from the ashes of the Cold War. However refuseniks of unfettered capitalism elsewhere should refrain from rejoicing too soon. They should instead keep an eye on the response of their local political, business and opinion leaders.

Wall Street’s meltdown has clearly exposed the flaws and fallacies of the anti-regulatory ideology. Ironically, it could also provide a lifeline for the aid industrialists from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) whose “expertise” has never been so widely scorned, with the exception of few countries like Mauritius, where the WB has even been welcomed to set up office.

Leaders who invariably outsource their thinking unwittingly reveal their incompetence. In sharp contrast, the words, however presumptuous, of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew aired on CNN – "I am not following any prescription given to me by any theoretician … I work from first principles, what will get me there" – typically underpin the leadership brand behind any iconic country, business or institution for that matter.

To put it bluntly, if a country is really willing to cope with global capitalism, neither the IMF/WB drivel nor any other “adviser” will help. The brightest consultants may be required for technical assistance, but never for strategy development or a turnaround. Vision, foresight and capacity to implement regularly updated policies “will get us there”. Sound macroeconomics (monetary stability and fiscal discipline) are key but without smart microeconomics (synergy between households, businesses and markets) to complement, everything is nothing.

Toxic policies driven by crony capitalism and greed merely inflate bubbles that are bound to burst some day. Capitalism itself is not the problem but, left unchecked, its excesses can be devastatingly contagious.

Celebrity Meltdown

No matter how hard reality bites the theology of laissez-faire, its blind disciples will cling to it. But when Alan Greenspan, one of its high priests, is gripped with agnosticism, it means that a change of heart is in the air. Why has the former Federal Reserve chairman acquired divine status in the first place? Why do we canonise fellow human beings so promptly today?

Taken in its most ruthless representation, the technology-driven era offers few alternatives: embrace it or ignore it at your own risk and peril. Excess breeds excess. There seems to be no room for the middle path. To meet new spending patterns of consumers for whom time appears to fly, markets started promoting prêt-à-porter. Then came prêt-à-manger. And now, enter prêt-à-penser. Celebrity models, chefs and experts rule our world.

The worldwide trend for the last decades has been an obsession with pet theories and an infatuation with fads. Worse, deprived of adequate contextual research, most parts of the developing world have simply internalised what are merely aberrations. As like-minded people tend to flock together, they end up confusing what they repeat among themselves with self-evident truth.

William Easterly's ‘White Man's Burden’ and Ha-Joon Chang's ‘Bad Samaritans’ should provide the elusive hindsight to those who feel fooled and let down. For an even better taste of vintage "lateral thinking" and "thinking outside the box", Nassim Taleb's ‘Black Swan’ might well be the ultimate pick. There is indeed a heavy price to pay when we let wizardry and punditry cloud our reasoning.