IB English helps students develop the critical thinking, cultural awareness and communication skills needed to understand an increasingly globalised world. At Westbourne College Singapore, students study literature from different cultures, eras and perspectives, while learning to form and communicate their own ideas with confidence.
Studying IB English is about much more than analysing texts. In this interview, Euan Mancer, English teacher at Westbourne College Singapore, explains how the international classroom encourages students to look beyond surface-level techniques, explore different perspectives and understand the cultures and societies behind the texts they study. With students from a range of backgrounds sharing their experiences and interpretations, the subject helps develop confident, curious and perceptive global citizens.
What do you enjoy most about teaching English, and what do you think makes the subject particularly valuable for students today?
What I enjoy most about teaching English is seeing students come to realisations about a text, what it represents, how it has been communicated, and through this, understanding the world around them in a new light. This is important in a globalised world, where having insight into society, cultures, and how they operate and communicate is an advantage to us all as we progress together.
The IB English course takes students beyond simply studying texts. What skills and ways of thinking does it develop that students can carry into university and their future careers?
The IB course teaches students to analyse beyond surface-level techniques and to evaluate the underlying importance of the messages they communicate. This is university-level thinking which will hold them in good stead throughout their lives.
What makes studying IB English at Westbourne College Singapore distinctive?
Westbourne College is special because we are a small school where everyone knows everyone and gets on well with each other. The teachers are always available if the students have any queries about the content or course. It’s a positive, inclusive atmosphere.
Westbourne is an international school with students from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. How does that international environment influence the way students approach English and the texts they study?
All students bring differing perspectives to the learning and social environments here. This is celebrated. Students are encouraged to share their views, experiences, and unique understandings of the texts we study and the world beyond. We are enriched by diversity.
The IB encourages students to look at literature from different perspectives and cultural contexts. How do you bring that international perspective into your English classroom?
Different perspectives are encouraged. The texts we study must come from a variety of eras, cultures, languages and genders. Studying them helps broaden a student’s worldview. We can also all learn more about ourselves and others from the texts we analyse by sharing our different points of view and experiences.
How does studying English in Singapore add something different to the experience compared with studying the subject in a more traditional school environment?
Firstly, the size of the school and classes means students have greater access to teachers both in and out of class. They also have a smaller student body, which means more mixing with people from a variety of backgrounds they may not have experience of in other schools.
What do you hope students take away from studying English with you beyond achieving a strong IB grade?
I hope they will feel more confident, connected and actively involved in, and understanding of, the world as global citizens. I also hope they have learnt to appreciate its beauty and complexity.
Westbourne students go on to universities around the world. How does IB English prepare students for studying, communicating and thinking at an international level?
Students at Westbourne are encouraged to be responsible for their own learning. In many ways, they are given more freedom than in many other schools. This encourages maturity and autonomy in students who are empowered by feeling in control of their learning outcomes and future.
If you were speaking to a student considering IB English at Westbourne, what would you say makes it a subject worth choosing?
English language and literature helps students better understand the world and, importantly, themselves. We study texts from different cultures, eras and genders, which helps broaden students’ worldview. This creates curious students with an insightful and perceptive outlook on life and society.