BAC AT DOON
Sumit M. Dargan
Seven decades ago or more when the
school embarked on its path to provide ‘holistic’ education in the then
colonial India, we were writing history of sorts.
In these years, the individualism of the Doscos, synchronizing their ability
to work with others, has allowed them to make a mark for themselves on many
fronts. However, the last few years have seen a distinct change in the type
of student profile that has come the Doon way. The large number of students
leaving us after ICSE and also the increasing rat race in the Indian college
admission scenario, backed with the foreign university admission, have all
been pointing towards the need to be different again.
The IB Diploma is the ‘marvel’ curriculum that takes account of the diverse
and growing needs of a young adult and provides ample room for reason and
critique/analysis. Having said this, the IB is by no means a system that
allows chaos to rule. On the contrary; for a student with poor organizing
skills it might prove to be more than a challenge!
The character of BAC is explained in the hexagon and its core. The six
components of its academic curriculum require a student to take six subjects
(at least three at higher level and three at standard level). Each of these
subjects has to come from a different group of learning as one finds in the
group definitions.
At the core of the BAC programme are the three keys that go to develop a
responsible world citizen.
The Extended Essay is a research-based student work on any topic of his
choice. This needs to be worked upon in a calendared/chronological manner
and examines the student’s ability to condense information in a concise and
productive manner and ability to draw meaningful conclusions from it.
The CAS programme embodies the development of the body and the spirit by
challenging the need to recreate creatively; engage in
action/sport/adventure and be involved in service as an integral part of
one’s belonging to the community he lives in. It is the spirit of the IB
Diploma and goes beyond the bean-counting of hours that one associates
‘service’ usually with. Perhaps it would be the only outdoor learning
experience that one never forgets in life!
The Theory of Knowledge programme is unique to the BAC. No school leaving
examination system in the world lays so much emphasis on a learning
component wherein the pupil is introduced to the various ways of learning
and the methods of acquiring knowledge. This, too, in a manner that the
adolescent is able to learn to discern and also is able to “agree to
disagree”. In an increasingly global community with varied cultures and
traditions, this is imperative. I would like to conclude with a remark made
by a ToK student from one of the UWCs: “The differences between people of
one nation are far greater than those of people from different nations.” The
IB prepares you to not only realize this but equips you to handle this
reality!
The Copycat Syndrome
Aditi Chaturvedi
I was listening to Boston’s More
Than a Feeling the other day, when I noticed a similarity between the song
and Smells Like Teen Spirit, which is perhaps Nirvana’s most famous song.
Going online I discovered that I wasn’t alone in this observation. Side B of
Neil Young’s 1979 Rust Never Sleeps added to my Nirvana disillusionment and
having heard the Pixies, I also realized that Nirvana’s
soft-building-up-to-explosive sound wasn’t as original as I had thought it
to be. And the word ‘original’ got me thinking.
Deep Purple’s Hush has a bit which sounds almost identical to a portion of
The Beatles’ A Day in the Life, with only the tempo changed. One of the main
songs in the movie Parineeta is very similar to the old Scottish folk song
Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon. The soundtrack of The Aviator borrows
heavily from the baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach and also from
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Pathetique (No 6), and for all those who’ve heard and
liked Sandese Aatein Hain from the movie Border, listen to the opening verse
of With A Little Help From My Friends. Citing every example would probably
take volumes, so I’d better call it a day
However it is often hard to draw the line between inspiration and pure
plagiarism. For instance, could Led Zeppelin’s famous Whole Lotta Love riff
be called plagiarized or would it be correct to say that it was merely
‘inspired’ by the blues style? For while a melody may ‘belong’ to a specific
composer, the intervals and the pitches of the notes do not. Very often
music copied from another, with minor variations in tempi and intervals, is
palmed off as an original work. And classical music, in particular, is
copied without any qualms, for, after all, Bach or Beethoven certainly
couldn’t sue anyone from their centuries-old graves, nor did any of them
leave behind estates to see to the protection of their work.
Music is the most obvious medium that comes to mind when one talks about
plagiarism, but plagiarism has become a ubiquitous phenomenon, and for most
people it is nothing out of the ordinary. Even while in school,
cut-and-paste is quite an accepted way of completing homework assignments
and research papers. Somehow most people find it hard to believe that
copying anything from the internet amounts plagiarism. After all, isn’t the
internet accessible to all? Isn’t it simply a store of
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