1-on-1 Mastery-Based IB Global Politics · Taipei

IB Global Politics, from theory to engagement.

IB Global Politics rewards engagement with political issues through theory and practice, not theory recall alone. Lessons build from the political concepts and current-events knowledge students bring toward the multi-perspective analysis, theoretical engagement, and Engagement Project the IB Paper questions, and university coursework, will demand.

Audience
IB Global Politics HL and SL content, international school students
Format
1-on-1, 1 to 1.5 hours per lesson
Duration
Typically across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence
Begin
Complimentary consultation & assessment class

What Students Learn

Mastery-based IB Global Politics at the level your child's school actually requires.

IB Global Politics is for students working through the IB Diploma Programme who want to move past theory recall toward the multi-perspective analysis, theoretical engagement, and Engagement Project the IB assessment tests. The program covers the full IB Global Politics Subject Guide for HL and SL. Reasoning from the Core Theme on Understanding Power and Global Politics, including the four concepts of power, sovereignty, legitimacy, and interdependence the IB Paper 1 distinctively tests through source-based questions. Working through the Thematic Study on Rights and Justice, including human rights frameworks, contested rights, and the interactions between rights and other political values. Tracing the Thematic Study on Development and Sustainability, including measurement of development, contested approaches to development, and the sustainability dimensions the IB assessment expects. Analyzing the Thematic Study on Peace and Conflict, including the nature of peace, sources of conflict, and the strategies for conflict transformation. Building reasoning across multi-perspective analysis, including the side-by-side examination of stakeholder positions the Paper 2 essays require. Engaging with case studies of global political challenges at HL, with sustained research into two case studies Paper 3 examines. Designing and writing the Engagement Project the IB Internal Assessment requires. These are the skills the IB Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 questions test, and the foundation any university political science, international relations, law, public policy, journalism, or related course will assume.

IB Global Politics is not advanced theory recall. The shift is from theory to engagement. Students move from describing political theories and current events to engaging with political issues through both theoretical frameworks and practical experience, integrating multiple perspectives and developing reasoned political judgments. A student who can summarize the concept of sovereignty is doing the recall work. A student who can apply sovereignty to a specific political situation, examine how different stakeholders interpret sovereignty differently, integrate engagement with people directly affected by the situation, and develop a reasoned political analysis is doing the engagement the IB assessment rewards across themes and case studies. The program closes the gap between the two.

Lessons follow Harland's IB Global Politics curriculum, built to bring students to mastery of IB Global Politics content as defined by the IB Diploma Programme Subject Guide. The program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with each unit closing in an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats and includes the analytical work the Engagement Project requires. SL students complete the SL core covering the Core Theme and three Thematic Studies. HL students complete the SL core plus the HL extension on global political challenges through case-study research Paper 3 examines. Lessons calibrate to your child's individual gaps and the topics their school program covers. If a student is working through the Core Theme on Understanding Power and Global Politics at school, the teacher works through it with the student, applying the unit's analytical structure to the questions their Paper 1 will eventually ask.

Progress shows up in places parents can see. Where your child once memorized definitions of political concepts, they now apply concepts to specific political situations and argue for a defensible position. Where your child once described political events from a single perspective, they now examine multiple stakeholder perspectives and integrate them into reasoned analysis. Where the Engagement Project once felt like an open-ended task, it now feels like a structured political investigation your child can plan, engage with, and write against the IB rubric.

How We Teach It

IB Global Politics taught for understanding, with the score arriving as a consequence.

Harland's pedagogy is content-based learning. Multi-perspective analysis, theoretical engagement, and the analytical depth the IB Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 questions reward develop through the themes, sources, and past papers your child is already working with. Assessments check whether the thinking holds up when the student moves to new material alone.

A student working through the Core Theme on power and sovereignty works on it with their teacher, building the reasoning that connects state authority, international institutions, and contested legitimacy to the source-based questions Paper 1 requires. A student moving into the Thematic Study on Rights and Justice works on it with their teacher, applying the unit's analytical structure to human rights frameworks, contested rights claims, and the multi-perspective analysis the IB Paper 2 essays test. A student working through Peace and Conflict works on it with their teacher, building the scaffolding that lets them analyze sources of conflict, weigh strategies for conflict transformation, and form their own argued position with the rigor the IB rubric expects.

IB Global Politics students arrive with two layers under the surface. The score pressure is real. The May or November exam matters for university plans, particularly for students aiming at political science, international relations, law, public policy, diplomacy, journalism, or related paths, and most students know it. But beneath the score pressure is a specific cognitive challenge that defines the IB Global Politics assessment. Theory recall is not the hard part. The hard part is engaging with a political issue from multiple stakeholder perspectives, integrating theoretical frameworks with practical engagement, and developing reasoned political judgments with the engagement the IB rubric expects. The 1-on-1 format gives teachers room to slow down where the multi-perspective ground is unfamiliar, and to keep the work rigorous without losing the student's engagement with politics itself. Skill and engagement develop together. Neither moves far in isolation.

The format also lets teachers calibrate within the program's structure. A student fluent with political terminology but uncomfortable with IB source-based questions gets pushed toward the Paper 1-style scenarios the assessment will ask. What does this source show about how power operates in this situation. Whose perspective does the source reflect, and whose is missing. How would different stakeholders interpret the same event. A student strong on source analysis but weak on the extended response essay Paper 2 requires gets work calibrated to the rubric's expectations. That means refining argument structure across thematic studies, integrating evidence from multiple political contexts, organizing essays around the political question the prompt sets, and writing against the criteria the IB assessment uses.

Global Politics also has an investigative dimension. The IB Global Politics Diploma Programme requires every student to complete the Engagement Project as Internal Assessment, worth around 25 percent of the SL final grade and around 20 percent of the HL final grade. The Engagement Project is an investigation into a political issue the student is personally connected to, where students conduct primary research through engagement with people and organizations involved, integrate that engagement with secondary research, and write a report of up to 2,000 words at SL and up to 2,400 words at HL, with HL students adding a recommendation section evaluating potential solutions. Harland's 1-on-1 IB Global Politics program supports the Engagement Project through every stage. Teachers help students choose a political issue that fits both the rubric criteria and the student's analytical interests, develop the engagement methodology, work through the integration of engagement with theoretical frameworks the rubric expects, and structure the writing against the IB assessment criteria. The practical engagement itself happens in real political contexts, and Harland's role is the planning, analytical, and writing work that turns engagement into a strong Project.

Curriculum and Alignment

A structured curriculum keyed to the IB Global Politics Subject Guide.

IB Global Politics at Harland follows a structured curriculum keyed to the IB Global Politics Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. A student who completes the program has demonstrated mastery of IB Global Politics content as the IB Subject Guide defines it.

Harland's IB Global Politics runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with Engagement Project preparation integrated rather than appended. Most school IB Global Politics courses spread the same content across more class time, with Engagement Project work happening alongside or after class. 1-on-1 lessons don't lose time to group pacing or mixed-ability instruction, so the same core content fits in more substantive units. The time saved goes into the engagement the IB Diploma assessment rewards.

Standards
IB Global Politics Diploma Programme Subject Guide (HL and SL, first teaching August 2024), with the Engagement Project rubric as the cross-cutting skill framework
Materials
Harland curriculum materials, the Core Theme and Thematic Studies your child's school program covers, current political case studies relevant to the Engagement Project, and past IB papers integrated as ongoing input
Assessment
End-of-unit assessments aligned with IB Paper 1 (Core Theme source-based), Paper 2 (Thematic Studies essays), Paper 3 (HL extension case studies), and the Engagement Project rubric
Reporting
Skill-level tracking against Harland's internal rubrics, mapped to IB assessment criteria

Prerequisites and What Comes Next

Where IB Global Politics fits in your child's learning.

Before starting

IB Global Politics assumes prior coursework in humanities or social studies, typically built through pre-IB or MYP humanities, and the foundational close-reading and essay-writing skills those courses develop. IB Global Politics is reading- and writing-intensive across all papers and the Engagement Project, and comfort with current affairs, multi-perspective analysis, and extended argument is essential. Students arriving from a different curriculum or with uneven foundations work through gaps in foundational analytical reading before or alongside IB Global Politics proper.

One thing to know about scope. The IB Global Politics Internal Assessment, the Engagement Project, is an investigation of a political issue worth around 25 percent of the SL final grade and around 20 percent of the HL final grade. The Project requires the student to engage practically with a political issue in their community, through research, conversations with people involved, and integration of theoretical frameworks with that engagement. IB schools provide formal supervision for the Project, including checkpoint deadlines and final submission. Harland's 1-on-1 tutoring focuses on the issue selection, the theoretical framing, the integration of engagement with course concepts, and the writing the IB rubric directly tests. The practical engagement itself happens in real political contexts under school supervisor oversight, and Harland's role is the planning, analytical, and writing work that turns engagement into a strong Project.

The consultation and assessment class establishes whether IB Global Politics is the right starting point and whether parallel work in foundational analytical reading or Academic English would help. Some students arrive needing both English-foundation reinforcement and IB-specific support, and the lesson plan covers what's most urgent first.

What comes after

Most students complete IB Global Politics across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, sitting either the May or November exam. Cadence varies by entry point and exam timing, with most students attending one to three sessions per week.

IB Global Politics does not have a direct successor course in the IB sequence. After the exam, the engagement and multi-perspective analysis the course develops carries directly into university political science, international relations, law, public policy, diplomacy, journalism, public administration, peace studies, development studies, and any field that requires engagement with political systems and stakeholder analysis. Students choosing Global Politics as their Extended Essay subject work with their primary teacher across the research-question, methodology, and writing stages on the Extended Essay program.

The longer-term aim of IB Global Politics is to make itself unnecessary. The program brings students to mastery of IB Global Politics content. Students sit the May or November exam, submit their Engagement Project, and the program's role ends. A parent who's no longer worried about their child's IB Global Politics work is the point of all of it.

Common Questions

Common questions about IB Global Politics at Harland.

Who is IB Global Politics at Harland for? +
IB Global Politics at Harland is for high school students working through the IB Diploma Programme. Most of our students fall into one of two patterns. Some are taking IB Global Politics at school and come to us for support alongside the school program, building the multi-perspective analysis and the engagement-driven thinking the IB assessment tests differently from typical political-science coursework. Some are preparing for the May or November exam in an intensive run-up, working through past papers, IA refinement, and targeted weakness review in the weeks or months before the assessment. Students whose situation falls outside these two patterns, including students transitioning curricula mid-DP, students at schools without strong IB programs, or students who need a more flexible curriculum than the standard IB Global Politics program provides, work with us through Harland's Academic Coaching framework, where the curriculum is calibrated to the individual situation rather than the IB Subject Guide alone.
My child can describe political events but struggles with the multi-perspective analysis and engagement-driven thinking the IB assessment requires. Can the program help with that kind of thinking? +
This is a familiar situation. The IB Global Politics assessment tests a kind of thinking that the textbook doesn't always practice directly. Reading a source and recognizing how power, sovereignty, legitimacy, or interdependence operate in the situation. Examining political issues from multiple stakeholder perspectives, including those typically left out of mainstream coverage. Constructing arguments grounded in theoretical frameworks integrated with engagement evidence, with the engagement the IB rubric rewards. We work directly on these skills, slowing down on the source-based work the Paper 1 questions require, on the extended response essays the Paper 2 tests, and on the rubric criteria that distinguish a strong response from a vague one. Most students who come to us strong on event description but struggling on the multi-perspective prompts close that gap by working through the rubric explicitly, with sample questions and practice under time constraint.
What does the IB Global Politics program cover? +
The program follows the IB Global Politics Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. Content covers the Core Theme on Understanding Power and Global Politics and the three Thematic Studies (Rights and Justice, Development and Sustainability, Peace and Conflict), with the HL extension on global political challenges through case-study research Paper 3 examines for HL students. The program prepares students for IB Paper 1 (Core Theme source-based), Paper 2 (Thematic Studies essays), Paper 3 (HL extension case studies), and the Engagement Project. The Engagement Project, worth around 25 percent of the SL final grade and around 20 percent of the HL final grade, is supported through every stage from issue selection to final submission. Harland's program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, calibrated to the framework your child's specific course route requires.
How long is each lesson and how often does my child attend? +
Lessons are 1-on-1 sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours, in person at our head office in Da'an or online. Most students attend one to three lessons per week. Harland's IB Global Politics program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. At one or two lessons per week alongside a school IB course, the program runs through the DP cycle and concludes with the May or November exam. At three lessons per week, the program covers the same content at faster pace. For students preparing in an intensive run-up to the exam, the cadence increases as the test approaches, typically two to four months at higher frequency. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the cadence that fits.
How are lessons scheduled, and what if we need to reschedule? +
Lessons happen on a fixed weekly slot reserved with your child's primary teacher. This protects the teacher's time and keeps a consistent rhythm for your child. If you need to reschedule, give us at least 24 hours of notice and we'll find another time when your teacher is available. Many families add classes during summer or winter vacation, either to accelerate progress or to make up for a slower term. Once a unit has started, it should be completed within a defined window. The Student Coordinator walks through the details when you enroll.
Can my child begin IB Global Politics over the summer? +
Yes. Summer enrollment is available across Harland's IB Diploma programs, with two patterns. Students preparing for the upcoming May or November exam in an intensive run-up sometimes begin or accelerate in summer at higher cadence (typically two to three sessions per week), particularly when their school IB course pacing has fallen behind, when their Internal Assessment is at draft stage, or when the run-up to the exam needs concentrated time. Students preparing for an exam sitting further out (i.e., entering or partway through the 2-year DP) often use summer for a head-start block, working through current-year content or building the prerequisite foundation before the next school year begins. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the right summer pattern based on which exam sitting your child is preparing for and where their IA work currently stands.
How do you measure progress? +
Progress is measured through unit assessments aligned with the IB Global Politics Subject Guide. Harland's IB Global Politics program is organized into ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. Each unit closes with an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats, including the source-based items of Paper 1, the extended response essays of Paper 2, and the Engagement Project rubric, and measures conceptual understanding, multi-perspective analysis, engagement-driven thinking, and the engagement that connects theoretical frameworks to reasoned political judgments across the unit's content. Parents receive updates after every lesson and formal progress reports when each unit ends. Skill-level tracking uses Harland's internal rubrics, which map to IB assessment criteria. Where helpful, the Student Coordinator translates this into the expectations of your child's school.
How do we begin? +
Every Harland relationship begins with a consultation, followed by a 1-on-1 assessment class. The consultation is about your goals and your child's situation. The assessment class is about how your child works in the subject. Together they tell us where to start and what kind of teacher will fit best.

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