1-on-1 Mastery-Based IB Philosophy · Taipei
IB Philosophy, from concepts to justification.
IB Philosophy rewards justified philosophical argument, not concept summary alone. Lessons build from the philosophical terminology and theory definitions students bring toward the justification, counter-argument handling, and philosophical analysis the IB Paper questions, and university coursework, will demand.
What Students Learn
Mastery-based IB Philosophy at the level your child's school actually requires.
IB Philosophy is for students working through the IB Diploma Programme who want to move past concept summary toward the justified argument, counter-argument handling, and philosophical analysis the IB assessment tests. The program covers the full IB Philosophy Subject Guide for HL and SL. Reasoning from the Core Theme 'Being Human' to claims about identity, the self, human nature, personhood, consciousness, and freedom the IB Paper 1 stimulus questions distinctively test. Working through the Optional Themes the school selects from Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of religion, Philosophy of science, Political philosophy, and Social philosophy. Tracing the prescribed philosophical text Paper 2 examines, including its argument structure, key concepts, and the counter-arguments the IB essay requires students to handle. Analyzing philosophical positions, including the side-by-side examination of competing arguments and the supported judgment the rubric expects. Building reasoning across counter-argument identification, including how alternative philosophical positions challenge a thesis and what justifies maintaining or revising it. Engaging with contemporary issues at HL, with sustained attention to a contemporary philosophical text Paper 3 examines. Designing and writing the philosophical analysis of a non-philosophical stimulus 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 philosophy, law, political science, ethics, public policy, or related course will assume.
IB Philosophy is not advanced concept summary. The shift is from concepts to justification. Students move from describing what philosophical theories claim to constructing justified arguments, applying concepts to real situations, and defending positions against counter-arguments with the rigor philosophical analysis demands. A student who can summarize Kant's categorical imperative is doing the description work. A student who can apply the categorical imperative to a contemporary ethical dilemma, defend the application against utilitarian counter-arguments, identify the limitations of the Kantian framework in this case, and justify a reasoned conclusion is doing the justification the IB assessment rewards across themes and texts. The program closes the gap between the two.
Lessons follow Harland's IB Philosophy curriculum, built to bring students to mastery of IB Philosophy 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 Internal Assessment requires. SL students complete the SL core covering the Core Theme, one Optional Theme, and the prescribed text. HL students complete the SL core plus a second Optional Theme and the HL extension topic 'Philosophy and Contemporary Issues' 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 'Being Human' 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 philosophical concepts, they now apply concepts to specific situations and argue for a defensible position. Where your child once summarized what a philosopher said, they now construct arguments, evaluate counter-arguments, and arrive at justified conclusions. Where the Internal Assessment once felt like an open-ended task, it now feels like a structured philosophical analysis your child can plan, argue, and write against the IB rubric.
How We Teach It
IB Philosophy taught for understanding, with the score arriving as a consequence.
Harland's pedagogy is content-based learning. Justified argument, conceptual analysis, and the analytical depth the IB Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 questions reward develop through the themes, philosophical texts, 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 'Being Human' works on it with their teacher, building the reasoning that connects identity, the self, human nature, and freedom to the stimulus-based questions Paper 1 requires. A student moving into Ethics or another Optional Theme works on it with their teacher, applying the unit's analytical structure to ethical frameworks, the situations they apply to, and the counter-arguments the IB Paper 1 essays test. A student working through the prescribed philosophical text works on it with their teacher, building the scaffolding that lets them analyze the text's argument structure, weigh its key concepts, and form their own argued position with the rigor the IB Paper 2 essay expects.
IB Philosophy 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 philosophy, law, political science, ethics, public policy, journalism, or theology paths, and most students know it. But beneath the score pressure is a specific cognitive challenge that defines the IB Philosophy assessment. Concept summary is not the hard part. The hard part is constructing a philosophical argument, applying concepts to specific situations, evaluating counter-arguments, and defending a position with the justification the IB rubric expects. The 1-on-1 format gives teachers room to slow down where the argument-construction ground is unfamiliar, and to keep the work rigorous without losing the student's engagement with philosophy itself. Skill and justification develop together. Neither moves far in isolation.
The format also lets teachers calibrate within the program's structure. A student fluent with philosophical terminology but uncomfortable with IB argument-construction questions gets pushed toward the Paper 1-style scenarios the assessment will ask. What philosophical issue does this stimulus raise. What concepts would clarify the issue. What counter-arguments would challenge a proposed position, and how would you respond to them. A student strong on argument construction but weak on the prescribed text Paper 2 requires gets work calibrated to the rubric's expectations. That means refining textual analysis, integrating quotations with argued claims, organizing essays around the philosophical question the prompt sets, and writing against the criteria the IB assessment uses.
Philosophy also has an investigative dimension. The IB Philosophy Diploma Programme requires every student to complete the philosophical analysis as Internal Assessment, worth around 25 percent of the SL final grade and around 20 percent of the HL final grade. The Analysis is an independent philosophical analysis of up to 2,000 words, where students choose a non-philosophical stimulus, such as a film, novel, image, news article, or speech, identify the philosophical issue the stimulus raises, and develop a sustained philosophical argument applying concepts the course covers. Harland's 1-on-1 IB Philosophy program supports the Analysis through every stage. Teachers help students choose a stimulus that fits both the rubric criteria and the student's actual philosophical interests, identify the philosophical issue and the concepts that clarify it, work through the argument and counter-arguments the rubric expects, and structure the writing against the IB assessment criteria. The Analysis matters as much as exam preparation, and the program treats it accordingly.
Curriculum and Alignment
A structured curriculum keyed to the IB Philosophy Subject Guide.
IB Philosophy at Harland follows a structured curriculum keyed to the IB Philosophy Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. A student who completes the program has demonstrated mastery of IB Philosophy content as the IB Subject Guide defines it.
Harland's IB Philosophy runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with philosophical analysis preparation integrated rather than appended. Most school IB Philosophy courses spread the same content across more class time, with Analysis 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 justification the IB Diploma assessment rewards.
Prerequisites and What Comes Next
Where IB Philosophy fits in your child's learning.
Before starting
IB Philosophy assumes prior coursework in humanities, typically built through pre-IB or MYP humanities, and the foundational close-reading and essay-writing skills those courses develop. IB Philosophy is reading- and writing-intensive across all papers and the Internal Assessment, and comfort with abstract reasoning, extended argument, and dense academic English is essential. Students arriving from a different curriculum or with uneven foundations work through gaps in foundational analytical reading before or alongside IB Philosophy proper.
One thing to know about scope. The IB Philosophy Internal Assessment, the philosophical analysis, is an independent paper worth around 25 percent of the SL final grade and around 20 percent of the HL final grade. IB schools provide formal supervision for the Analysis, including checkpoint deadlines and final submission. Harland's 1-on-1 tutoring focuses on the philosophical content, the stimulus selection and issue identification, the argument and counter-argument work, and the writing the IB rubric directly tests. The Analysis itself is submitted at school under supervisor oversight per IB requirements, and Harland's role is the planning, analytical, and writing work that turns a stimulus into a strong philosophical analysis.
The consultation and assessment class establishes whether IB Philosophy 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 Philosophy 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 Philosophy does not have a direct successor course in the IB sequence. After the exam, the justification and conceptual analysis the course develops carries directly into university philosophy, law, political science, ethics, public policy, journalism, theology, religious studies, and any field that requires rigorous argumentation and conceptual analysis. Students choosing Philosophy 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 Philosophy is to make itself unnecessary. The program brings students to mastery of IB Philosophy content. Students sit the May or November exam, submit their IA, and the program's role ends. A parent who's no longer worried about their child's IB Philosophy work is the point of all of it.
Common Questions
Common questions about IB Philosophy at Harland.
Who is IB Philosophy at Harland for? +
My child can summarize philosophical theories but struggles with constructing justified arguments and handling counter-arguments the IB assessment requires. Can the program help with that kind of thinking? +
What does the IB Philosophy program cover? +
How long is each lesson and how often does my child attend? +
How are lessons scheduled, and what if we need to reschedule? +
Can my child begin IB Philosophy over the summer? +
How do you measure progress? +
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