The Peterson lectures

2008 His Highness the Aga Khan
"Global education and the developing world"

2007 Daniel Ritchie
"The future of ethics"

2006 Martha C Piper
"Universities and the IB: your mission is our mission"

2005 William A McComish
"What is the role of religion in education?"

2004 Nicholas Tate
"What is education for?"

2003 Azim Nanji
"Rethinking our world: the search for a pluralist vision"

2002 His Excellency Ahmad Jalali
"Religion and the education of young people"

2001 David Sutcliffe
"International education: mirage or oasis?"

1993 Georges Laforest
"La transversalité dans l’enseignement"

1992 Howard Gardner
"The unschooled mind: why even the best students in the best schools do not understand"

1990 William Taylor
"Rediscovering teacher education"

1989 John Goormaghtigh
"From the Collegium Lucis to the International Baccalaureate"

The Peterson lectures were inaugurated in 1989 to commemorate the commitment of Alec Peterson [PDF, 131 kb] to the International Baccalaureate (IB) as its first director general from 1966–77. From the start, he had been attracted to the “IB project” developed by teachers at the International School of Geneva in the early 1960s. This project encompassed so much of Alec's own desire for a broad-based education favouring critical thinking skills, community service and an international perspective.

Alec was a Scotsman who read at Oxford and quickly gained a reputation in Britain as an educator who wanted to reform the A-level system. His work with Mountbatten in Malaysia during World War II gave him a zest for promoting world peace and in-roads into diplomatic and political circles on an international scale. He was for many years (until 1977) chairman of the editorial board of the prestigious periodical Comparative Education.

A highly respected and broadly travelled educator, he had the international and academic stature to promote the IB Diploma Programme around the world while at the same time being a charismatic visionary with his feet on the ground—a rare combination.

He played a particular role in shaping the theory of knowledge course, then at the core of the IB Diploma Programme and now influencing all aspects of the curriculum, from the primary years through the middle years to the Diploma Programme. His students admired him. He was bright, caring, civilized and very persistent. In 1987, a year before his death, Peterson published Schools Across Frontiers, his account of the creation of the United World Colleges and the International Baccalaureate, and his final tribute to these two organizations whose history was so intertwined with his own. When he died in 1988, Alec Peterson had supported the IB for a quarter of a century as an educator, an internationalist and a pacifist.

Over the years the themes woven among these lectures, whether from a western or eastern perspective, engage our thinking in areas Peterson held very dear: teacher training; the relationship between teacher and reality; curriculum and the interrelatedness of disciplines; teaching for understanding; awareness of and respect for plurality; and the teaching of values without indoctrination. The authors address the need for universal education across national and political boundaries while recognizing that the essence of national identity rests in education, that standards need to be raised according to individual competence and that students do not learn the same way throughout the world. We read about students as listeners, as learners, as critical thinkers, being prepared to practice democracy in order to create peace and harmony among cultures. The importance of providing recognition and funding are presented as keys to the success and influence of the IB, and we are challenged to serve the world more widely.

The IB and thousands of IB students owe Alec Peterson an immense debt of gratitude. These
lectures, by eminent authorities in education and other related spheres, are a fitting tribute to him.
Their relevance does not deteriorate with time; on the contrary their messages remain very pertinent today. All of these lectures share with Alec Peterson's work a search for common practical ideas and a respect for different conceptions of the world. We hope you will enjoy reading them.

Monique Seefried
President
IB Board of Governors