Conceptual Learning: an increased emphasis in the new IB DP History course
by
Inquiry cycles rooted in conceptual learning are a hallmark of International Baccalaureate pedagogy. The new IB Diploma Programme History course elevates the importance of concepts. It uses an interconnected framework of four conceptual lenses to help students construct meaning about the past.
IB History concepts as distinct from other curricula
Ned Riley, Curriculum Manager for IB History at the IB, unpacked these conceptual lenses during an IB Exchange webinar on February 11 2026. He addressed possible misconceptions regarding ways the IB History course uses conceptual lenses differently from other curricula. Riley told history teachers accustomed to pedagogical models of content-coverage that:
“It would be quite understandable if, as a historian, you feel slightly uncomfortable or even perhaps suspicious of concepts… Perhaps you’ve heard of concepts as universal and timeless and have a perception of conceptual learning as establishing universal and timeless rules that claim to be able to explain human behavior… But we are in the business of specifics… Human behavior is not predictable.”
The IB DP History Subject Guide concepts do not claim to be universal in the sense in which they are used by American curriculum designers like H. Lynn Erickson and Lois A. Lanning.
The greater emphasis on conceptual lenses might be the biggest shift for veteran teachers approaching the new IB DP History course after many years of working with the previous syllabus.
IB History’s four historical concepts
IB’s new historical inquiry framework cleverly aligns each conceptual lens to a key question. This structure helps students develop routines that foster critical thinking and historical literacy. The questions are: why, what, who, and which.
The four conceptual lenses in the new Subject Guide are:
- Cause and consequence → Why did things happen in the past?
- Continuity and change → What has changed; what has stayed the same?
- Perspectives → Who has a view on past events?
- Significance → Which stories should be told?
Each historical concept and its corresponding question nurtures students’ development as historical thinkers. It is a reminder that IB History’s primary goal is not rote memorization of facts. It is much better! It helps students gain greater awareness of both history and historical methodology. Students are encouraged to interrogate their textbooks by asking: Which stories should be told? Who has a view on these past events?
This approach makes concepts in IB History distinct from disciplinary concepts like “power” or “sovereignty” featured in IB DP Global Politics.
The image below shows a sample activity from the TOK section of Pearson’s new History for the IB Diploma Programme series, which invites students to investigate concepts such as continuity and change, perspectives, and significance, related to historical revisionism about historical figures:
Exploring significance: which stories should be told?
One conceptual focus is significance. Asking students to determine significance is a distinguishing pedagogical element of IB History. Many history programmes present facts as the narrative without empowering students to ask who shapes these narratives.
A great way to explore significance – which stories should be told? – is through activities that engage with historical emphasis and erasure when considering the past. Pearson’s new History for the IB Diploma Programme textbook series does this by embedding “conceptual focus” boxes in each of its chapters and by exploring related themes in TOK.
This sample focus box from Pearson’s new Paper 2 Authoritarian Rule (1750 CE onwards) textbook invites students to consider ways in which who describes events, and the context in which they are writing, shapes how the past is understood:
Significance: teacher decisions
Significance is not a concept limited to students. IB DP History teachers now weighing up which topics to teach are engaged in the very work we will soon ask students to consider.
Which stories should be told? More on that in a future blog post.
References
Laura Vas, Jeremy Hoover, and Ned Riley. “Conceptual Learning in the New DP History Course.” Webinar, IB Exchange, February 11, 2026. ibexchange.ibo.org
H. Lynn Erickson and Lois A. Lanning. Transitioning to Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction: How to bring content and process together. Sage Publications, 2013.
Further reading
Explore our new IB Diploma Programme History course.
Read the first article in this series, New IB DP History Guide: Exciting dilemmas.
Read the third article in this series, Significance: which stories should be told in the new IB DP History course?
Samuel J Richards
Samuel is the Head of Social Sciences at the International School of Kenya in Nairobi. He is an experienced IB History and Global Politics teacher. Samuel has taught and developed curricula for schools in Brazil, China, Kenya, Switzerland, and the US. He holds an MA in History and an MSEd in Curriculum and Instruction..