Shona McIntosh—University of Bath (United Kingdom)
This study examined the lasting influence on International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students who had participated in the experience-based core element of creativity, activity, service (CAS). Alumni of the DP from all three IB regions shared their perceptions of CAS through an online survey (n = 903), focus groups (n = 19) and interviews (n = 12). CAS activities were found to have the potential to change how individuals perceived themselves in the world. Engagement, value and support from others were significantly related to lasting outcomes. Activities in which DP students are given the opportunity to engage in important work with others can bring deep and lasting changes to individuals. A CAS project that can affect deep and lasting transformation is characterized as one that supports the development of the students’ sense of social responsibility and a sense of their own potential. It was concluded that such CAS projects have the potential to effect changes that can be lasting and beneficial to the individual as well as the world in which they live.
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