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THE IB LEARNER PROFILE
IB Schools of North Carolina
Round Table Discussions
Jacson Lowe & Nicole Mallon, facilitators
Parkland High School
Winston-Salem, NC
November 11, 2009
Who we are Name and position School and/or district Level (PYP, MYP, DP) Nature of the
program on your campus (school within a school? Magnet? Full campus IB program, etc)
Pre-Assessment! Take into consideration the “other” two
programs represented in the room (PYP, MYP, DP).
Make an educated guess as to a curriculum similarity found in all of the programs (not counting the IB learner profile!).
Make an assumption about something unique as it pertains to your program’s curriculum structure.
We’ll check your answers momentarily …
What the experts say … “What is perhaps most notable about our
findings is the degree to which IB standards were found to be related to the kinds of key cognitive strategies that our previous research points to as being so important for success in colleges and universities,”
-- David Conley, CEO of the Educational Policy Improvement Center, in a study released 2009.
What the experts say … “We have learned that it’s not enough for
students to study content in isolation; they must use their content knowledge to solve problems, make conjectures and inferences, and think deeply about the big questions of the disciplines. The IB standards seem to be particularly well suited to achieving these aims.”
-- Conley
What the experts say … “For many years I have been an IB fan. It has
taken seriously more of the issues in the world of today (and tomorrow), and has been less influenced by fads, and the test-taking obsessions of ministers of education, than any organization of its size. The development of separate programs for the early and middle years is also meritorious and I applaud the inclusion of the arts as subjects worthy of serious study. “
– Howard Gardner, from an interview w/ IB World Magazine, 2007.
The roots of IB success? The key questions we must ask …
Is the success of IB graduates a product of viable curriculum or high achieving students? Or, is it both? Neither? When does it start?
The Programs
PYP
DP
MYP
The Profile
Inquirers Knowledgeable
Thinkers
The Profile
Reflective
Open-Minded
Principled
Balanced
The Profile
CaringRisk-Takers
CommunicatorsInquirersKnowledgeable
ThinkersCommunicators
PrincipledOpen-Minded
CaringRisk-takersBlalancedReflective
Why we are here“To what extent do our philosophy, our
school structures and systems, our curriculum and units of work enable students, and the adults who implement the programmes, to develop into the learner described in the profile?”
-- From the IB Learner Profile Guide
Another pre-assessment!Complete the following statements: “I think my program does a great job
developing the IB learner profile by …” “My program has a deficiency in terms of
building the IB learner profile in the area of …”
“The one IB Learner trait I wish my school as a whole would focus on more would be …”
“The one IB Learner trait I feel my school as a whole does a good job promoting is …”
Thinkers/Knowledgeable The How and Why of “How” and “Why”
Can students be knowledgeable with out developing the ability to think?
How can we encourage students to think more and memorize less?
From the IB Learner Profile Guide: To what extent does the range of assessment strategies we
use meet the diverse needs of students and encourage creative and critical thinking?
Inquirers Learning for the sake of
learning – how do we compete with the Internet?
Or, do we? Creating 21st century learners that want to know more and have the tools to do so.
From the IB Learner Profile Guide: Is it possible to create more experiences and
opportunities in the classroom that allow students to be genuine inquirers?
Open-Minded Teachers need to create
‘crises of engagement’ that enable students to experience the shock of one another and what we do with the subsequent emotions after experiencing different rules and systems.
(Skelton 2007)
From the IB Learner Profile Guide: How well do we model empathy, compassion and respect for others in our classrooms and around
the school?
Risk Takers Is failure an option?
Is it the best option?
From the IB Learner Profile Guide:In formative assessment tasks, do we
provide students with enough opportunities to take intellectual risks, and then support them in
taking such risks?
Do we encourage it building wide?
Communicators How are we fostering a
student’s ability to transfer thoughts into words?
Do we spend to much time on talking skills and not enough on listening skills? From the IB Learner Profile Guide:
How much attention do we pay to how students interact with other students in group-work activities?
What is the quality of interaction between students and teachers around the school?
BalancedEspecially at the DP level, how do we
encourage full participation without full burnout? CAS
EE
Home work
From the IB Learner Profile
Guide: Are support structures in
place to oversee the personal,
social and emotional welfare of students, as
well as their academic
development?
What can be done in the early
programs to help prepare DP students in
phases such as efficiency and
time management?
Caring Why is this such a huge
component in the IB model? Isn’t it just about academics?
In what ways do we encourage profile traits such as caring outside of the school building?
How do we best encourage empathy and sympathy both locally as well as globally?
Reflective “Students should track their own progress and
assess how they are progressing toward proficiency and advanced competence relative to clearly-articulated learning goals.”
-- Marzano
From the IB Learner Profile Guide:
Can we provide time for students to reflect on an
assessment task and what they have learnt
from it?
PrincipledFrom the IB Learner Profile Guide:Could we create more opportunities to
discuss the ethical issues that arise in the subject(s) we teach?
Do we deal with what is right and what is wrong if we want to have principled learners? Do we walk the fine line between indoctrination and universal truths? (Anyone teach TOK?)
We’ve got the BaccalaureateNow help us out with this whole International thing …
How do we incorporate internationalism into our math and science curricula as we develop IB learners?
How do we encourage parents to promote and encourage internationalism at home and in the community?
How do we encourage the students to see the importance of the IB Learner profile as part of the global community?
Promoting the IB LearnerA case study – Shepard Middle School in Durham
For more info -- http://www.shepard.dpsnc.net/
One of the IB Learner Profile traits is featured each month in the Parent newsletter
One male and one female receives an award at 8th grade graduation for best exemplifying all 10 traits
For the 2009-10 school year, each grade level team is celebrating members who have shown excellence in the characteristics
In Community and Service reflections, students have to relate the experiences specifically to the IB Learner profile
Language A teachers have students identify the traits in literature as part of their analysis of works studied