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Learner agency

The early learner

Learner profile

Action

The exhibition

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The Learner Profile

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This article summarizes how reflections help learners choose how they want to act. It shares a real-time example and utilizes an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the PYP and how implementing it ties together all the elements!
As a committed PYP practitioner for five years, I keep appreciating the uniqueness of the programme. However, moving from theory to practice is not always an easy journey. The PYP stresses achieving a balance between acquisition of essential knowledge and skills, development of conceptual understandings, demonstrations of positive attitudes, and taking of responsible action. Making this a realty in a classroom and making it meaningful for learners will bring the outcomes of the programme to fruition.

The IB approaches to learning are unarguably the most important to acquire not only in the units of inquiry, but also for any learning and teaching that occurs within the classroom and in life outside the school. The five categories and their respective sub-skills encompass what is needed for a learner in the 21st century. In this dynamic, fast evolving world we need people who are not just knowledgeable but are critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Year after year I work with a new set of learners, each of them unique in their own way. This year I am working with learners who are highly energetic, curious and incredibly open-minded. We often engage in reflection sessions during which we discuss how we are learning in classroom, what is going well and what is not. Learners come up with sincere reflections including that we often fall short at displaying our skills.

Learners reflected that if they could work consciously towards displaying all the sub-skills, they would resolve most of the problems they face in and out of the classroom. In tandem with this thought process we as a class managed to develop a means to help assess our commitment to display these skills in classroom - The skills wheel.

This assessment model is based on Carol Dweck's theory of Growth Mindset and the idea of "NOT YET" (Dweck, 2014).

Learners set up a skills goal for a period of 2 weeks. We display all the sub-skills of that category in an accessible area so that students know what they will be assessed on. After the observation period, the class meets up to discuss how they displayed each sub-skill. Learners provide each other feedback and those learners who have consistently made efforts to display the particular skill will be placed in the pink circle and those learners who have "not reached there yet" will be placed in the yellow part. Gradually, learners who try to work on their goal areas will be moved to the pink area too.

I have experienced a positive change in learners' thinking and learning behaviour in the classroom while utilizing this tool. Learners evidently show more ownership to their actions as they are a part of this solution. It also encouraged learners to show commitment to their choice and be more open minded to feedback.

Although small, I feel this model acted as an effective means for me to make approaches to learning categories and sub-skills more meaningful for my learners. It gave our learners the opportunity to choose to act; to reflect and decide the course of their actions. That, I believe, is responsible action.

References:
https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve

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Rachana Kothapally is a PYP facilitator at Silver Oaks School Bangalore, India. She has been an IB practitioner for 5 years and is passionate about developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities of learners.

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This article summarizes how reflections help learners choose how they want to act. It shares a real-time example and utilizes an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the PYP and how implementing it ties together all the elements! As a committed PYP practitioner for five years, I keep appreciating the uniqueness of the programme.

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Specified Concepts (Formerly - Key Concepts)

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Specified Concepts (Formerly - Key Concepts)

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Transdisciplinary learning

Approaches to learning

Inquiry

Conceptual understanding

A transdisciplinary programme of inquiry

Assessment

Language

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A room with a view to learning | IB Community Blog

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A community of learners

International-mindedness

Leadership

Collaboration

Learning environments

Technology in the PYP

Glossary

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1. Tuning In

2. Finding Out

3. Sorting Out

4. Going Further

5. Making Conclusions

6. Taking Action

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What are your big take aways? Which sessions felt the most valuable? Were there any approaches, activities and routines explored that you felt could be transferred to your own classroom? What are you still wondering about regarding the PYP? 

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What are your big take aways? Which sessions felt the most valuable? Were there any approaches, activities and routines explored that you felt could be transferred to your own classroom? What are you still wondering about regarding the PYP? 

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Student agency in PYP learning communities

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Student agency in PYP learning communities

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GROUP A: Learning Environment - Google Jamboard

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GROUP B: Learning Environment - Google Jamboard

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GROUP C: Learning Environment - Google Jamboard

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GROUP D: Learning Environment - Google Jamboard

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Children's Stories on Global Goals and The PYP Learner Profile

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Strategies to Use During an Integrated Inquiry

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A class of 6-7 year olds in the United States inquires into the central idea, "A community is impacted by the involvement of its members" under the transdisciplinary theme of How We Organize Ourselves.

A class of 7-8 years olds in Germany inquires into the central idea, "The properties of construction materials influence the design of buildings and structures" under the transdisciplinary theme of How the World Works.

Signs and Symbols

A class of 5-6 year olds in Australia inquires into the central idea, "signs and symbols can be used to communicate a message" under the transdisciplinary theme of How We Express Ourselves.

Language and Race/Ethnicity

A Theory of Knowledge class in the United States explores language as a way of knowing by reflecting on the question, "How does the language we use shape the way we think and understand race and ethnicity? Does language construct reality or describe reality?"

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All for One and One for All A class of 6-7 year olds in the United States inquires into the central idea, “A community is impacted by the involvement of its...

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When using thinking routines as strategic vehicles in which to scaffold the thinking of our learners, we need to consider as teachers where we (both teacher and learner) are at in the phases of development continuum. Is this the first time you have used this routine? Or have you been using it regularly for a while now? Or is it so ingrained your learners use it without realising it?
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The answers to these questions will depend on the routine you are using and how often it is used within your educational context. It is therefore conceivable that a learner could be at varying phases at the same time for different routines. Examine the stages of development below:

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What are thinking routines and why should I incorporate them into my classroom?

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Activity: Split Screen Approach (Learning Goal Writing Activity)

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Activity: Split Screen Approach (Learning Goal Writing Activity)

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Learners tend to learn more effectively when they are clear about the purpose of learning. Knowing where you are headed does not mean that the tasks needs to have every single detail mapped out for you, but it does require a clarity of the purpose of learning.

There is a multitude of research out there that confirms the value of sharing quality learning intentions with learners that clearly articulates what the teacher wants the students to know, understand and be able to do as a result of the learning.

The intentions we have for students' learning should be clear. They should never be a secret or guess what's in the teacher's head. Kath Murdoch in her book The Power of Inquiry states that instead of documenting an intention as an inevitability - 'We will learn...' an inquiry teacher may pose the intention in the form of a question - 'How might we...' This then allows the learning intention to become transferable.

One effective strategy for sharing learning intentions, with learning assets as the focus, is to use Guy Claxton's split screen teaching approach. Creating a split screen learning intention reminds us all that we are continually focusing on learning to learn while we are learning about a concept or exploring a question. This highlights for all parties that learning is indeed layered and complex. For example:

Or use a triple split screen that identifies the content, skills and dispositions central to the learning task. For example:

However, I believe that we often miss a crucial element when we give students learning intentions and success criteria - THINKING! Where is the thinking we want students to use?? (see blog post)
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We need to explain the type of thinking students are required to use during a learning task as well as highlight what a sound example of what this thinking looks like in order to be successful. This also means students need explicit guidance and practice in knowing how to think in different ways and be able to apply this to a variety of everyday situations. ​

Read about the importance of Learning Intentions from AITSL below:

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Learners tend to learn more effectively when they are clear about their purpose.

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LE 4 2 Using specified concepts for lines of inquiry Activity 2 

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Activity: Using specified concepts for lines of inquiry

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Activity: Using specified concepts for lines of inquiry

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Work in groups of 3-4.

Choose one example of the transdisciplinary themes and central ideas provided. Identify which specified concepts you would like to use to explore the central idea. Draft 2 lines of inquiry.

Refer to the the following sections from PYP: From principles into practice under Learning and teaching/Conceptual Understanding/Concepts and the unit of inquiry (page 52-55), if needed.

Example:

Transdisciplinary Theme: Sharing the Planet

Central Idea: Water is essential to life, and is a limited resource for many people.

Lines of Inquiry:

Sources of water and how water is used

What happens to water after we have used it

Distribution and availability of usable water

Specified Concepts:

Function

Change

Responsibility

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Creative strategies for embedding the Learner Profile

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Creative strategies for embedding the Learner Profile

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Walkthrough an IB school's corridors, classrooms, teacher lounges, and offices.

What is the one thing they all have in common?

LEARNER PROFILE ATTRIBUTES POSTERS!

Yet, in workshops, conferences, and online forums the most rampantly asked questions are around "how can we help our students in their development and understanding of the attributes of the IB learner profile?".

All of us have to agree that, the Learner Profile Attributes encapsulate the citizen of the present and future - one who navigates complex challenges to enter a work environment where 60% of jobs don't exist today.

The Learner Profile Attributes make the <3 of the IB PYP. Here, we list down 8 tried-and-tested ways to make them come alive in your classroom! You can use these strategies to make the learner profile attributes more visible and intentional in your classroom!

1. Book tree
An organic display where your children identify, illustrate, and talk about the Learner Profile
Reading and storytelling are a ubiquitous part of any primary years classroom, so they make for rich opportunities to recognize the Learner Profile attributes. Very often, teachers use storytelling as a means to discuss the LPAs - pausing and asking questions about what attribute the characters displayed! This works very well but in our experience, we have seen that this may also hinder the flow of the story. Here, we suggest a better strategy to use the books for LPAs.Co-construct a display with your children. Establish an agreement with your students to identify the LP focus in each book they read. After they read, they may draw a picture/write/talk about how the learner profile attribute was evident in the book. This work can then be added to a book board in the class along with the learner profile attribute infocus. Lots of meaningful discussions and connections take place when you make the learner profile visible in the classroom. An added benefit - children thinking about a particular Learner Profile can get book ideas throughout the year!

Best for ages 4-10

2. Shoutout Board

We're always talking about MUST HAVE displays in the PYP classroom! Here is one for you that goes beyond the static Learner Profile Attribute Posters. Two ways to design a shoutout board.

Way 1 - Co-create a shoutout board with your children. Have them come up with a design, create the labels, and put it all together. Children write shoutouts for each other and the teacher adds them to the board.

Way 2 - Ready the shoutout board before day 1 of school. You can give it a meaningful / punny title "Look who's been caught being a ...." On the first day, everyone gets a "risk taker" shoutout for making it to class. Then children can give each other shoutouts for demonstrating the attributes. As a teacher, you can also give shoutouts to students and students can give them to you! Model the attributes and make it a part of your classroom's culture.

Best for ages 3-8 year olds

3. Exit Ticket

Developing a shared language around the learner profile attributes is an exercise in discipline and self-awareness. Anne Evans says and we paraphrase - "the real purpose of the learner profile is to encourage reflection on the attributes".

One great way to reflect on a daily basis - make the classic Exit Ticket a daily part of your goodbye routine. On the exit ticket, have children write one attribute they really worked on or really demonstrated!

2 birds with 1 stone - encourage reflective practice and build learner agency.

As a teacher, be sure to model this along with your students! You might say something like, "Today, I think I was a risk-taker when we decided to go out and look for bugs because as you all know, I am scared of creepy crawlies". Make the Exit Ticket a wonderful habit for all the citizens of your classroom. You can assign virtual exit tickets to students using the Toddle Students App and keep this process going during in-person and virtual learning!

Best for 4-12 year olds

4. Handmade Student Posters

The PYP thrives on collaboration and yet our displays and walls often have printed ready-to-use posters. Authentic displays are a process, "a systematic act of collecting, interpreting and reflecting on concrete traces of learning". "What's on your walls?" is a classic question and the answer usually entails prints of the Learner Profile Attributes in a variety of styles - Dr. Suess posters, Animal posters, Teachers Pay Teachers Printables and many more! We love them all. However, there is one we like above all - HANDMADE STUDENT POSTERS.

Here are 2 ways to create hand-made student posters:

Way 1 - Ryan Highbea, an experienced PYP educator shares his experiences of helping very young children construct meaning of the IB Learner Profile Attributes.

Teachers can start by showing children a diverse range of photos for each attribute. For risk-taker, show them images like

Then teachers can tell their young learners, "these are all risk takers. What do you observe them doing". Children contribute several ideas (being a risk taker looks like doing dangerous things, being excited, helping someone, doing something you wouldn't do otherwise).

Students are then given pieces of paper to illustrate themselves as risk-takers. Overtime, students can also take photographs of themselves and each other to stick them next to the posters!

These drawings together make the Learner Profile Attribute Poster.

Way 1 is best suited for 3-7 year olds

Way 2 - Divide students into 10 tables (1 for each learner profile attribute). Give them art tools to create posters that illustrate the Learner Profile Attribute. Make the posters come alive by giving children the ability to take photos and clip them next to the posters every time someone demonstrates the attribute. Get students to create collages or illustrate on Toddle Student's App to create Learner Profile posters for your virtual classroom.

Way 2 is best suited for 6-11 year olds

To us, the Learner Profile attributes are a toolbox with specific superpowers that allow us to navigate diverse challenges. With this lens, our students are constantly working towards strengthening those superpowers. One strategy we use is called "Brag Tags" - a form of student lanyards.

Each student has a brag tag that has a personalized note about the attribute they have demonstrated well. Students enjoy being stopped by people at school and being able to talk to them about the tag they've earned! Students get to vocalize around the attributes, take ownership of the ones they want to develop, and get acknowledged for their personal strengths!

Best for 5-7 year olds

6. Build, Construct, and 3D Represent

We've never met a student who didn't love building, constructing, and making a mess! Get creative with the learner profile attributes. Divide children into teams and assign them 2 attributes each. Give them a range of materials - lego, art tools, blocks, clay, paints, and more. Let children explore what the Learner Profile means to them and create a visual representation.

To conclude, each team should explain their thinking and present their models to their peers.

Best for 3 to 8 year olds

7. Quotation Station

Quotes are so underrated - sprinkled over twitter posts, projects, and essays! But if we look at them closely, quotes provide opportunities for deep reflection and metacognition. Gather your favourite quotes and save them in a nice little ribboned diary. Get ready for Quotation Station by:

Starting your Monday mornings by diving into 1 famous quote. Here are few quotes you can start with "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new - Albert Einstein", "You must be the change you want to see in the world - Mahatma Gandhi", "Stand up for what you believe in, even if it means standing alone. Never, never be afraid to do what's right - Martin Luther King, Jr", "Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting - Edmund Burke".

Encourage students to make personal connections with the learner profile attributes. Ask questions to provoke their thinking "how can you bring this to life? What action can you take?"

Dedicate a part of your display wall or a corner of the classroom as the "Quotation Station".

On Fridays, regroup and have children reflect on what they did to live the quote!

We promise your students will love this!

Best for 5 to 10 year olds

8. Kindness Ninjas

Learner Profile Attributes are the foundation for developing strong internationally minded citizens. Create opportunities for children to have real experiences with the world by implementing a "Kindness Ninjas" program.

1. Assign a core attribute for each week.

2. Children identify and recognize this attribute all across the school.

3. Like ninjas, they leave notes of appreciation for teachers and students everywhere!

To take this a step further, teachers may identify penpals for students to speak to all across the world.

Play around with these flexible strategies - you can find lots of opportunities to merge them and make magic!
PS: We made a memorable Learner Profile mnemonic to remember the attributes - "The Ridiculous Iguana Befriended Cats, Reindeers, Cobras, Koalas, Octopus, & Parrots".
Liked this resource? Here are a few more you might like to explore:

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8 Creative Strategies for IB PYP Learner Profile Attributes

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Equip yourself with 8 tried-and-tested creative strategies to make the IB PYP Learner Profile Attributes come alive in your classroom.