As a member of IBEN, my personal perspective will be scrutinized carefully by other PYP educators and schools that I support as an IB educator. I don’t know the extent to which my personal perspective will shape anyone else’s of course, but I am aware that professionalism and positivity are crucial here as IB makes this shift. Thankfully, I find the enhancements overwhelmingly positive and will have no trouble celebrating the enhancements with colleagues and new people I meet. 

With the move to the new workshop design, it is clear that the IB is making a shift from transferring knowledge/familiarity with various aspects of the PYP to developing empowered teachers who will seek to improve upon their own capabilities which will then help them to do the same with students in their own classrooms. Empowerment will breed more empowerment. As workshops allow participants to identify their own success criterion and ask them to self-assess and reflect routinely throughout the workshop, this will help to inspire these same participants to try to employ similar best practices within their own classes, putting increased ownership for learning on students. 

My thinking is still evolving for this one, if you will. But for now, I think that doing my best to “live the learner profile” is an excellent place to start. I will continue to be open-minded and to listen carefully and respectfully to the needs and new ideas of those with whom I work. Asking questions like “How might we…” or “What different approaches could we use to…” might help us to think divergently and more freely when considering how to best support and empower our learners (whether they’re workshop participants or students). Allowing workshop participants and our students to choose avenues of sharing and presenting, making use of a variety of thinking routines, embedding reflection throughout the learning process, and allowing learners to set their own goals and assess their own progress - this sort of work will hopefully continue to cultivate agency among us all.