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