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Reflective Practice: Life-long learning through the lens of the IB Learner Profile Attributes.

“The reflective process is a complex one in which both feelings and cognition are closely interrelated and interactive”
(Boud, et al, 1985:20)

*Responses from a student survey conducted during a past school self-study – Data on what it means to be reflective stood out.*

In the early stages of my teaching career, the discovery that my young learners were capable of reflective thinking was eye-opening. Since then I have made significant attempts to work in ongoing reflection for my students on their learning. From dedicated times during the school week such as Reflective Fridays where we routinely reflected on the past week of learning, to reflective video posts on Seesaw following each learning engagement. Ideally, I was fostering a very reflective group of learners each year. But how reflective was I being as a professional? What avenues could I create for authentic feedback from my learners that would help me grow as a life-long learner?

I consider this student survey one of the most successful and reliable forms of feedback I have yet to receive on student understanding of the learner profile attributes. Students know the least about what it means to be reflective, alluding that their teachers are not reflective themselves and need to be!

At some point during my post-graduate learning, we explored the possible profile of who would be considered a good teacher. I was drawn to a post (I still cannot remember or find where this idea was first proposed) that explored the attributes of good teaching based on the attributes of the IB learner profile. This stuck with me and has been reverbing in my mind since. By virtue of leading by example, I used this idea to design both my teaching and leading report cards;

Going back to full-time teaching two years ago gave me the opportunity to put into practice some of the ideas I had conceived during my professional inquiry for my post-graduate program. I have sent out this survey for two consecutive years; the first to just students and the second year to both students and their family contacts. The feedback I received on how caring I was as an instructor (good but still lowest of all the attributes) made me reflect on whether I was doing enough to build a caring classroom environment where every student felt seen, heard, respected and valued.

The spark came from conferring one-on-one with students for their goal-setting process. Students valued this time with just them talking about their goals and challenges. Students who ideally would never share personal information started doing so in these sessions. I sought to work in more of these regular check-ins during the week to just talk about their week, however brief. Moving from a group approach towards being a caring instructor to a more personal view of my students thoughts and feelings about living and learning. I am yet to see how this small yet vital gearshift reflects on their feedback in my next teacher report card! Follow for an update!

Journey to a virtual PYP Exhibition

Supporting independent student inquiry from a distance

A common statement I normally make in my introduction to the PYP exhibition is “the exhibition starts as soon as the student joins the exhibition class“. However, this time round I could not claim with confidence that our students were ready to stage this elaborate celebration of learning.
With most schools forced into a distance learning set-up, I knew that effective peer collaboration for the exhibition would be a daunting task. So I advised the team of teachers involved to invest in equipping students with skills for independent inquiry.
As an institution, we had not laid a strong foundation to ensure continuity of learning let alone support independent student inquiry for the PYP Exhibition.
To provide a generic yet detailed guideline for the independent inquiry process, I created this google site. The site was and remains a living resource, being refined at every stage of inquiry with new insights and resources for the student.
To appeal to students, I ensured the site spoke to the student in a direct voice, was embedded with interactive resources and a one-stop-shop for guidance for the PYPX student.
The home page is stocked with background information in the form of coverage, testimonials and products of past PYP exhibitions at school to provide some context for students new to the process.

The PYP Self-study – A spark!

My office bulletin board turned inquiry board.

Tuning into the process

The PYP evaluation process is a cycle that starts ideally immediately after a school’s receives its authorisation report. The process is anchored by program standards and practices and serves as a reflective exercise for the broader teaching and learning school community.

Reflecting on the premise of this process, I sought out meaningful ways to present the process to the school community as a program coordinator. What better way than to develop it into a unit of inquiry! Using the school’s chosen inquiry model (Kath Murdoch’s model) and our customised planning template, I developed a plan.

What do I already know about the evaluation? Here’s my attempt at checking for prior knowledge. I like using the 5W’s to help me synthesise a topic;

Who: teachers, parents, students, school administration, PYPCC, IB visitors & relationship manager
What: it is an event – it has a start and an end. It is a process – it has several steps. It is a reflective exercise.
Where: All the groundwork will be done at school; the school community is the focal point of this exercise.
When: The process is lengthy, almost a year+ and has to be completed before the event. The event will happen on an agreed-upon date in 2020.
Why: It is a requirement and a service – a natural, regular cycle of growth that we must have as a PYP school.

What are the best places to get answers and insight on the evaluation?

Key words:

This board grew over a period of one month as I prepared for information sessions (coffee with the curriculum coordinator) to share the journey ahead with staff and parents.