This article from Issue 32 of The PYP Inclusive newsletter, was published the Victorian PYP Network in June 2011. It was written by Mrs Bianca Bartlett and Ms Lisa Broben (Years 5 teachers) from Fintona Girl’s School.
How can teachers incorporate the IB learner profile and PYP attitudes into their programme of inquiry in meaningful and relevant ways?
This is a question we were faced with at the beginning of the year after receiving a large intake of new students into Year 5. New to the PYP, the new students were not familiar with the key elements of the PYP curriculum framework. We had the task of providing students with a global overview of the programme. Although each unit of inquiry addresses specific IB learner profile attributes and PYP attitudes, we reflected on different ways to develop an appreciation of these elements into everyday learning.
Fostering the students’ natural curiosity, we focused an initial ‘tuning in’ activity on exploring students’ knowledge base about the IB learner profile attributes and the PYP attitudes. They discussed and then visually represented their understanding of these elements of the programme. These depictions were placed on display for students to reflect upon regularly.
As a ‘finding out’ activity, students were given images of animals reflecting a particular PYP attitude or IB learning profile characteristic. They were asked to describe which element they felt the image reflected and discussed the reasons for their choice. Students enjoyed this activity as they could relate to the images and it promoted an interesting discussion, highlighting misconceptions about certain attitudes, including integrity and empathy which seem to be difficult to understand.
Another idea, which was adapted from a professional development session by Kath Murdoch, was to visually represent, in clouds, the PYP attitudes and to place them in a bucket by the door of the classroom. Each morning for a week, the children were asked to select one of the clouds. At the end of the day, students reflected verbally, providing examples of how they thought they may have displayed the attitude shown on their cloud.
A successful ‘sorting out’ activity linked to the language program: In groups, students participated in literature discussions about novels which were related to the current unit of inquiry. As part of this activity, students were required to locate and discuss situations within the plot in which characters had displayed evidence of the learner profile or attitudes. This was advantageous in that it required students to apply their understanding while exploring the material they were reading.
Returning from camps and excursions has proven to be a most successful way of immersing students within the language of PYP. Students have been asked to reflect on their experiences, both in writing and visually, using digital images. These reflections formed the basis for bulletin articles which shared their experience with the school community. Also, reflections were placed in student portfolios and shared at student-led conferences.
Role plays have been used to promote students’ appreciation of the IB learner profile attributes. The children have thoroughly enjoyed creating and performing scenarios which reflect their understanding of these elements of the programme. Peers were asked to guess which qualities they felt were representated in the dramatic performances.
An ongoing, independent activity which proved to be a great deal of fun was coined ‘PYP BINGO’. Students were given a sheet containing the learner profile and attitudes in a table. Each day they were required to record one situation in which they felt they had shown one these attributes. They completed this independently and only if they remembered as they were not reminded to do so. The winner was the person who completed the bingo board first. Regular conferencing with teachers ensured accurate depiction of examples.
By providing a variety of activities, students were able to draw on their diverse range of strengths and interests. This process has given us a cohort of students who possess a strong understanding of the leaner profile and attitudes. Furthermore, for a group relatively new to the program, it has shown that the development of international mindedness, which is a key element of the PYP, is not as difficult as once thought, if tackled consistently and in a variety of ways.
9 Comments
Thank you for sharing this article. At the moment, at the same time, our school is celebrating the UN Day. This article will re-emphasize the meaning of being an international mindedness person in relation to the celebration of the UN Day itself.
I also used this article for our PYP Induction today with my new teachers. Instead of giving them a theory, I jumped into the application and strategies that can be used in the classroom.
Again, thank you for the international mindedness insights.
Regards,
Frida Widjaya
I am delighted to here that you found the article helpful and shared it with your staff, happy to swap some more ideas if you like
Lisa
We display the LP, concepts and attitudes in our classes and try to have the students connect to them through the units. The LP can be a focus for students to add post-its to as they reflect on their own or others’ behavior. We need to connect these to the students own experience as much as possible.
Thanks for sharing this..since reading it I have been thinking about how easy it might be for the attitudes and profiles to loose their “power” and become diluted within units.
We might read the “words” without providing opportunities to unpack them. I loved the way you did this.
The clouds on the tables, regularly reflecting on them, made them visible and prompted myself to target them, as much as it did the students! We’ve unpacked them in so many different ways, the language has become part of her everyday routine, we often have a laugh at ourselves the frequency with which we use the language and make ‘connections’ to attributes. Would love to hear ways you unpack them. Always looking for new ideas ….
Thank you for this article. Very interesting and exciting to see how the IB learner profile can be used / explained and what kind of activities can be implemented for the students to have a better understanding of its meaning.
I particularly love the idea of the images of animals reflecting a particular PYP attitude or IB learner profile characteristic and the fact they had to pair them and explain. Would it be possible to have a copy of those images so I could use them with my grade 2? I am teaching French and we are learning the names of the different animals and it could be an alternative way to reinforce their learning in a meaningful way! My email address is cbrocvielle@iics.k12.tr
At the moment, I am doing a similar activity with Le Petit Prince (Saint-Exupery’s famous book) with grade 4 (in link with space unit of inquiry)… we are looking at what attributes the Petit Prince has from the IB learner profile… we are also going to investigate what attributes the different characters in the book should really have to be a better person… I am not too sure how it is going to work out but I’m happy to share resources / activities / give feedbacks on how it went in the classroom / provide suggestions based on my experience… I also have LOTS of materials I created from scratch on Le Petit Prince if anyone is interested!
Have a good day
Caroline Brocvielle
The photos were a fun way of reinforcing understanding, I have had them for a few years sorry – you could get the students to collect fun images showing characteristics and share them. Ill have a hunt through my files and let you know if I can find them. Cheers
Wonderful ideas to keep the learner profile alive!!! I particularly liked the ‘PYP Bingo’.
I teach kindergarten and I love the kid language used in your Attitudes. Can you share where you got the Attitudes in kid language!