21st century learners at EtonHouse International School
What does a 21st century learner look like?
After conducting research with this question in mind, the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) has recently published The Enhanced PYP to include relevant standards and practices, which views 21st century learners through three lenses:
❖The Learning Community
❖Learning and Teaching
In this post we focus on The Learner.
Knowledge is no longer the only key to success. Looking through the lens of The Learner, we find that the focus shifts to mastering skills, developing attributes of international-mindedness, and creating space and opportunities for learner agency.
When it comes to agency, ‘students have voice, choice and ownership for their own learning. When students have agency, the relationship between the teacher and the student becomes a partnership’. (‘Primary Years Programme, The Learner’. October 2018)
The house system and house leaders in the PYP offer our students opportunities to exercise this agency and practice leadership skills. Student leaders are tasked with planning buddy programmes, design their house rooms, supporting their house peers in various house activities, and being inspirational role models for all.
In the classroom, our young students have begun to talk about what agency looks like; a student takes initiative to lead the class in a game; a student publishes his own story book which soon has the entire class inspired to do the same.
Activities and reflections designed around attributes of The Learner Profile enables our students to “walk the talk.” The Learner Profile, a set of 10 attributes; Knowledgeable, Open Minded, Thinker, Inquirer, Communicator, Risk Taker, Balanced, Principled and Caring, all of which are easily accessible and applicable across ages, cultures and ability levels.
Approaches to teaching and learning foster skills in our learners. These include research skills, communication skills, social skills and self-management skills.
The Enhanced PYP celebrates The Learner as the individual who can transition seamlessly and respectfully between cultures and changes.