I do quite a lot of school visits and one question I'm always interesting in asking Early Years teachers is how they develop international-mindedness in very young learners. Of course the aim of all IB programmes is for students to develop and demonstrate international mindedness so that they recognise their connections to others, and feel a sense of responsibility for contributing to a better a more peaceful world. All well and good, but what does this look like in 3-6 year olds?
International mindedness is developed through the learner profile attributes and all the attributes can be observed and supported in various ways at any age. This works best when the language of the attributes is used authentically, for example when talking to children and describing learning through play, and when all members of the learning community model the learner profile. Further examples can be seen in the diagram below:
During the Early Years students can be encouraged to be agentic and to take ownership of their learning. This will motivate them to share their ideas an opinions and to notice and reflect on the learner profile attributes that are developing in themselves and their peers. Learning experiences will give them knowledge, understanding and skills to encourage them to be caring members of their class and school communities.
No comments:
Post a Comment