Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning.
Standard 3.6
"What is important is that teaching is visible to the student, and that the learning is visible to the teacher. The more the students become the teacher and the more the teacher becomes the learner, then the more successful are the outcomes."
John Hattie, Visible Learning, p. 25.
The essential activity for keeping our paradigm current is persistent questioning. I will use the term inquiry. Inquiry is the engine of vitality and self-renewal.
Pascal, 1990
John Hattie, Visible Learning, p. 25.
The essential activity for keeping our paradigm current is persistent questioning. I will use the term inquiry. Inquiry is the engine of vitality and self-renewal.
Pascal, 1990
The International Baccalaureate
Good teaching programs are built on sound educational principles. At the heart of the International Baccalaureate is a commitment to structured, purposeful inquiry as the leading vehicle for learning. Students in the 21st century are faced with the challenge of learning about an interconnected world where knowledge is constantly changing - the International Baccalaureate prepares students for this new world.
Within the Primary Years Program (PYP) it is believed 'student learning is best done when it is authentic - relevant to the 'real' world; and transdisciplinary - where the learning is not confined within the boundaries of traditional subject areas but is supported and enriched by them'.
The most significant and distinctive feature of the PYP is the six transdisciplinary themes. These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The PYP offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them. The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to 'step up' beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.
The Six Transdisciplinary Themes
The Five Essential Elements
The Learner Profile
The learner profile describes a list of attributes that promote academic rigour and the establishing of a personal value system leading to international-mindedness. It is expected that PYP teachers will assess and report on individual student development regarding each of these attributes.
The Curriculum
What Does Inquiry Look Like?
Assessment
Good teaching programs are built on sound educational principles. At the heart of the International Baccalaureate is a commitment to structured, purposeful inquiry as the leading vehicle for learning. Students in the 21st century are faced with the challenge of learning about an interconnected world where knowledge is constantly changing - the International Baccalaureate prepares students for this new world.
Within the Primary Years Program (PYP) it is believed 'student learning is best done when it is authentic - relevant to the 'real' world; and transdisciplinary - where the learning is not confined within the boundaries of traditional subject areas but is supported and enriched by them'.
The most significant and distinctive feature of the PYP is the six transdisciplinary themes. These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The PYP offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them. The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to 'step up' beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.
The Six Transdisciplinary Themes
- Who we are.
- Where we are in place and time.
- How we express ourselves.
- How the world works.
- How we organize ourselves.
- Sharing the planet.
The Five Essential Elements
- Concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility and reflection).
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Attitudes (appreciation, commitment, confidence, cooperation, creativity, curiosity, empathy, enthusiasm, independence, integrity, respect and tolerance).
- Action
The Learner Profile
The learner profile describes a list of attributes that promote academic rigour and the establishing of a personal value system leading to international-mindedness. It is expected that PYP teachers will assess and report on individual student development regarding each of these attributes.
- Inquirers--their natural curiosity has been nurtured and they actively enjoy learning.
- Thinkers—they exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to solving complex problems.
- Communicators—they receive and express ideas and information confidently in more than one language.
- Risk-takers--they approach unfamiliar situations without anxiety and have the confidence to explore new ideas.
- Knowledgeable—they have explored themes that have global significance and have acquired a critical mass of knowledge.
- Principled—they have a sound grasp of the principles of moral reasoning and have acquired integrity, honesty and a sense of justice.
- Caring—they show sensitivity towards the needs and feelings of others, and have a sense of personal commitment to helping others.
- Open-minded—they respect the values of other individuals and cultures and seek to consider a range of points of view.
- Well-balanced—they understand the importance of physical and mental balance and personal well-being.
- Reflective—they give thoughtful consideration to their own learning by constructively analysing their personal strengths and weaknesses.
The Curriculum
- What do we want to learn? The written curriculum
- How best will we learn? The taught curriculum
- How will we know what we The assessed curriculum
- have learned?
What Does Inquiry Look Like?
- Exploring, wondering and questioning.
- Experimenting and playing with possibilities.
- Making connections between previous learning and current learning.
- Making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens.
- Collecting data and reporting findings.
- Clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events.
- Deepening understanding through the application of a concept.
- Making and testing theories.
- Researching and seeking information.
- Taking and defending a position.
- Solving problems in a variety of ways.
Assessment
- Assessing - how we discover what the students know and have learned.
- Recording - how we choose to collect and analyse data.
- Reporting - how we choose to communicate information.
