What do you want out of education? What do you want out of life? What kind of world do we want to create for the future? How do we get there?
As a long-term international educator, and proud parent of two grown children who have both graduated from several IB programmes (PYP, MYP and DP) and universities, for me the answer lies in not so much what we learn and apply, but how we do this.
All IB programmes have threads that connect them: the ideas of international-mindedness – developed through sustained focus on multilingualism, intercultural awareness; and global contexts; learner profile attributes; and service as action, among others.
For me, the most important aspect is ‘skills’. In the IB these are known as ‘Approaches to Learning’ or ATL, though I prefer to call them Approaches to Life.
There are five categories, 10 clusters, and approximately 140 indicators that together make up ATL skills. In the Middle Years Programme (Grades 6 to 10) at Hangzhou International School, each of these are specifically introduced, taught, practiced, assessed and reported upon.
Every unit, in every subject discipline, and in every grade level, includes 2-3 ATL indicators. Examples include:
- Giving and receiving feedback (Communication);
- Listening actively to other perspectives and ideas (Social);
- Selecting and using technology effectively and productively (Self-Management);
- Using critical literacy skills to analyse and interpret media communications (Research);
- Proposing and evaluating a variety of solutions (Thinking)
By experiencing these skills in different grade levels, different subjects, and in different contexts, students not only learn them, but also learn to identify and apply them deliberately.
By the time our HIS students get to the Diploma or High School Programme, these ATL skills have been practiced repeatedly and internalized by our students.
They know how to really communicate effectively, manage themselves and their time well, and also reflect on who they are as learners and people.
As our students graduate and go into further study, and from there to develop their own paths in life, we want them to be capable and confident. Approaches to Learning skills are truly skills for life!
