|
by Lu Gerlach I think the learner profile attributes are often under-valued in the unit of inquiry. They are often equated to a bunch of character traits that we follow to be better people. Upon a deeper look, you’ll see that there are hidden depths.
We are going to take a deeper look at the attributes by sorting them into Action Within and Action Beyond. Where do you think they will lay? As I read the expanded descriptor, consider if this is an action within or action beyond. We’ll compare answers at the end. BalancedBeing balanced is more than healthy eating and doing yoga twice a week. It’s having the capability to explore different aspects of ourselves and not being ruled by one facet. It’s recognizing that there will always be positive and negative factors in the world and to dwell on the things we can control. It requires us to look beyond our own needs and think of greater humanity. CaringBeing caring is usually tokenized as being a good friend or caring for the classroom. Caring is deeper, because it requires us to listen with compassion, empathize with those who are hurting, and respect opinions that are different than our own. Caring requires us to look beyond ourselves and consider the needs of our local community. Our action or inaction greatly impacts the lives of others. CommunicatorBeing a communicator is more than sharing your ideas to a whole or small group. It requires confidence in your ability to articulate your thoughts clearly to the intended audience. Being a communicator requires a broad base of skills related to voice, word choice, meaning, message, and audience. A communicator understands the presence of bias and persuasive ideas, so they listen carefully to the ideas of others. InquirerBeing an inquirer is usually tied to asking a lot of questions. This is only a part of what inquirers do. They take those questions and plan how they will explore them through research, real-life experiences, speaking to experts, engaging with a variety of multimodal texts, and so much more. Inquirers are independent learners who understand their purpose and this sustains their love of learning throughout their lives. KnowledgeableBeing knowledgeable is more than gaining new information. When we obtain true knowledge, we are making connections across the content areas through a conceptual lens to create transfer. We seek ways to connect this understanding to issues in our local and global community. Open-MindedBeing open-minded is often mistaken for trying new foods, tolerating someone else’s beliefs, and taking on new experiences. This is part of the process. Being open-minded is looking below the surface and understanding that everyone’s life has a story based on a set of beliefs and values that were established by their unique culture. When we are open-minded, we seek to understand a range of points of view, so we can better understand our own. PrincipledBeing principled is being more than honest. It means you are doing what is right when no one else is looking. They have a strong sense of fairness, truth, balance, and justice. As such, they own their mistakes and accept the consequences for their actions, regardless if they were intentional. They do not blame others for their mistakes, because they understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process. ReflectiveBeing reflective is more than recalling events from a singular learning engagement into a journal. It’s a vibrant process of putting ideas and events together, considering their implications, and thinking about one’s participation in the process. It requires regular and systematic time and space for these ideas to connect. Risk-TakerBeing a risk-taker is not always jumping out of an airplane like Indiana Jones or battling a basilisk in Harry Potter. They are often quiet decisions that require a lot of forethought. Risk-taking requires a deeper look at the costs and benefits of a plan and assessing its value. It is overcoming fear of failure and establishing a resiliency to weather any storm ahead. It requires blind faith to take a step towards the unknown. ThinkerBeing a thinker is the ability to know a wide variety of skills and tools and be able to self-select them to solve complex problems in the world. They are innovators, creators, and problem-solvers who make informed choices based on a wide-variety of data points. They know the impact their decisions will have on the community, so they are committed to making reasoned, ethical decisions. How did you do?What learner profile attributes are action within and action beyond. Here are my ideas, but they are simply my opinion. If you can justify your response, this is what determines the placement.
My choices: Action Within: thinker, principled, open-minded, reflective Action Beyond: knowledgeable, inquirers, communicators, caring, risk-takers, balanced
0 Comments
by Lu Gerlach About a year and a half ago while co-presenting a workshop, I had an Aha moment while comparing the PYP to a house. You’d think I would have presented this framework at the beginning of this podcast series. I had initially intended for it to be that way, but there was so much panic in the world on how to engage with students in a virtual learning environment. As such, I adapted my plan to focus on how to make inquiry accessible in a virtual space. Then, I ventured into agency and action, because they have a symbiotic relationship with inquiry. One cannot exist without the other. Once all of the initial thoughts were captured, I decided to go back to the beginning. So let’s try to frame our thinking of the PYP by looking at it as a house.  The FoundationAs we know, the foundation is the most important part of a house. It provides a level surface for the rest to build upon. The foundation takes the pressure from the rest of the structure when outside forces push upon it and shake it to the core. As such, the foundational layers need to be items that are deep rooted in the IB philosophy and reinforce school culture. The first layer of the foundation consists of the learner profile attributes. The learner profile attributes are more than terms we use to describe an internationally minded student, they are a disposition of how we look at the world. They are one of the only elements of the IB program that follow a learner from kindergarten to graduation. Why is the learner profile so important? They lay the foundation of school culture through shared language. With the diverse backgrounds of our educators and learners, the learner profile unifies our purpose and provides a common language that can be used throughout the program continuum. The second layer of the foundation is international mindedness. We strive to become internationally minded, because it's the embodiment of the IB mission statement in our school and community. It allows us to look beyond our perspective of the world and examine how others do things differently. As such, international mindedness is at the heart of building relationships that can withstand obstacles. Framing the HouseAs we set the foundation, we want to build a strong floor that can withstand a lot of wear and tear. This floor will span the entire house and every nook and cranny. Our flooring takes shape with the transdisciplinary themes. As we create our strong mindset, we move forward with building a curriculum that is laid in the frame of the PYP six transdisciplinary themes. These themes center our thinking conceptually and connect all of our content areas together. The studs and beams truly hold up a structure. They are what create the rooms and floors in a home. Concepts hold up the house structure vertically. These are universal ideas that are timeless, universal, and abstract. They connect all of the ideas in our various content areas and bring them together as a cohesive unit. Without concepts, our units would be thematic, departmentalized, and unrelated. They truly are the anchor to everything we do and help students make generalizations about the world around them. Designing the HouseOur house has been designed to have two floors. The main floor has been designed to showcase the approaches to learning or ATLs. The ATLs are skills that are explicitly taught, so learners can become independent thinkers. Their aim is to ensure that students understand, can explain, and are able to replicate processes to new situations. This is learning transfer. On the second floor, you will find the approaches to teaching or ATTs. These are various teaching and assessment strategies that teachers employ to ensure that big ideas are understood while delivering content-driven objectives. They include: inquiry, concepts, collaboration, local and global contexts, differentiation, and assessment. Holding it All TogetherThe attic and roof hold everything intact, so there is no damage to the home. This ensures that habitants can freely roam with little fear of being exposed to the outside elements. Agency and action act as our shields in holding the program together. They anchor to each component of the structure to keep everything balanced and secure. Agency and action come about naturally when there is a strong foundation of school culture and relationships through the learner profile and international mindedness.
All of the elements of the PYP house work together to stand tall. It’s not easy, because there will always be maintenance to ensure no calamity befalls the house. There will be major overhauls over time to be able to stay abreast of current trends and improvements. You can easily differentiate between PYP houses. There are some that were crafted over time with care. The people devoted a lot of themselves into making it the best edifice on the block. Meanwhile down the road, others did a quick construction job to get something up with little thought of long-term durability. This is our reality. Which type of house do you currently live in? What repairs need to be made so your structure can stand tall? by Lu Gerlach We have worked hard in the past two series on agency and action. Now, it's time to have some fun! Let's test your understanding with an agency and action picture game. Can you name the types of agency and action each picture depicts. It's harder than you think.  by Lu Gerlach I’m sure many of you are scratching your head, thinking of ways to assess agency and action, since they are driven by internal motivation and being. This is very true. I am proposing one way of attacking this holistically. It’s just my perspective at this point in time. About five years ago, one of my fourth grade students told me, “Perspective is a debatable opinion. It’s based on the information you have at that time. Once you get more information, your opinion changes.” Something tells me that this will be very true as I play with the relationship of agency and action more. I won’t lie, I debated on whether to present on this topic, since so much of what we are assessing are intangibles: potential, motivation, growth, and so forth. Yet, how can students monitor their growth if they have no success criteria to measure it against. This is when I considered a success criteria for agency and action. It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s an attempt to make it more tangible as our students take steps towards their better selves. Let’s make a go of it and try to apply it, so you can see it in action. No pun intended. Here's a lower and upper elementary version of an agency success criteria. They will help you students to begin thinking using agency until they are able to continue co-create their own success criteria.   Initially, I considered putting agency and action together, but there were too many items. Also, agency is the process that establishes action to happen. I wanted to keep the ideas separate, so it was easier for students to see the relationship.  How do we bring them together? Very easily. You ask students to focus on 1-2 success criteria for the unit or specific duration of time. I don’t think you want more, since the goal is mastery. Then, you pick some actions you think will help you to get there. Remember, think of your content as well, since it will shape the learning outcome. Let’s try it out! An Inquiry into…
Agency goal
Action goal
The goals students choose will be framed by the content you choose to partner together. Will they need help in this process? Absolutely. This process will need to be modeled, guided, and done together a couple times, before you can release your students. It will be worth it though. Check out our guides, “Using Agency Daily” and “Using Action Daily” in our Resources section. You’ve got this! by Lu Gerlach Upon reflection, I realized that my so-called easy action was probably still hard for many people to begin with students. This started me thinking of how we can break action down to a 1.5 level. Not too easy and not too hard. To be honest, this is harder than you think. How do you make it harder than the easiest level, but not as hard as the medium? For some reason, this reminded me of an experience I had when I lived in Germany. I attended a barbecue with a host who was legendary for making spicy foods, including an inferno salsa. Only the bravest of the brave in Germany would try it, because they don’t like spicy foods. Sweet and Spicy egg roll sauce is too spicy for most Germans, so imagine inferno heat salsa. Growing up in California and being half-Korean, I was used to hot salsa and spicy kimchi. I took the chili challenge and dove into the best tasting salsa I’ve ever eaten in my life. As the crowd gasped, I took another bite. When someone asked me about the heat level, my singular response was, “Medium.” There was a collective gasp as everyone looked at me like I was a two-headed dog named Fluffy from Harry Potter. All through the night a lady looked at me and shook her head and said “medium”.
How do we do this? Let’s create a relationship between level 1 and 2, so you can start right away with your kiddos this year. Level 1Do you students know how to take level 1 action? Do they understand the purpose of taking action? One of the simplest ways to get students to think about action is to pose a scenario and have them brainstorm ways to solve it.
Possible Actions:
Level 2Once your students have a strong grasp of level 1 action, consider asking students to classify the possible actions with level 2 actions. We need to remind ourselves of their definitions.
Action Within THINKING - Opening our mind to solve problems differently FEELING - Getting in touch with our feelings KNOWING - Gaining understanding of the world BEING - Knowing our place in the world Action Beyond DOING - Making the world a better place through our actions SAYING - Having the courage to speak our mind Consider the level 1 actions that we took. At first glance, they appear to be mostly doing and knowing, because of how we phrased our actions. Doing: Sit next to him Doing: Be his recess buddy Doing: Show him around the playground Doing: Invite him into a game Knowing: Find out his hobbies How can we re-word these same actions to make them richer and more balanced with actions within and action beyond? Here’s a second look at the same situation. Within Thinking: How can I make the new boy feel included? Feeling: I bet he’s feeling rather lonely right now. What can I do to make him not feel so uncomfortable? Knowing: How can I get to know more about him? What was his last school like? His best friend? What does he like to do on his free time? Being: How would I feel if I had to move to a new school and leave all of my friends behind? Beyond Doing: I sit next to him on the bench Saying: “Hi, would you like to play with me?” If we started out this way, can you imagine how powerful this would be as a reflective tool for positive and negative behavior? Students would be able to see situations outside of themselves and be able to identify their feelings and behaviors. Ooh, I’m getting goosebumps. How can you use this in your class to bring about more balanced action? by Lu Gerlach In our last episode, we introduced the idea of using action daily. We've created a guide to support your students in taking small to giant actions. Go to our resources section to download a free copy now!  by Lu Gerlach I have a tendency to build up ideas together until your brain wants to explode and then work backwards to an easier starting point. I don’t know why I do this and you’d think I’d learn by now. It’s just how I’m programmed as a learner. I guess I like to have a big picture of how everything works and then plan the first steps towards getting there. We’ve unpacked the three levels of action. Actually, I don’t like calling them levels of action, because they are all unique in their own purpose. I think of the different types of action as a scaffold towards the next. This reminds me of the Golden Circle that we talked about in the first podcast. We begin with the type of action at the heart of what we believe and work ourselves outward towards simple steps on how to achieve it. As A reminder, the Golden Circle is a construct that helps us to focus on why we are doing something and how and what we must do to obtain it. We ask ourselves these questions:
If I were to classify the types of action by levels, here’s how it would correlate with the Golden Circle.
Let’s try to apply this with an easy example first. I know what you’re thinking...you are doing something that’s easy? Is this stuff ever easy? Probably not, but it’s definitely worth a try. I’m secretly chuckling right now, because this is not going to be easy, but I keep telling myself it is. WHY - Lifestyle Choices
HOW - Doing: Making the world a better place through our actions
WHAT - What can I do that is tangible?
Here’s a review of my thinking process. It’s a bit all over the place, but it came to be beautiful in the end.
As an adult, this process took me about 10 minutes to complete. We will definitely need to slow this process down for our students to probably an hour, but the result will be magical. You are laying the groundwork for meaningful action to happen in your classroom. I’m super excited about this expanded vision of action. It’s more relevant, timely, and meaningful for our students. Yay! I can’t wait to get started with a class right away! by Lu Gerlach If you’re like me, my head was reeling a bit last time when discussing the different types and levels of action students can take. As a result, I decided to go on a hunt to better understand this process. Here’s a deeper understanding of Level 3 types of action.
If you’re like me, you wonder how they will work with kids. We know that not all types of action need to be done at the same time, but for this example, I’m going to show you their connection as I see it in my brain. I could be wrong, so leave me some comments on my website thinkchat2020.weebly.com or on twitter @thinkchat2020
A topic that has been on my mind a lot has been racial inequity. I work in a school that serves about 98% Black American and 2% Hispanic students in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. WIth the events this past summer, this question has been brewing in my mind. Issue: Why is there such a racial divide of opportunity in America? Participation: In speaking with black colleagues, I asked specific questions about racial inequality they faced when shopping, driving through predominantly white neighborhoods, getting into higher education, and job placement Advocacy: I started speaking to different non-Black friends about the racial divide in our society and our part in that process. We spoke about systemic racism and I debunked misconceptions on social media. Social Justice: I participated in an anti-gun rally through our community to remind people that violence is not the solution to the problem. Social Entrepreneurship: I partnered with our after-school program to teach them about the PYP and the exhibition. They are supporting our mission to better the lives of our students by connecting to the ideas they are learning in school with after-school mentorship. Lifestyle Choices: I’m being more aware of how I am supporting systemic racism by the things I say, the way I think at times about the black community, the things I could to view that perpetuate stereotypes, and so on. This is how you build up action as a disposition. Next time, we will explore how to bridge the three types of action together to change the dispositions of even our youngest learners. Together, we can do this. by Lu Gerlach Once you’ve navigated the terrain of Agency, it’s a smooth ride towards Action. As the teacher, you are no longer in the driver’s seat. If anything, you are in the side car guiding the student as they navigate the winding road towards understanding. It’s a thrilling adventure, but you no longer have to be burdened to do all of the thinking and planning. You can sit back and enjoy the journey for a change, because you have faith in your student’s ability to reach the final destination. The student is filled with so much confidence as they careen through unknown streets. They are empowered by your prior tutelage, encouraging words, and guiding hand. They may hit a bump in the road here and there, but overall their journey is relatively easy, because the course was well-mapped before ever leaving home. The people in the community are cheering from the sidelines as you pass by, because they’ve been down the road before. They know the challenges of learning new ideas, making choices, and taking risks. They are there to encourage and clear potential obstacles along the way. The community wants everyone to be successful, so they support the complete journey. This idyllic scene is how a learning community evolves when agency is at the forefront of the learning. Each stakeholder knows the risks and consequences of letting the students take more ownership of the learning experience. At the same time, they know the tremendous benefits of letting students chart their own path towards a shared destination. When you get to the place called Action, the entire community takes part in celebrating the journey. Action is the physical manifestation of agency. When students are agentic, their primary goal is to identify problems and generate possible solutions. This cycle repeats until action becomes a disposition, a way of living and being. This is what it means to be an internationally-minded person. Thinking beyond one’s own journey, but how it impacts the greater world around them. Action has gone through it’s own journey over the years to redefine its purpose and support student development. There is more depth and complexity in how we “take” action. Level 1When I began the PYP, I noticed that many students were encouraged to take action on their learning through simple actions, such as conserving electricity by turning the lights off when leaving the room. These actions make a huge difference at a single point in time,but have short-term effects on student behavior and mindset.  Level 2About five years ago, PYP educators wanted to deepen action by examining the various ways we can take action by changing our thinking, saying, doing, feeling, being, and knowing. These actions allowed us to take a deeper look into identifying if the situation required action within (ourselves) and action beyond (to the greater community). This changed how we looked at action and the validity of inaction in certain cases. It allowed students to focus more on the intrinsic motivations for taking action, rather than, grandiose ideas to be shared with the community.  Action Within...focuses more on reflective practice and looking inward to see how our learning has changed our being. We can do this by altering our thinking, feelings, knowing, and being. We may share this experience with one or two other people who have the same goal in mind. Action Beyond...focuses on how to share ideas and possible solutions with the greater world through our saying or doing. These actions are more blatant and can be showcased using a wide variety of paper and electronic forms.  Level 3With the PYP enhancements in 2018, action has taken a completely different path. We are now looking at action as a vehicle for responding to challenges in our world. We are preparing students to look at the implications of their actions and how they impact others on a wider scale beyond our local community. Students are now able to identify if their actions support: Participation, Social Justice, Advocacy, Social Entrepreneurship, and Lifestyle Choices.  As we student’s take a pit stop in a place called Action, what will you share with them to prepare for the uphill climb through the various levels? How will you connect these various types of actions, so they support and deepen agentic thinking? by Lu Gerlach
 by Lu Gerlach You can make these simple changes to bring about agency within your classroom: structure, relationships, collaboration, resources, and environment.  Let’s zoom into each of these components to help our practice. Structure...is how time is being used during the day. Who decides how much time is spent on different activities and parts of the unit of inquiry? Time is the greatest factor in developing new ideas. When we rush the time to get through the content, we miss key opportunities to have “Aha” moments. Relationships...create new opportunities for growth. Who decides which relationships will develop? The right pairing can build up strengths and support areas of growth. More importantly, building relationships allows students to demonstrate leadership qualities and agency. Collaboration...brings about new ideas. When working together, who is doing the talking? Is it the strongest voices or is there a balance? Collaboration has the potential to generate novel ideas through the power of the group, but this can only happen if everyone is valued equally. Resources...cement understanding of ideas. What resources are being used and who decides how to use them? When students self-select resources to guide their learning, there is a greater chance of transfer to new learning situations. Allowing students to use a wider range of resources provides a greater chance of success. Environment...reflect the values of the group. Who decides how the class will be designed and what types of seating is used? When learners co-design the learning space, they feel more a part of the learning experience. It reflects their unique learning style and how they learn best.
When we release some of the control of the learning environment, magical things begin to happen. Our students know how they learn best. When we listen to their suggestions, they become more connected to the learning experience and are driven to create. Isn’t this what we all want as teachers? The greater question, are you willing to give up some of the control to achieve it? When I was a teacher, I went through a metamorphosis with student agency. In truth, I controlled most of the inquiry and structure of the classroom experiences while I was developing my understanding of the PYP. After 5-6 years of experience, I was able to release some of the control of classroom design and materials used in experiments. As time went by, I was finding myself conferring with my students regularly on projects and how to show their understanding of the big ideas in the unit of inquiry. Most of the time, my students came up with better ideas than I could have ever imagined by myself. Did agency come naturally? Absolutely not. Like everything else, it took a lot of practice, trust in the process, and faith in my students. In the end, you will see a transformative change not only in your students, but the entire school community. You just need to trust the process that it will work out. Take it a little at a time and be kind to yourself. This is not a race, but one step at a time. by Lu Gerlach The UN created 17 sustainable development goals as a blueprint for creating self-reliant systems by 2030. These goals can be used in learning to identify underlying factors for so many social, economic, and political issues being faced in the world. The SDGs can be found here. UN Sustainable Development GoalsOver the past two years, I’ve heard a lot about agency. We did it inherently, but there was no label to define it. As you read about agency, most blogs and articles will break apart the three components (voice, choice, and ownership) apart, rather than find a way to use them together. In this episode, we are going to attempt to bring them together while trying to research deeper using the UN Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. Our task is to use the SDGs to bring about more agency and depth of understanding when researching. VoiceConsider a topic that you are studying in social studies and science that your students want to explore deeper. Allow your students to brainstorm and choose their topics. In this instance, GROUP A has decided to explore the impact that location has on access to natural resources. ChoiceAllow students to choose an SDG to be their lens in researching their topic deeper. Expanding upon our topic, GROUP A will explore the impact of location on access to natural resources through the lens of zero poverty. OwnershipThe students will have ownership of the learning process and product. They will receive instruction and modeling on various methods and will self-select from a given process and product. GROUP A has decided to explore the top three countries that have the lowest poverty rate: Turkmenistan (1), Taiwan (2), and Kazakhstan (3) compared to the United States (45) according to the CIA World Factbook as of January 1, 2019. The guiding questions for this research will include: Natural Resources What natural resources are available? How are resources being conserved and reused? What happens to all the waste? Poverty How is poverty defined in these countries? How have these countries kept the poverty rate so low? Why is the US poverty rate so high? Natural Resources and Poverty How has access to resources created poverty? How can natural resources be accessed equitably? How might poverty determine opportunities? Process and product: Write a letter or email to an expert and ask their questions. Possible experts may include: Professor Angus Deaton, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in Economics in 2015 At this time, you make yourself think that I’m crazy or too ambitious. This is how the innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow think and solve their problems. They research their topic, ask questions, and consult experts. You can’t get a better answer than from a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Dream big! There is a high probability that GROUP A will not receive a response to their letter. More important than receiving the answer is asking the question. This is what it means when we say, it’s the process not the product that matters most. I know that we went from zero to 60 in a few minutes, but this is what agency looks like. It’s dynamic, rich, research worthy, and requires a depth of thought. Your students deserve this opportunity to study their passion at this level. Will you have courage to let them? |
Categories
All
Archives
March 2025
|
RSS Feed