C22: Embedding the Learner Profile into the Learning Space

by Lu Gerlach

​​You’ve unpacked the learner profile attributes, now what?  Do you just use them whenever time permits or can you plan with them in mind?  In my personal observation over the past twelve years, I’ve noticed that most PYP teachers use them as behavior attributes.  So our challenge is to look at the learner profile in a new light and try to consider them as a teaching tool.  Here are some examples in relation to learning spaces

Attributes in the Learning Space

​When we are thinking of the learning space, we are considering more than just how the furniture is laid out and how the walls are decorated.  We are examining how the learning space has been designed to reflect the learner profile attributes.  Are there places where students can take open-minded risks?  Here are some possible suggestions:

Thinkers:  an inquiry table is an excellent way for students to play with ideas and make connections based on their prior learning.  An inquiry table has materials from the various content within the unit.  Students examine and make predictions on what the unit is about and how the objects are connected together. 

Inquirers: an inquiry station has random materials and a question is posed to provoke the thinking.  Possible question:  What can you create with these materials to show force and motion? This open-ended task allows students to express their curiosity and hone critical thinking skills.

One way to bring about connections is through a learner profile display either on a wall or ceiling.  I would attach student self-portraits with a learner profile goal under the description poster.  This helped students to see everyday examples of how to obtain their goal.  

Attributes in the School Library

Since the library is the hub of all learning, it sets the tone for reading as a lifelong learner.  It can also set a tone for developing the learner profile attributes. 

• Balanced:  a learner profile corner or bookshelf in the library provides a balance between books classified by genres, reading levels, and authors.  It allows students to explore each attribute and self-assess which attributes they need to work on.  The multilingual and multicultural texts will showcase how we are connected around the world. 

• Knowledgeable:  the library can host an attribute a month.  This will be selected based on holidays, events, and/or units of inquiry. Through the learner profile read alouds, students will gain a deeper understanding of each attribute and how to apply them to different contexts.  This will allow students to make easier local and global connections to the ideas they are learning throughout the day.  
• For example, we can build our conceptual knowledge by examining the commonalities and differences of holidays around the world.

One way to make the learner profile more apparent in the school is co-creating posters.  The students helped to write the definition in English and Arabic, drew a picture to describe it in everyday language, and chose  words (former attitudes) to guide thinking and provide a word bank for writing reflections.   This can be posted in a classroom, hallway, and communal learning spaces like the library. 

Attributes in the School Hallways

The school hallways, office areas, and other communal spaces provide a blank canvas for the exploration of the attributes.  One challenge is to make it interactive and relevant to our students, instead of pretty wallpaper.

• Open-Minded:  when developing our understanding of the PYP, we need a lot of experiences to help us to understand the terms.  Interactive bulletin boards allow students to look beyond their own experiences and try to understand other people’s perspectives. 
• For example:  create an interactive bulletin board with book covers from a wide subject matters that emulate a single attribute.  Ask students to pick a book and describe how it reflects the attribute to them.  

 

• Risk-Taker:  students struggle to identify how risk-taking is more than jumping out of an airplane or facing your greatest fear.  It requires a strength of character to continue when faced with obstacles and keep going on.
• For example:  to demonstrate risk-takers in action, have a wall of pictures that reflect how the teachers and school staff are taking risks in their lives from higher education, learning new skills, starting new hobbies, having a family, and so much more. This will show a wide variety of risks in a real context. ​