C29: Connecting Agency with International Mindedness

by Lu Gerlach

Now that we’ve received some ways to incorporate international mindedness into our daily practice, how will we use them?  Let’s go back to our agency continuum to gauge where we are in the process

As a reminder, the agency continuum has four phases: 
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• Teacher-driven:  teacher is doing all the work and thinking
• Modeled:  teacher provides all of the activities and the students do it
• Guided:  the teacher provides the topic and the students design the process and product
• Learner-driven:  the learner chooses the topic and decides on the process and product

Let’s take a moment to think where you are and where you’d like to be with international mindedness. We will examine different ways we can demonstrate agency when developing international mindedness.  Make a goal for where you’d like to be and what you plan to work on. 

Here are the criteria for demonstrating agency with international mindedness. ​

Giving Time to Tinker

​One of the ways we develop our own understanding of international mindedness is through opportunities to tinker with ideas and reflect.  This takes time.  I know that many of us worry about covering all of the content.  I think you’ll find as you advance in your PYP journey that teaching through a transdisciplinary and conceptual lens, the content will get covered in greater detail and with more meaning.  

Giving time to tinker with ideas will pay off in the end.  When we use the inquiry table and stations that were mentioned in our learner profile section, you will find students are able to ask more questions and connect to prior experiences.  This is important in building international mindedness.  Students need to tinker with the ideas of gender roles, cultural norms, beliefs and values, and so much more. 

Where are you on the agency continuum in allowing these experiences to unfold in your classroom? 

Build Capacity through Multiple Options

​Not everyone is going to resonate to the same activities based on learning styles, life experiences, and exposure to the outside world.  We need to provide multiple options, so students can make connections to the engagement that is most connected to their real-life experience. 

​When providing choice, we want to be mindful of how it is bringing about a connection to international mindedness.  Are we providing examples related to other cultures?  Are we allowing students to make connections between what they do and how they do it with other ways from around the world? Are students asked to reflect on how their beliefs and values influence the choices they make?  

Where are you on the agency continuum in allowing these experiences to unfold in your classroom? 

Defining it for Themselves in Kid Language

​As we know, when we get students to define language into kid-friendly terms, it makes a greater impact on their learning and transfers to future learning situations.  This is true for international mindedness.  How can we get students to define this big idea?  Here are some possible activities that will support all of your learners: 

• Use the Headlines visible thinking routine to capture the big idea of international mindedness.  Ask students in a small group to write a 5-8 word headline to describe what international mindedness means to them.

 

• Use the Bundling strategy where students create a list of words that are synonyms to international mindedness.  Have them write out the list and create a picture of what international mindedness looks and feels like. 

 

• Create a Visual Harvesting poster with a combination of words and pictures (drawn or printed) that captures the heart of what international mindedness looks and feels like.  
  

These strategies can be used with any topic, but I think they help students to capture the heart of international mindedness in a low-stress situation, which will help to get the most out of your students.  

One of the best experiences with visual harvesting was with a student with high-functioning autism.  He was able to lead his group into connecting the big ideas of the unit with a character in a Japanese myth story.  This was the first time I saw this student demonstrate strong leadership skills. 

Where are you on the agency continuum in allowing these experiences to unfold in your classroom? 

Remember...

​​Agency is at the heart of international mindedness.  It’s the small moments that allow students to make choices and connections beyond their personal experiences and expose them to the outside world.  I know time is always a factor, but you will see greater connections to the learning in your classroom, because of it.