As you enter the elementary age, there seems to be a trend that I have noticed in nearly two decades of education. The older the learner, the quieter they become in a traditional learning environment. This should not be the case in a PYP classroom, since learners should be posing wonderings, collaborating ideas with others, researching, testing out ideas, and forming conclusions. So, how is it that we are still seeing quiet students in the upper grades? Our learners quickly understand that to be considered a “bright” and “good” student, they know when to speak and when to remain silent. This is part of developing social skills. In some cases, learners are afraid to speak their minds to avoid ramifications from the teacher. So, how do we fix this situation, so all learners are actively engaged in refining their social skill development while demonstrating agency? In this episode, we are trying to examine the social skills that learners need in order to operate within the world. But first, let's look at some of the skills we as educators need to model, so our learners are able to apply it to their own practice.
The social sub-skills help learners to know how to appropriately interact with each other. The social skills are divided into two criteria:
The sub-skill that pops out to me the most is interpersonal relationships. I will only focus on the ones that resonate, but are still a growth area for me. This time, I am matching the learner's social skills with what educators can do to support their learners. We are always trying to find ways to innovate and take learning further! Interpersonal RelationshipsWhen we think about interpersonal relationships, we think of interactions where all people involved are invested in the feelings and needs of others. We will explore different ways that the IB has outlined as building interpersonal relationships. Practice empathy and care for othersEmpathy is one of the hardest things for children and adults to understand. It’s one thing to show compassion to another who is in pain, but it’s another thing to show empathy. Empathy is the ability to see a situation from another’s point of view. This is hard stuff. It requires us to truly listen, observe, and listen some more. “Empathy represents the foundation skill for all the social competencies important for work.” I love this quote by Daniel Goleman, because it highlights how empathy is the foundation of everything we do in the PYP. What teachers can do: Provide explicit opportunities for students to practice and develop these skills
What teachers can do: Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their social skills.
Listen closely to others’ perspectives and to instructionsI remember in teacher’s college being taught the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is the simple act of hearing information coming at us. Listening is the active participation of receiving ideas and giving them value. Simply put, it means to be curious. How do you engage your learners to be actively engaged in listening and developing their curiosity? What teachers can do: Offer students opportunities to see that “other people, with their differences, can also be right”.
What teachers can do: Reflect and feedback on different interactions they observe.
Advocate for one’s own rights and needs, and those of othersWhen we are learning social skills, we tend to bumble and violate a lot of cultural norms. This is normal, but sometimes awkward. How do we help our learned to manage these situations with grace, so they don’t repeat them very often? One way I see a lot of bumbling is when trying to advocate for the rights of self and others. If done without careful thought, it can come off rude, disruptive, or inappropriate. What are we doing to help our learners to know what is the correct way? What teachers can do: Use the language of the learner profile in conversations and discussions, and in the development of essential agreements.
That’s it for now my friends as I try to apply these ideas to specialist and supporting teachers.
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