NUACHTÁN IB NEWS | February 2021
Am I a Thinker?
The International Baccalaureate (IB) describes this attribute in our student as: “they exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.” We thrive for our students to become thinkers; we help contribute as teachers for them to develop this IB learner attribute which later on will become a skill.
Have you noticed that as a parent we are always asking our children or teenagers, “what do you think about this? How would you solve this? How do you think this works? Think! Think! Think! This is a skill, a process for our students from a young age we start helping them to develop it, we start in PYP with triggering questions, students start to observe and analyze, in MYP and CP students start to connect with other subjects or situations to understand it as a whole and to give an answer/opinion.
That is what we do in Colegio Celta, we encourage our students to be thinkers! How do I know if my student or son is a thinker? You will see the following skills:
- They analyze and evaluate issues and ideas
- Generate novel ideas and consider new perspectives
- Use skills and knowledge in multiple contexts
- Re/consider the process of learning
And as teachers, what do we do?
- Model the language of thinking and reinforce the processes of thinking.
- Ask open-ended questions.
- Provide sufficient thinking time.
- Implement and model a range of “visible thinking” techniques.
- Explicitly ask students to discuss and reflect on the value and limitations of the resources used through their inquiries.
- Provide time for reflection at all stages of learning—before, during and after inquiries.
- Promote a range of tools for reflection and ensure that reflection activities are responsive and varied.
- Reflect on existing competencies, co-create learning goals .
Always encourage your students and children to be thinkers!
Reference: Primary Years Programme. Learning and teaching. Published October 2018 Updated December 2018, February 2019.
