Teaching the IB way
What is different about teaching with the IB pedagogy in mind?
An obstacle facing pedagogical leaders in schools can be reassuring experienced staff that teaching with the IB pedagogy in mind, is actually about making explicit the great teaching practice they are, more than likely, already doing. At risk of making a sweeping generalisation, teaching the IB way really is about using variety: a variety of methods that enable students to be proactive about their learning and not passive.
Approaches to Teaching or 'ATT'
The constructivist educational theory at the heart of the IB's pedagogy is summarised in their 6 Approaches to Teaching and, in turn, their 5 Approaches to Learning. Teaching that is ...
... framed by concepts
... led by Inquiry
... based in local and global contexts
... encouraging of collaboration
... incorporating differentation
... assessed both formatively and summatively
... and teaching this way encourages the development of the Approaches to Learning which are
↓5 key skills areas↓
Thinking skills
Communication skills
Social skills
Self-management skills
Research skills
ATT in brief
Below is a summary of the key approaches to teaching so keep in mind how each of these approaches each promote the development of skills. This is the ultimate aim of this skills-based approach to education. You will also notice that whilst we separate out everything for purposes of initial understanding, ultimately the all interconnect and they unite in one common purpose; the lifelong learner at the centre of it all.
How does it all fit into the bigger picture?
Concept- based teaching is where instruction is driven by big unifying ideas that might span multiple disciplines rather than purely content. Content is important of course in an educational course but it goes hand in hand with concepts and skills. This is because, simply, concepts and skills transfer and create connection and content does not. It is good to envisage instruction in a 3-dimensional way with concepts-skills-content as H. Lynn Erickson's position paper[1] explores.
Two good reasons to teach with concepts in mind
1. By always keeping an eye on the big picture and how ideas fit in with the world around them, students inevitable develop a deeper level of understanding.
2. If students are encouraged to make connections between different ideas, then they are being encouraged to tackle complexity and think critically.
Encourage the curiosity
Teaching through inquiry immediately hand the power of learning to the student as it moves away from the model of direct instruction in traditional teaching and towards a model with the teacher acts as facilitator. A facilitator that encourages students to develop their own curiosity, questions and see how their learning builds on what they already know. Throughout IB teaching, students take part in a cycle of inquiry - action- reflection so by it's nature, inquiry-led facilitation is proactive and dynamic.
It can become all too understandable, especially at times of high pressure exam preparation, to fall back on closed questioning that requires a specific answer. However, this is not indicative or has to be indicative of teaching practice for the majority of the course. When you become more and more familiar with the IB, especially if you teach the DP subjects, you will become increasingly aware of how questions work and how important their design is in not only engaging curiosity but reaching a deeper level of thinking. Consider how questions can start from fact based and the answer is retrievable in a textbook to more debatable and open. What happens when student can tackle these questions?
Two good reasons to lead by inquiry:
1. When students are allowed to ask questions about material that provides the most meaning to them in a project-based learning environment, they are able to develop critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills. They are active learners, to put it simply. They are free to make connections between concepts and ideas across disciplines. By asking their own questions, students can also discern their 'way in' to a topic and what is most meaningful to them.
2. Inquiry-led learning can encourage key social, research and thinking skills as students are encouraged to collaborate and ask their own questions, gather evidence before analysing and evaluating their findings. This may be education, but it is also real life.
Context is everything
One of the things you notice in the programme standards and practices used for school development and particularly in the evaluation process, is that a school is encouraged to develop its mission in its own unique context. In addition to this we also stress the importance of the fixed and flexible nature of the CP itself as school's adapt the programme to best suit their context. So why would teaching be anything other than contextualised? When we teach using local and global contexts, students immediately can see a relevancy and application which adds depth and perspective to the student's understanding. You can see this play out explicitly in specific subjects such as in Group 1 and Group 3 with historical perspectives, global issues and the stress on looking for the broader implications of texts, sources and events. In terms of the CP, this dynamic is played out specifically in the structure of the core; the Personal and Professional Skills course weaves in the importance of relevant experience with intercultural understanding and Applied Ethics; Service learning directly relates to the local context but also can form an important contribution to the evaluation of an ethical dilemma at the heart of the reflective project - this in itself calls for local or global examples but students often choose to explore the interplay of both.
Two good reasons to teach using local and global contexts
1. Within the CP in particular, local contexts can make immediately give students a sense of how relevant and relatable a topic is to their lives and also see immediate application. Students want more than anything to know that what they're learning has importance in the world around them, and the use of local contexts does just that.
2. However, it is also just as important to explore the importance of global contexts too so students can realise the significance of what they understand on a local level but within a larger conceptual framework. To put it simply, what is happening to them is not insignificant but part of a far bigger picture.
Collaboration for future careers
When teaching encourages collaboration, students do not just build their understanding by themselves - they build in other perspectives and have the opportunity to understand material from multiple ways they may not have considered. Everyone's learning is unique and learning together does not just create a more nuanced understanding of a discipline and its connections to other subjects and the world around us; it sets students up to flourish in the world they will come to work in when they are adults. Think about it - they have to learn to communicate to different audiences and adapt accordingly, learn to compromise (as well as the art of diplomacy!) and the ability to work towards a common goal.
Two good reasons to teach using collaboration
1. It encourages critical and creative thinking through the sharing of multiple perspectives and with teamwork can come innovatioon. When students have to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of different ideas and their potential impact they are evaluating and tackling complex thinking processes together. There is nothing passive about collaboration.
2. Collaboration also teaches students about the reality of their future. They will work with all sorts of people in their future and some will be easier to work with than others - fact! The more experience they have of collaboration and teamwork, the more they appreciate what it takes to achieve a goal. Active listening is such an important skill that can be hard to master as does being able to give and receive feedback constructively.
Removing barriers to learning
This is commonly referred to as 'removing barriers to learning'. There are four main principles of differentiated instruction. It must:
1. ... affirm identity and build self esteem
2. ... build on prior learning
3. ... scaffold learning
4. ... extend learning.
'Removing barriers to learning' is a great phrase as it removes preconceived notions that differentiation is for just specific students - differentiated instruction is for all as it recognises that every student is unique. If they start from a place of comfort and safety where they feel confident in their setting as they recognise how what is being taught fits in and builds on what they have already learnt and shaped their understanding around, then they will be more likely to take risks. If their experience is scaffolded in such a way that builds their self worth, takes into account their individual needs and takes them to a new place of learning then their learning can be extended. When students take risks or feel able to take risks through taking on new challenges, this is where new learning takes place.
Two good reasons to differentiate (just two?)
1. It promotes inclusion and collaboration with more abilities and learning styles working and growing together - fully encapsulating that every student is unique, learns in different ways and paces.
2. When students feel able safely able to learn, they are more engaged and more willing to take risks and take part in teamwork. A classroom where barriers are removed to learning, embraces the notion of a caring, diverse workforce of the future where we can all succeed.
Assessment for process and not just for product
Constructivist pedagogy that makes up the IB philosophy has the lifelong learner at its heart and therefore our assessment processes must embrace this as well; we do not stop being works-in-progress at any point. This is possibly one of the most tricky areas to navigate in terms of what are hearts and heads tell us as teachers. We know academically that it makes sense to assess in a wide variety of well respected and proven methodology but the system in which we work and the culture surrounding assessment in the wider world, has not necessarily caught up or seems at odds with this. At the very least, the structure of the CP with its portfolio based core and DP subjects that contain a respectable mix of internal and external assessment, demands a healthy mix of formative and summative strategies.
When we talk about thinking processes in the IB we are talking cognitive, metacognitive and affective skill development. What this means for assessment is that our assessment methodology must allow students to understand their learning and assess themselves as well as how it fits into their development as a human being. So one of the most important areas to develop as an IB teacher is how you use feedback and the role of different stakeholders in assessment - self, peer and teacher assessment and feedback are all crucial. Make sure it allow students to make adjusments, improve understanding, adds to the big picture of their learning and encourages reflection and as a by-product allowing them to take ownership of their learning.
Three key phrases that form assessment (that you will be forgiven for getting confused)
Assessment AS learning: This is an approach to assessment where assessment is a tool for learning rather than just a way to evaluate knowledge and skills. This way students take ownership of their learning and understand their abilities far better. So tools could consist of setting their own goals, keeping records of process and using reflective processes to assess their own learning (avoid just asking students 'to reflect' - there are lots of different ways of scaffolding this). Add into this peer assessment and the ability to assess others' work and provide feedback, you can really appreciate the benefits of this as a tool. The most important thing about Assessment AS learning is it embraces that learning is a process and students can be heavily involved and active in their progress.
Assessment FOR learning: This really goes hand-in-hand with Assessment AS learning as the more students are aware of the benefit of ongoing assessment, the more they are proactive lifelong learners. In short, Asssessment FOR learning is approaching assessment with a focus on providing feedback to both teachers and students throughout the learning process in order to reach learning outcomes more successfully. Like Assessment AS learning, this is a tool and not a way of summatively evaluating knowledge or skills. So many tools can give students and teachers helpful feedback and these can be quick and organic; from check-ins to quizzes, using rubric broken down into skills to informal discussions. It's important to mention the role of teachers as lifelong learners as well here and whilst it might be hard to find out that some students are not doing as well with material as you hoped they would, adapting and reviewing is part of the problem-solving that makes teaching both frustrating and fulfilling in equal measure. After all, a classroom where students feel able to share frustrations as well as successes, is a fantastic place to be.
Assessment OF learning: This is probably the most familiar of all approaches as it captures how the world outside teaching would possibly define assessment as. It captures how many parents and teachers were assessed themselves in their own schooling and therefore the safest approach. Is it the most meaningful? Well we started out by saying that assessment is a multi-faceted thing and not just a grade or a final product. Assessment OF learning is there to provide a summary of what a student has learnt and how well they have learnt it rather than the process of learning itself. It gives us an idea of how students are achieving next to specific learning outcomes which can also inform our teaching. When Assessment is successfully implemented in a course of study, students have a great understanding through the delivery of the course with the summative rubric and how they are progressing in their understanding. Summative assessment overall is done in a fair, objective and equitable way.
Want to know more about the origin of this pedagogy?
Constructivism
Approaching the IB pedagogical principles Becoming authorised to deliver the Career-related Programme is the first step for a school new to the IB. But a greater pressure can be embracing the constructivist...
Footnotes
- ^ H. Lynn Erickson, Lois A. Lanning, and Rachel French, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom