Making international mindedness visible
What's the link between international mindedness and the IB Learner Profile?
The IB Learner Profile provides a practical expression of what it means to be internationally minded. Its ten attributes describe the qualities, dispositions and behaviours that can help learners recognise their common humanity, engage thoughtfully with different perspectives and take responsible action in the world.
The attributes, however, are only the starting point. To understand how the Learner Profile can develop international mindedness, we need to look closely at the descriptors and consider what these qualities actually look like in the way students think, learn, interact and act.
The Learner Profile in practice
Resources: The ten Learner Profile attributes and their descriptors
Working individually or in small groups, choose one Learner Profile attribute.
1. Read the descriptor
Highlight or underline the verbs and phrases that describe what the learner actually does.
For example, the descriptor for open-minded includes:
- critically appreciating our own cultures and personal histories
- considering the values and traditions of others
- seeking and evaluating a range of points of view
- being willing to grow from experience.
What does this descriptor actually require a student to be able to do?
Write down three or four things.
Our learner needs to be able to...
2. Turn the descriptor into behaviours
Now make the attribute observable.
Complete the sentence: An internationally minded student who is __________ would...
What would you actually see or hear this student doing?
For example:
An internationally minded student who is open-minded might:
- listen carefully to a perspective that challenges their own
- recognise that their experience is not the only possible experience
- question their own assumptions
- seek evidence before reaching a conclusion
- change or develop their thinking in response to new perspectives
- distinguish between understanding a viewpoint and agreeing with it.
3. Find the opportunities
Now look at your school.
Where do students actually have opportunities to practise these behaviours?
Consider the whole student experience, not just individual lessons.
| Where? | What opportunity exists? |
|---|---|
| Curriculum | |
| Classroom learning | |
| Inquiry and discussion | |
| Assessment | |
| Student voice | |
| Pastoral provision | |
| Service and community engagement | |
| Co-curricular experiences | |
| Relationships and school culture | |
| Leadership opportunities |
Then ask:
Where are the strongest opportunities?
Where are the gaps?
Where might we be assuming that students develop this quality without actually giving them opportunities to practise it?
4. Look at the adults
The Learner Profile is not only something we ask students to develop. Students experience the Learner Profile through the way adults behave.
Return to your chosen attribute and ask: What would students see adults doing if this attribute genuinely shaped the way our school operates?
For example, if the attribute is open-mindedness:
- Do leaders genuinely listen to perspectives that challenge their own?
- Do teachers model changing their minds when new evidence emerges?
- Do we actively seek perspectives that might otherwise be overlooked?
- How do we respond when staff, students or parents disagree with us?
- Do our decision-making processes allow people to challenge assumptions?
Our school
Adults currently model this through...
We could strengthen this by...
5. Look for the evidence
Now complete the final part of the activity.
If this quality were genuinely developing in our students, what evidence would we expect to see?
Think about:
- student work
- classroom dialogue
- student questions
- student reflections
- decisions students make
- how students respond to disagreement
- how students respond to unfamiliar perspectives
- student voice
- behaviour and relationships
- action beyond the classroom.
Evidence we would expect to see or hear: