Over the past few months I have been writing about the Primary Years Programme’s “Five Essential Elements” (knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action). Thus far I have addressed skills and attitudes; this week the focus will be on “action”.
Years ago, teacher friend of mine went away to interview with another PYP school. He said that one of the questions posed to him was, “What do you think is the most important of the PYP’s five essential elements?” That is a tough question; I do not think that you can look at the elements in isolation. The teacher felt so nervous that he could not remember any of the elements and he froze. As you can imagine he was unsuccessful in being offered a teaching position at the school. He went on to say that after reflecting on the question, had he been forced to choose one element, he would have said “action”. His reasoning was that, at the end of the day, we want our students to be able to help others, no matter how big or small, by giving back to the community.
The PYP has included action as one of the five essential elements as it is an “explicit expectation... that successful inquiry will lead to responsible action, initiated by the student as a result of the learning process”. It is important to point out that student action does not have to be grandiose fund raising events. My children (as do yours) take action implementing their learning from the units of inquiry in our house consistently. Whether it is saving paper, conserving water or talking about how we can protect endangered animals, our children are aware of the many problems we are all facing globally. With their action they attempt to make others aware as well. This is student driven, authentic action that all stakeholders of Chatsworth International School should be proud of.
I have been receiving feedback from parents regarding our recent PTSC’s held at the end of October. For the most part the information shared with me has been very positive. However, the sharing of parental insights into the conferences has not been formalized. I would like to offer the opportunity to all Primary parents to share their thoughts and feelings regarding the PTSC’s. Please click here to be taken to a quick, 5-question anonymous survey that is designed to gain information into the conferences we host.
I would remind parents that the PTSC’s are designed differently than the traditional Parent-Teacher conferences many of us grew up with when we were in school. As a student, I was never involved in the discussions between my parents and teachers. It makes much more sense to have all three stakeholders engaged in the conversations.
The design of the conferences at Chatsworth, and many other PYP schools is what the IB refers to as Three-Way Conferences described below.
Three-way conferences involve the student, parents and teacher. Students discuss their learning and understanding with their parents and teacher, who are responsible for supporting the student through this process. Students are responsible for reflecting upon work samples they have chosen to share, that have been previously selected with guidance and support from the teacher and could be from the student’s portfolio. The student, parents and the teacher collaborate to establish and identify the student’s strengths and areas for improvement. This may lead to the setting of new goals, with all determining how they can support the achievement of the goals. The teacher is an integral part of the process and takes notes of the discussion. These notes may then be used in the written report. All of the participants must understand the format and their roles prior to the conference (Making the PYP Happen, p. 52).
With that clarifying information, I invite you to complete the survey.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
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