Agency
Student agency is a critical element of the PYP. With more agency, students take responsibility for their own learning and work in partnership with the teachers to make progress. Students are involved in their learning process with:
- Choice: They help decide how they learn or how they might share what they have learned.
- Voice: They share their ideas openly and feel that their ideas are heard and respected.
- Ownership: They direct their learning with a strong sense of identity and self-belief and work with teachers and peers to build a sense of community and awareness of the opinions, values and needs of others.
Learner Profile
The attributes of the learner profile represent a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that encompass intellectual, personal, emotional and social growth. The development and demonstration of these attributes are foundational to students becoming internationally minded, active and caring community members who respect themselves, others and the world around them.
Action
Action is integral to the PYP learning process. As students take action throughout their inquiry process, they come to understand the responsibilities we each have toward ourselves, our communities, and our planet. Action is most successful when it is initiated by students, authentic to their inquiries and interests, and meaningful to the student. Students are encouraged “think globally, act locally.” This allows them to take their passion for a global or wide-spread issue and find ways to make a change in their own life or local community.
Action could be:
- a change in attitude or thinking
- planning for action in the future
- a demonstration of responsibility, or of respect for self, others and the environment
- leading or participating in a youth advocacy group
- participating in school, community or global decision making