International Mindedness

Dear Parents,

What a fabulous week! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and positive involvement around the school. It was lovely to see parents participating in the CIS/WASC/IB visit, attending the Primary Share and organizing the Teacher Appreciation Lunch and the Holiday Fair. Thank you to those of you who were able to join me on Monday for the workshop on International Mindedness. It was great to hear everyone’s views on what it means to prepare our students to thrive and succeed as responsible citizens in a changing world.

As an IB World School, we want to develop the kind of person we would be proud to send out into the world. The kind of person who understands that other people, with their differences, can also be right. We want our students to develop a set of attributes that will allow them to thrive and succeed wherever they find themselves.

As discussed, the attributes of the IB Learner Profile are at the heart of developing internationally minded individuals, however they are meaningless to our students unless adults model them. Here are some of the ways in which parents can nurture these attributes at home. The key to this process is celebrating moments of success rather than using these words as sticks to enforce rules. Thank you again to those of you who helped to contribute to some of these ideas.

We are demonstrating the attributes of the learner profile at home when we….

Reflective

Think about what we say, do and learn

Identify mistakes and learn from them

Recognize and appreciate success

Knowledgeable

Learn about ourselves and the world we live in

Experience something new

Use our knowledge to solve problems and avoid mistakes

Open Minded

Consider different perspectives and points of view

Learn when to let go of fixed ideas (When does persistence become stubbornness?)

Understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right

Thinker

Discuss challenges to find multiple solutions

Create and use our imagination

Build on ideas and make connections

Inquirer

Wonder and ask questions

Gather information from different sources

Experiment, research, explore and discover

Communicator

Explain our thinking and express our feelings clearly

Make time to listen attentively and respond to one another

Learn other languages (Are we maintaining our home languages?)

Principled

Respect home agreements and play by the rules

Stand by our convictions (Do we do this when no one is looking?)

Own our mistakes

Balanced

Exercise regularly and rest well

Find time for work and play with friends and family

Eat a variety of healthy food

Caring

Treat one another kindly (Do we sometimes treat others better than members of our own family?)

Help people and our environment

Act with consideration, tolerance and empathy

Risk Taker

Have the courage to defend our ideas and make decisions

Challenge ourselves and persist with our commitments

Believe in ourselves (When does confidence become arrogance?)

 

Thank you again for your ongoing, positive support.

Warm regards,

Alan