Educational Origami

Well the three days of the workshop leaders course are over and next on the agenda is heading home. The course has been very useful from several perspectives:

1. Networking – This has been a brilliant opportunity to mix and mingle with leading teachers from across Asiapac. The presence of and our close ties with the otehr two programs, middle years and primary years, has been fun and very educational. All the teachers present are here because they are the leading teachers within their schools. Rubbing shoulders with such teachers is very valuable. The collective knowledge is phenomenal.
2. Understanding of the programs. It is safe to say that even though I teach in a PYP, MYP, Diploma school my understanding of the IB program as a whole was very limited. I walk away from this course looking at the program in a different way, with an understanding of what leads to the diploma program, of the foundations set in PYP, reinforced in MYP and applied in the diploma. Many of the components that seemed to be standalone features of diploma have been shown to be progressions from the earliest days of the primary years.
3. My respect for PYP and MYP teachers has grown immensely. There can be an arrogance in diploma teachers that is completely misplaced and unjustified. Yes we may have in depth detailed knowledge of our subject area, but sso to do the teachers of the other programs but for them it is stretched across 6 or 8 subjects. The level of planning inherent in PYP particularly, but also MYP is amazing.
4. This course was not about subject specific knowledge – the workshops we will present will cover some of this -rather it was a look at working with adults, showing understanding of key elements of the IB continuum – TOK and EE, Learner Profile and CAS – and developing an understanding that these are not separate from our subject syllabus rather rather encompassing. It does require a change in perception and attitude.

So where to from here…

Well, I have already considered some of the changes that I will make to my presentations at ulearn. Some of the activities that we worked through were very useful and I believe will make a difference to how I presented sessions. Similarly my role as a Trainer for ICT, has be influenced by what I have seen work and not work.

One of the most useful elements of the DP part of the course was the presentations by the trainees in their subject area of a TOK lesson. The different approaches the teachers employed was brilliant and very educational. One thing we as teachers do not do enough of (if we do it at all) is observe our peers as they teach and be observed. While being observed can be uncomfortable, the observations of our peers are immensely useful and valuable. I do not mean in the classical mode of a “CRIT LESSON” rather in an informal reflective mode where the pressure to reach the standards and be assessed on these are removed. A situation where your performance of the art of teaching is not contrived rather is natural.

The next challenge, before I even think about running a workshop, is taking this back to the school. I am left pondering this question. “How can I make a difference?” This quote from the TOK Guide sums it up…

“Whoever acquires knowledge and does not practise it resembles him who ploughs his land and
leaves it unsown.” (Sa’di)

Source; Diploma Programme Theory of knowledge—guide. IBO, March 2006 Page 11