Background

The 'IB Learner Profile' was introduced during the early years of this century and is officially detailed in The IB learner profile. It aims to bring a shared set of values to all three of the IB programmes, the Primary Years (PYP), Middle Years (MYP) and Diploma (DP). In the words of the IB,

"The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world."

Essentially it sets the scene to prepare IB students to be life-long learners and this should apply to IB teachers too. Many people in education question how unique this set of values is to the IB.

If you were to ask many teachers and other people involved in education what should be the aims of a good education then the answers are likely to be similar to those set out in the IB learner profile. Many non-IB schools have similar values contained in their mission statements. For example, the Nazarbeyev Intellectual Schools in Kazakhstan include the words tenacious and adaptable in their list. Similarly the British National Curriculum QCA Key Stages 3-4 has Personal, learning and thinking skills. These six skills, which were implemented in 2007, are listed as Independent enquirers, Creative thinkers, Reflective learners, Team workers, Self-managers and Effective participants. Another example is the Nurorda International Schools based on the Turkish system which has eight key attributes (see left). Many teachers have questioned the value of listing such skills and see it as 'off the shelf learning'. They feel that schools should be free to develop their own student profiles. Professor Guy Claxton, a professor in the psychology of education, has researched this area for many years and goes so far as to claim that, for him, frameworks such as the QCA example ‘seem more like potential paving slabs for the road to hell than well worked out guidelines for a revitalised education.’  A summary of what he calls Building Learning Power which is an approach based on three core beliefs rather than a learner profile has been produced by Midlothian Council Educational Psychology Department.

Where the IB does go further than many other other schools and curricula is that it incorporates the philosophy of the learner profile into its specific programme guides. In the 2014 guide (for first examinations in 2016)

Where the IB does go further than other schools and curricula is that it incorporates the philosophy of the learner profile into its specific programme guides. In the 2014 chemistry guide (for first exams in 2016) it appears prominently right after the mission statement to illustrate its importance in the IB programme. However, currently the guide then contains no further references as to how the content and aims of the course fit in with the learner profile. This contrasts starkly with the references as to how particular parts of the programme address the stated aims (such as on pages 187 and 188 where it discusses how the Group 4 Project addresses aims 7 and 8 and the international dimension). Some of the other guides, such as the Extended Essay guide, do include specific reference to the learner profile. For example in the  Extended Essay guide it states,

"The learning involved in researching and writing the extended essay is closely aligned with the development of many of the characteristics described in the IB learner profile. Students are, to a large extent, responsible for their own independent learning, through which they acquire and communicate in-depth knowledge and understanding. The research process necessarily involves intellectual risk-taking and extensive reflection; open-mindedness, balance and fairness are key prerequisites for a good extended essay."