The IB learner profile represents 10 attributes valued by IB World Schools.  We believe these attributes, and others like them, can help individuals and groups become responsible members of local, national and global communities.  

As IB learners we strive to be:

Inquirers: We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others.  We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.

Thinkers: We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems.  We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.

Communicators: We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways.  We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups.

Risk-takers: We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies.  We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.

Knowledgeable: We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines.  We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.

Principled: We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere.  We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.

Caring: We show empathy, compassion and respect.  We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.

Open-minded: We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others.  We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.

Balanced: We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives--intellectual, physical, and emotional--to achieve well-being for ourselves and others.  We recognize our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.

Reflective: We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experience.  We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.

© International Baccalaureate

By identifying and investigating key concepts, students learn to think critically about big ideas. This may be done through broad, open-ended questions in an inquiry. When concepts are viewed as a set of questions, the inquiry is directed, purposeful and manageable. 

There are seven key concepts; Form, Function, Causation, Change, Connection, Perspective, and Responsibility.

Subject area skills such as literacy and numeracy are essential for inquiry, however, students will also need to master a range of skills beyond what we normally refer to as basic skills.  These skills are relevant to subject areas, but also transcend them in order to support all of a learner’s lives within and beyond the classroom.

Within their learning throughout the programme, students acquire and apply a set of transdisciplinary skills.  These skills are associated with many educational 21st Century skills. 

The following are identified by IB as valuable skills:

• Communication skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing viewing, presenting, non-verbal communication

• Research skills: formulating questions, observing, planning, collecting data, recording data, organizing data, interpreting data, presenting research findings

• Self-management skills: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, spatial awareness, organization, time management, safety, healthy lifestyle, codes of behavior, informed choices

• Social skills: accepting responsibility, respecting others, cooperating, resolving conflict, group decision-making, adopting a variety of group roles

• Thinking skills: acquisition of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, dialectical thought, metacognition

© International Baccalaureate

According to Nancy Cecil in The Art of Inquiry, real learning begins to take place when children are engaged in asking and answering carefully crafted questions. Inquiry gives them an "opportunity to explore with their minds, to gain meaning for themselves, and to relate new data to old ideas. When children seek to ask or answer questions about things for which there are many potentially correct answers they begin to develop an attitude of appreciation for the immensity and complexity of the natural world."

The Key Concepts

The key concepts, expressed as questions, propel the process of inquiry. They are broad in scope and are intended to define clusters of ideas. These powerful ideas drive the research units-called Units of Inquiry -which are designed by teachers and students and lie at the heart of the curriculum model.

These key concepts are:

• Form: What is it like?

• Function: How does it work?

• Causation: Why is it like it is?

• Change: How is it changing?

• Connection: How is it connected to other things?

• Perspective: What are the points of view?

• Responsibility: What is our responsibility?

© International Baccalaureate

Knowledge

​Significant, relevant content that we wish the students to explore and know about, taking into consideration their prior experience and understanding.

Concepts

​Powerful ideas that have relevance within the subject areas but also transcend them and that students must explore and re-explore in order to develop a coherent, in-depth understanding.

Skills

​Those capabilities that the students need to demonstrate to succeed in a changing, challenging world, which may be disciplinary or transdisciplinary in nature.

Action

​Demonstrations of deeper learning in responsible behavior through responsible action; a manifestation in practice of the other essential elements.​

© International Baccalaureate