Joanne Eileen Chatlos—Alcuin School (Texas, USA)
In this qualitative case study, this researcher seeks to explore what Middle Years Programme (MYP) teachers believe about the IB learner profile traits and how their beliefs translate into practice. The case is defined as five middle school teachers in one private middle school in Dallas, Texas, implementing the Middle Years Programme in the spring of 2014. Data collection included observations, interviews, and the analysis of word clouds created by the participants. In this inquiry, teachers seemed to prioritize certain terms, both in beliefs and practice. For terms which they feel comfortable with, they are more likely to use explicit strategies, while other terms are often believed to be transmitted through more implicit methods such as modeling. The findings suggest that more research into teachers’ beliefs about the terms and their use of the IB learner profile in practice would be advisable. This researcher suggests exploration of how teachers work with the terms according to their disciplines and analysis of methods to determine which are most effective in transmitting the IB learner profile. In addition, schools and teachers would benefit from more guidance from the IB regarding the personalization and localization of the learner profile.
){kind=icon}