Approaches to Learning

Students are expected to develop and demonstrate skills, knowledge and understanding of the five Approaches to Learning (AtL) on a continuum across the PYP, MYP and DP. To enhance competency in these areas, teachers design learning tasks, activities or challenges that nurture students’ further growth and understanding of the Approaches to Learning.

The Approaches to Learning are identified as:

1. Communication skills - oral, written, digital and creative.
2. Collaborative social skills.
3. Organizational, affective and reflective self-management skills.
4. Research skills demonstrating information and media literacy.
5. Critical thinking, creative and innovative synthesis, and knowledge transfer skills.

Throughout their studies, students are expected to develop and demonstrate a clear, sophisticated understanding of how they learn best, and how they evaluate the effectiveness of their learning. This kind of self-directed learning, that is both independent and autonomous, helps students to:

• Prepare for further study and responsible participation in local and global communities.
• Develop confidence to try new strategies and explore new concepts and contexts for learning.
• Share responsibility for creating productive, cooperative and safe learning environments.
• Meet subject group aims and objectives.
• Evaluate and provide evidence of their learning and creativity.
• Understand the diversity of human learning needs.
• Reflect purposefully on their learning (meta-cognition).