PPS inspiration

Looking for new ideas?

PPS is an exciting course that is always evolving if you let it. Many CP educators talk about 'embracing the messiness' which can feel somewhat daunting. This page puts a spotlight on key resources on this site that can give you new ideas and keep your course current. Starting with key questions such as 'how do I launch PPS and start lessons?', explorations of ethical dilemmas in the real world, blogs and quick ideas. Have a look and explore ...

Spotlight on ... Social Justice, IB teaching and Applied Ethics

Create critical communicators who can navigate controversial, complex issues

Discussing social justice issues

How do we navigate modern social justice?It might be stating the obvious that being able to talk freely about social issues, whether they are deemed controversial or not, can be a tricky balancing act....

What does it mean to teach the IB way? 

Jumping into the CP and PPS can be a little daunting, even if you are not new to the IB. Constructing a PPS course, for a teacher of any experience, can be a really good opportunity to get to grips with the IB pedagogy of Constructivism. What exactly is student-centred education and its characteristics? Here are two pages that explore the IB way of teaching and a detailed look at the characteristics of IB education: teaching based on conceptual understanding, led by inquiry, built in local & global contexts, collaborative, differentiated, and assessed formatively and summatively.

Teaching the IB way

What is different about teaching with the IB pedagogy in mind?An obstacle facing pedagogical leaders in schools can be reassuring experienced staff that teaching with the IB pedagogy in mind, is actually...

Constructivism

Approaching the IB pedagogical principlesBecoming authorised to deliver the Career-related Programme is the first step for a school new to the IB. But a greater pressure can be embracing the constructivist...

Making ethical frameworks accessible

The topic of Applied Ethics can be a little intimidating for both teacher and student. The key to understanding Applied Ethics, especially when approaching the reflective project, is to look it through the lenses of character, agent and action-centred ethical decision-making. Make the thinking visible so students can see how their thought processes are developing and - worth remembering - this isn't about deciding exactly what you think; it's about trying out different methodology and seeing where it gets you. What new perspectives might it give you?

Ethical Thinking

What is Ethical Thinking?At the heart of ethical thinking is the ability to consider the dynamics of people, actions and consequences in a balanced way. Developing ethical thinking is a complex process...

Applied Ethics: The Agent

Ethical decisions that develop moral characterThis page expands on the general Applied Ethics page which explores how you can utilise the three key branches of normative ethics to give students user-friendly...

Applied Ethics: The Act

Actions speak far louder than consequencesDeontology is an approach to ethics in which the rightness or wrongness of an act is judged by its conformity to duties, rules and obligations. Therefore an individual...

Applied Ethics: The Consequence

The greatest good for the greatest numberThis page expands on the general Applied Ethics page which explores how you can utilise the key branches of normative ethics to give students user-friendly ethical...

How do I launch PPS and start lessons?

Top tip for starting out on PPS and Personal Development

Check out this brand new page for Beginning the PPS course .

Beginning the PPS course

After the intense focus on authorisation, it can sometimes come as a little surprising that we finally get to teach this course. Let's start with 'the mothership' - PPS. You've got the outline but what...

The key to establishing Personal and Professional Skills is utilising the first few weeks for students to start getting a real sense of identity - identity of who they are culturally and personally in a broad sense but also specifically in terms of where they are with their subjects and where their skills are at right at the start of the course. Luckily this all ties in beautifully with introducing the 5 themes of PPS but the emphasis here is leading with Personal Development. Take your time with this, building up a collaborative and open learning space so students can feel confident to make 3-5 SMART targets to take them through this first term. Check out the lesson plan on the Personal Development page to get students thinking about themselves right now as well as their attitudes towards the future.

Using PPS to join the dots

This page takes your comprehensively through starting out with the PPS course and what to keep in mind as you develop it. As your course becomes embedded, and especially after your first 2 year cohort has graduated, you will gain confidence in reviewing, refining an extending your course. Below are more details of resources to help you develop your course but here is the link to get you started.

Designing the core delivery

The CP core is what makes this programme stand out, made up of unique elements. The Personal and Professional Skills course, to use a favourite analogy, is the mothership of the programme. Schools all...

Applied Ethics ... In real life

Navigating tricky conversations in a tricky world

Do you have resources to navigate difficult conversations about world events? Explore Current events for PPS for March's focus on the war in Ukraine and how to oversee conversations so students feel safe, heard and have strategies for expressing their feelings and understanding.

Academic Integrity and AI

The challenges of Academic Integrity As an IB World School, Academic Integrity is the backbone of everything we do; student being honest and transparent in their learning is key to their education journey....

Current events for PPS

It's good to remain flexible throughout the PPS course to incorporate what is going on in the news. This keeps the PPS course dynamic and relevant. You cannot predict when and where news stories will...

Olympics, social media & Free Speech

Opinion: Yes, Kamila Valieva should be skating in BeijingBig sporting events usually see a fair share of controversy - the Winter Olympics held in Beijing was no different. The familiar ethical issue...

Thinking Processes

 Responding to Change

This series of critical and creative thinking exercises explore this context but also the implications it has for our mindsets and mental health. Practically good for reflective project research skills, reflection on processes and problem-solving as well as considering any one of PPS themes - especially Intercultural Understanding and Personal Development. Also check out Understanding Truth as students start to delve deeply into their reflective project research processes.

Responding to change

The ongoing global pandemic has brought to the forefront of young people's minds that change on a mass scale can happen seemingly overnight. What can we learn from ways 'leaders' have responded locally,...

Understanding Truth

Here, we start to chip away at the idea of truth and how finding it in today's world demands highly developed critical thinking tools. Whilst the intention is to provide sources to prompt inquiry from...

Approaches to Teaching and Learning: The CP Student Skill toolbox

PPS is the place for students to build up skills knowingly. Use the analogy of a toolbox full of tools that they actually know how to use and recognise their value rather than just weighing them down. A skill only takes on meaning for a student if they explicitly learn how, when and why they are using it - make it explicit first and build up their confidence in their ability to employ it in a range of situations and subjects. To start let's take a look at examples of how skills have been developed already in the resources available on this site.

Consider these activities - just some from across this site - to develop key ATL skills in the student that can be used across many subjects and prepare them for future study and work
  • Effective Communication: Use the forcefield analysis activity as a visible thinking strategy to generate new ideas and lines of inquiry - a key Thinking skill.
  • Ethical dimensions, issues and dilemmas: here students can utilise skills to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of arguments, ideas and resources - A transferable skill to all their current subjects as well as future study and careers.
  • Writing skills: activities explore the key skill of structuring information to communicate through the structuring of paragraphs to reflect critical, ethical and reflective thinking.
  • Research skills: the RAVEN system is a tool that enables students to verify the data they have collected as trustworthy - the focus here is the reflective project but this is a tool transferable to any subject
  • Planning and process management: the visualisation tool and timeline activity are explicit visible thinking strategies that enable students to create ways for them to maintain focus and respond to change and failure.

Using Discussion and Debate

Take time to discuss, even for just five minutes, the role that discussion and debate can play in developing the five learning areas of ATL. You will soon see clearly just how intrinsic a part of the PPS course, discussion and debate is; it weaves its way through every topic, ATL skill and theme explored. It is through this students can become more self-aware, confident and empathetic communicators which will have a huge impact on their futures. Explore getting started in debating through the link here.

Starting discussions and debates

A key way to develop confidence in personal and professional skills and foster curiosity is through continuous debate and discussion about the world around us. A PPS teacher's main hurdle is keeping resources...

Blogs

  New balance school year - new balance for a new world 
The following blog is a reflection on an article that first appeared in The Guardian on 5th July 2020; a poignant date for anyone in the IB world. It poses the opportunities that PPS has to help students cope, adapt and thrive in the context of 2020. It makes a good discussion for a starting point for a collaborative PD session.
Creating and reviewing a PPS course: Utilise PPS to help students and teachers transition out of lockdown

In an article for The Guardian on 5th July 2020, Peter Hyman states 'our school systems are broken. Let's grab this chance to remake them'. A laudible call to arms in itself through what has been, and continues to be, the greatest test for our global education systems in generations. However, what is really fascinating are the conclusions he has comes to as a result of British schools operating under lockdown since March; they are many of the conclusions that CP schools have come to as to why the CP works as a framework. As you read this, you may very deservedly be feeling a degree of relief and immense pride at coming through this unprecedented assessment period but teachers do not rest for long. If this article serves a reminder for anything, then it is to keep things moving. And the Personal and Professional Skills core element is not just the place to create or reinvigorate a dynamic course that balances the fixed and the flexible; it is truly a place to care for the diverse needs of students that have been put under immense pressure in 2020 and create a fresh start.

Hyman succinctly recognises the need for a 'new normal' where students can flourish with 'a balance between what we call 'head, heart and hand' - knowledge, wellbeing, problem-solving and creativity'. He also warns against the temptation with so many children missing formal schooling for more than 4 months and experiencing very different home schooling success, to give in to the urge to 'catch up' frenetically in the new school year. I like the intention here but think the reality of the pressures school face soon takes over. Could there be a compromise? Certainly in an IB context, careful and clever utilisation of thinking processes and well timed reflection can enable the student to recognise where there is commonality across their subjects. This is something that is at the heart of the CP framework anyway; however, post lockdown, students are probably at their most receptive to appreciate truly how helpful and reassuring these commonalities are. Furthermore, use PPS not just to identify similarities but actively to utilise and transfer creative, critical and problem-solving thinking processes and inquiry. Suddenly, a mountain range of individual subjects becomes one challenging peak; still an intimidating obstacle but with the sense of being approached with a full support crew and a common purpose.

This might sounds like a lot of work and preparation. Not necessarily if we transfer existing assessment strategies into different contexts and we also listen to what the students feel they need. I have long been a supporter of encouraging students to respond to topics using the multi-modal choices available for the reflective project. This way the student who would not even consider creating a playscript as their Option 2 reflective project outcome, exercises quite an admirable degree of risk-taking as a quick, spontaneous response to a Tuesday afternoon PPS lesson. And likewise for creating a podcast or a film - why not? In addition to this, Hyman's call for 'smarter assessment and intelligent accountability' as well as 'skilful use of technology' to inspire 'flipped learning' is a reminder to the CP teacher to keep pushing the boundaries of how students can respond to tasks. The more the PPS course asks students to respond and reflect imaginatively, autonomously and dynamically for their portfolio, the more this will encourage an imaginative and open-minded approach to their CRS and DP subjects where  summative assessments may not be as varied.

Hyman's final point is the biggest lesson from learning under lockdown; the extent to which 'in-depth curriculum discussions and the ability to spend proper time collaborating' promotes increasing use of imagination. In 2020 I would add collaboration does not just increase the imagination but also empathy, resilience and communicaton skills. Whilst this piece is not about the dispensing of formal examinations as the writer of the Guardian article might be purporting (another blog for another day), it is about realising the true potential of a core element where formal external assessment has been intentionally dismissed and collaboration can take precedence.

Whether you are a CP coordinator starting the course from scratch, reviewing your existing course or new to PPS teaching - the advice is the same: Take advantage of a course that exists to prepare students for the challenging unknown of future contexts, to help them meet the challenging unknown of their school context right now

Blog:  5 minute snapshot on... Effective Communication
‘Life is not how high you fly, but about how well you bounce...It’s about how you encourage and propel yourself, letting the fear of failure become a barrier standing in your way’.

These are the words of one headteacher in the UK this week as they introduced themselves to their new staff. What could be more fitting as a response to 2020 than to take this as the mantra behind the PPS course that is already designed to be the place to do just this. Where does Effective Communication play a part?

What might be the questions to ask to shape Effective Communication?
What are my students’ needs? What role does context play here? What does effective communication mean for the educator as well as the student? What does an effective communicator look like in 2020? What is our ultimate goal?

What role does context play in developing effective communication?
A hugely important role – the individual, family, school, community, national and international context play both a fixed and fluctuating role in young people’s lives and influence their identity as a communicator and ability to communicate. The teenage years is the time where young people characteristically shift away from primarily parental influences and gravitate increasingly towards peer company and interaction with other adults such as teachers. And with the disrupted schooling and isolation that 2020 has brought, this natural communicative process has been disrupted. Developing a course that can respond to the fixed and fluctuating needs of students who possibly do not fully realise the impact this year has had on them until they are back in a school environment is a sensitive mood. Build confidence in communication slowly with plenty of small group interactions where students feel safe to express ideas.

What are my students’ needs?
Exploring visible thinking tools that can help students become more confident communicators. For example, when a student has used a thorough decision-making tool and is comfortable with the outcome, they feel vastly more able to communicate their thoughts. Ask students to carry out a ‘forcefield analysis’ and you take a simple pros and cons list to the next level; it is an effective process that helps students employ ethical, reflective and critical thinking in their decision making. However, it is not just for them. A quick forcefield analysis to help you weigh up the forces acting for and against young people becoming an effective communicator can make your PPS course bespoke to your context.

What does effective communication mean for the educator as well as the student?
It should come as no surprise that as part of the attributes of the lifelong learner, what motivates you will be mirrored in your students’ response. Ask yourself what is expected of you as an IB educator in terms of communication? Can you communicate with passion for what the IB is about and place international-mindedness and the learner profile as a priority. In short, do you use communication to impact, influence and inspire?

What does an effective communicator look like in 2020? What will an effective communicator look like in 2030? 2040? These can be the very first questions you ask of students. A short exercise for them to explore what they know and their own needs before branching out into creative thinking. Furthermore, a carefully designed reflection where students audit their strengths as a communicator can be revisited throughout the course as part of their personal development. How far do they see themselves as emotionally intelligent, clear, confident, empathetic, respectful, open-minded, inquisitive and a good listener?

What is the ultimate goal? Ultimately we all want to help young people articulate themselves as confident, considerate, creative and critical communicators who can ‘bounce’, ‘encourage’ and ‘propel’ themselves through life.

Quick ideas

Topic and project based approach to PPS

Keep your course relevant and up to date with a topic based approach. These can be changed according to what is in the news and current at the time of your lesson but all involve clear application of the PPS themes and learning outcomes. These also might serve as jumping off points for potential project-based learning as you are guided by the ideas and suggestions of the students. 

Exercises in Empathy

Understanding empathy can be tricky - least of all differentiating it from sympathy. Through the work of neuro psychologists and academics, we explore its definition and real world application. Students...

Responding to change

The ongoing global pandemic has brought to the forefront of young people's minds that change on a mass scale can happen seemingly overnight. What can we learn from ways 'leaders' have responded locally,...

Career skill: Interviews

The notion of an interview can be a scary prospect because it symbolises a step into the unknown and very much about risk-taking. At the heart of any interview scenario is being able to answer and ask...

Understanding Truth

Here, we start to chip away at the idea of truth and how finding it in today's world demands highly developed critical thinking tools. Whilst the intention is to provide sources to prompt inquiry from...

Starting discussions and debates

A key way to develop confidence in personal and professional skills and foster curiosity is through continuous debate and discussion about the world around us. A PPS teacher's main hurdle is keeping resources...

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