SUNWAY SHAPES STUDENTS GUIDED BY IB LEARNERS PROFILE
IBdP students graduate as well-rounded individuals, not just academic scholars.
AT International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, everything is centred around the IB Learner Profile – a collection of 10 qualities that teachers strive to develop in their students.
IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) students are expected to be:
> Balanced
> Principled
> Thinkers
> Inquirers
> Knowledgeable
> Communicators
> Risk-takers
> Caring
> Open-minded
> Reflective.
Sunway International Schools (SIS) in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar Puteri (Johor) campuses have been offering the IB programme since 2017. Both schools started by offering the diploma programme while Iskandar Puteri has expanded its offering to middle years and career-related programmes.
Every IB class at SIS involves discussion, group work and collaboration among students to help each other understand concepts more deeply.
Through this, SIS students get better at explaining their point of view, persuading others, and standing up for their own ideas, as well as gaining a richer understanding of the concepts being taught.
By the end of IBDP, SIS students are confident in sharing their perspectives and proposing feasible solutions.
Effective conversations begin with an open mind, and IB imbues students with a willingness to think deeply about what others say, to look for the merits in other ideas, and to find commonality with others to broker compromise.
These skills come through practice and coaching, which is why IB classes at SIS are not just lectures; SIS teachers work with students to develop these essential interpersonal skills.
Open-mindedness also encompasses a willingness to consider whether new ideas or evidence warrant a change in opinion.
This happens in the discussions SIS students have within their language and humanities subjects, within the Theory of Knowledge course – a subject in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge, and on how we know what we claim to know.
Reflection plays a part in all IB classes. In addition to asking students to reflect on the ideas presented by their classmates and the new concepts they’ve learned, teachers lead activities in which students reflect on their strengths, their goals, and identify ways to achieve those goals.
One of the most significant projects in IBDP is the Extended Essay, whereby students write 4,000 words based on their own original research.
As students develop their ideas for this essay, researches and writes on the topic, they also have reflection sessions with a teacher advisor to evaluate their progress, discuss the challenges they have faced, the challenges they anticipate, and to discuss solutions.
Empathy, kindness and reflection also play a large role in the Community, Activity and Service (CAS) component of IBDP.
Every IBDP student is required to perform community service, to participate in extracurricular activities in and out of school, and to write reflections about those experiences and the ways they have grown and become more knowledgeable because of those experiences.
Finally, risk-taking is the most misunderstood attribute IB seeks to develop in students.
This doesn’t mean that IB encourages students to take mindless risks. Instead IB wants students to be brave enough to volunteer ideas, and to respectfully dispute statements made by others, as IB wants students to try new things with calculated risk.
Consequently, IBDP students graduate from SIS as well-rounded individuals, not just academic scholars. They leave the school equipped with the skills, knowledge and expertise needed to take on what lies ahead, and their results prove just that.
Since SIS first offered the IBDP, the schools have maintained the 100% universities progression.
The November 2021 results show that both SIS campuses have been achieving an all time high with 100% passes and average points of 36.15 – way above the 87% world pass rate and average points of 32.37.
Join SIS Sunway City KL 2021 valedictorian Lim Yong Bin who scored 44 out of 45 points, together with other alumni to find out more about their IBDP journeys at SIS at the IB Exploration Day on Aug 27 (10am-1pm). Go to sunwayschools. edu.my/IBExplore