Written by Hyun Owen / MYP Coordinator
“‘The Power to Think, the Will to Act, and the Courage to Persevere’ captures the essence of an IB education,” said one of the keynote speakers at the recent IB Global Conference in Lyon. I think this beautifully summarises what distinguishes International Baccalaureate programmes from other educational programmes.
What is the purpose of education in today’s world? What do we teach our young people who may enter professions that do not exist yet? Yes, exam grades and qualifications are important as they are the stepping stones to the next stage of education, but today’s education should do much more than help students achieve good exam grades. Education should prepare our young people for an uncertain and volatile future.
Let me rephrase my earlier question – what do students have to learn to prepare themselves for the uncertain future? When technology advances at an unpredictable speed, what is more important to learn for the future? This remains a central question in education and has been widely discussed since the beginning of the 21st century.
As knowledge continues to expand rapidly with the help of technology, it is neither possible nor sufficient for students simply to absorb more information. The more important question is how we can equip them to engage with knowledge thoughtfully and use it meaningfully.
I believe it is essential for students to think critically, make connections and construct meaning for themselves within the vast ocean of knowledge. They should learn not only subject-specific knowledge and skills but also how to evaluate knowledge and create something new. In the IB, we achieve this through the inquiry cycle: inquire, act and reflect. Through inquiry-based learning, students investigate, plan, take action and reflect on outcomes, thereby developing their own thinking skills.
The role of teachers in inquiry-based learning is not just to impart necessary knowledge and skills, but to facilitate good learning habits by tapping into students’ natural curiosity and teaching them to use approaches-to-learning (ATL) skills to help them become effective, independent learners. For this kind of learning to be successful, learners need to embrace the fact that learning is a process of struggle and discomfort before it becomes enjoyable. For learning to become truly our own, we need to grapple with the new information, go through confusion and disappointment, and finally understand the idea. If we remove the process of confusion and disappointment, we may never arrive at a full understanding.
Thinking can sometimes be effortful and confusing, which can make students reluctant to engage with it. However, if we encourage our students to accept their mistakes, confusion and discomfort, they can persevere through the messy process of learning.
We are moving toward the future where AI is becoming embedded in everyday life and the world of work. What our students should do while they are in school is to develop their thinking skills and embrace the process of learning so that they can become original and complex thinkers. In other words, technology should support and challenge their thinking rather than replace it. As educators, our responsibility is to help our students develop the power to think, the will to act, and the courage to persevere.
