Part of having an IB education, is teaching students about responsibility, social awareness and strengthening communities. It is an education that connects students globally, and therefore includes in creating a better future for themselves and the world around them. Whether a student is in the Early Years, Primary Years, Middle Years programme or beyond, this is recognised and known in the IB as ACTION.
But what exactly does “Action” involve?
Today we are dedicating our post to the wonderful parents who do so many wonderful things for our school community
Action in the PYP
Action in the PYP is recognising students who go the extra mile to take their learning beyond the classroom, show compassion to their peers, are resilient against challenges or make an active effort to improve the lifestyle of themselves or others. Each month at AIS, we recognise students on our Action Wall, for taking such action. This might be a student making a collection of items to donate to a shelter, this might be a student helping new students settle into a new classroom, this might be a student advocating for the rights of other people through a research presentation, or this might be a student making an extra effort to look after their learning spaces.
As PYP7a showed us in their assembly, there are 5 main areas a student can show action in the PYP:
- Participation
- Social Justice
- Lifestyle Choices
- Advocacy
- Social Entrepreneurship
Action in the MYP
Action in the MYP takes form as a Service as Action. This goes beyond single acts of kindness that happen in the PYP, but looks at how students can contribute long term and create good lifelong habits. Every MYP students participates in service as action, where they volunteer their time to help others in their community. This might be by helping a local basketball club, this might be helping out at a local soup kitchen, this might be by raising money for a local charity.
Occasionally our MYP students go even further beyond what is required for Service as Action and really get involved in action and making a difference. In MYP2, one student was completely inspired by a cause that he created an entire community project and reflection, where he raised money for a cause that meant a lot to him. He raised 14,000dkk for Julemærkehjemme Hobro. In MYP4, some students started the school year by wanting to improve their lifestyle choices and inspire others to choose the healthy options, by giving up all fizzy and sugary drinks for the whole of September. And in our MYP 3 Danish C class, they visited a Danish nursing home as part of their unit on ‘Denmark in the Old Days’. The students were amazing at getting involved and spent time talking with the residents and playing games with them.