A mashup of all things educational! From technology and social media to leadership and international education, this is where I will be reflecting and applying everything thing I learn from the web and my PLN. Join me on the adventure and add your opinion to the mix!

21 July 2011

3 Stanford Needs IB Students

City Refraction, City Reflection

I read an article yesterday that has been rattling around inside my head all day today.  I read about a family who is receiving legal assistance from the Mills Legal Clinic which is a part of Standford University's School of Law. While the case itself is interesting and I encourage you to read it (especially if you are interested in special education), what caught my attention was a quote from Stanford Law Professor Lawrence C. Marshall, associate dean for clinical education.  Regarding the skills that law students need to have to succeed as lawyers, he responded "Part of what we need to do is to get them into the habit [of reflective lawyering] and develop the skills to be able to look back on a day of practice and figure out what they can learn from what happened that day."


This struck a chord with me because my first reaction was 'Well then he should find IB graduates!' I found it interesting that he mentioned that he needs to teach that skill to his law students so that they can be successful lawyers in the future.  Imagine my excitement when I realised that we, at my IB PYP school, are already teaching our students these skills starting from kindergarten! Our entire curriculum is based on the idea that learning requires reflection.  Peer, self, group, class, teacher, and school reflection.  What I wouldn't give to find out if the students that are the most successful at the Mills Legal Clinic are students from schools that have simliar curriculums to the IB; Curriculums based on skills and 21st century practices and not just content or tests.

Click below to read more!  



Reading this article has solidified for me even more that we are doing great work in our IB school and in other schools that are similarly aligned.  We are focusing on what higher education and the businesses of tomorrow need in young graduates.  21st century skills are essential and we must continue to remain focused on what we know the students will need for a successful future, even if there is pressure to run in another direction from governments, policies, and parents.


The mashup? I'm going to share this article with my staff when we return from break and hopefully it will help anchor our practice into everyday life for our teachers.  We aren't just teaching reflection and collaboration skills because it is part of our curriculum; it is something essential that professors in Stanford and universities around the world are looking for from our students.  We have an obligation to prepare them for that future, not just to suffice our curriculum.


Is your curriculum preparing your students to be successful students for universities like Stanford?  Are 21st century skills embedded in your curriculum?  How do you successfully integrate reflection and collaboration skills in your curriculum?


Jessica :)


Photo: lrargerich   

3 comments:

Cristina Milos said...

Hi Jessie,

Being in an IB school myself, I can only concur that developing metacognition skills had made a great difference in student learning and wrote a post about it nearly 6 months ago with classroom examples http://ateacherswonderings.posterous.com/reflection-with-and-by-students
@surreallyno

Unknown said...

Yes! I saw your post and couldn't agree more! You are doing great things with reflection in your school and I think the IB programs in general are on the mark for developing the kind of students that the world needs for the future.

Great to hear from you!
Jessica

Unknown said...

Nice blog post, and IB power! I think the IB program is powerful, and I
think your goal of embedding this into real world professional development for your staff is a great one. Keep us posted!

-Wendy :)

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