Tracker Blog
Thoughts and Ponderings from Leading Educators and Friends of Tracker Apps
How and why did ATL develop across the continuum of IB programmes?
As many of my friends and former IB colleagues will recall, sometimes with annoyance, I believe that institutional knowledge can be valuable. This is one reason I wrote History of the MYP (2010)! Frequently in meetings I would challenge everyone by highlighting how...
Learning for Life
by Suzanne Lloyd Influences on my perspectives I left the IB community as a member of the MYP curriculum staff nearly seven years ago when the department relocated to The Hague. Around this time, I qualified to teach English to adults, which I have since been doing in...
The Problem with Grit
By Lance King Grit (as defined by Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania as the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals) does not now appear to be the robust predictor of academic success previously claimed by its current...
Skill Based Learning for a Career
By Becky McCauley How do you teach a skill? In my opinion you probably don't. Well, at least not in the conventional sense. Developing skills is a different process altogether. It’s a lot more like planting seeds. You provide the right growing conditions, add food...
ATL Skills and the Teaching of Virtue Ethics
By Erika Elkady (Twitter: @secondary_jbsis ) Last week in our blog David Spooner suggested re-contextualising ATL skills, seeing them as not something 'separable' from content. This week Erika asks us to re-imagine ATL skills as virtues and urges us to be explicit in...
Re-contextualising ATL Skills – Part II
By David Spooner Facebook Profile Students learn how to think about things, not in the abstract. They learn how to manage the time available for the things they have to do (which, as students, is educational stuff – writing essays, planning projects, writing book...
Re-contextualising ATL Skills for IB
RE-CONTEXTUALIZING ATL “SKILLS” By David Spooner Facebook Profile We hear a great deal about ‘skills’ in education these days. Recent posts on this site mention them frequently in regards to ATL, and these mentions go hand-in-hand with references to “21st C” thinking...
The Future of ATL
By Lance G King https://www.taolearn.com/ As I am sure you are aware, back in 2012 I designed the 10 Cluster model of ATL skills for the MYP and unfortunately, I have had no opportunity since then to review and revise that structure and the 134 skill practices that go...
Why should schools prioritise ATL?
By Lance G King https://www.taolearn.com/ First and most importantly we need to get very clear about purpose. What is the purpose of an ATL skills programme? To me there is only one purpose of ATL - to improve student learning. To improve student performance in every...
How does the IB view Approaches to Learning?
How important is ATL? The MYP was built around Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills. The whole idea of the developing programme in the 1980s and 1990s was to find a way to support students in learning and practicing a range of...
Want more information?
We’d love to hear from you! Please fill out the form below, hit submit and one of us will get in touch with you shortly.