As the foundation for your child’s educational and social development, and the springboard to their future, choosing the right curriculum for your child is a daunting task. At Dwight School Dubai, an International IB World School, we have explored the benefits of studying the IB curriculum and how this facilitates the development of life skills. Through this study, we have also identified the top five most powerful life skills that children need to learn in order to satisfy their inquisitive minds, and become successful independent learners.
Interested to learn more? Listen to Sara Sankari talk to Dubai Eye about the top skills that are required to ace success.
This is the most powerful skill that we teach our students. Every single aspect of our daily life depends on our interpersonal skills, and our social and emotional intelligence in different situations. Students are expected to have these skills and to know how to deal with situations that they come across, but we need to give them the right tools to be able to do so. We use social skills for every single interaction that we have in life and to be able to communicate effectively to the people around us is an invaluable skill.
The IB curriculum teaches social skills through Interpersonal Relationships and Social and Emotional Intelligence so when students come across issues such as a disagreement with a friend, knowing how to behave when they are upset or knowing what to do when they face conflict they can effectively handle the situation.
Communication is an invaluable skill that is needed in all aspects of life and professions. It is how we share findings and ideas and it is how we implement change. In IB cirriculum, we believe in the process and the product. Through communication skills, we teach students to exchange information, access information, and use ICT to communicate and research. Communication is a crucial skill as it teaches the students how to interact and share ideas.
Research is an extremely important skill. With knowledge being so fluid and with the world changing so quickly in lots of different aspects, at Dwight School Dubai, we equip our students with the ability to inquire, not just to know. We want them to ask questions such as, “How and where can I find out the answer?”, “Does this make sense?”, “What does that mean?”, “What do I do with my findings?”. Knowing is not enough anymore, it is the ability to discover the knowledge that makes the difference.
The IB curriculum breaks research skills into three key areas; Information Literacy, Media Literacy and Ethical use of Information. This allows teachers to choose aspects of the skill with every unit and apply them to the learning where students learn to ask questions, plan research, gather and record data, interpret the data, evaluate what needs to be shared and decide on a way to communicate it. They become skilled at interacting with the media to find information and understand the importance of being principled when researching.
Teaching self management as a skill is unique to the IB curriculum. Other curriculums expect students to manage their time, be organised, manage tasks, and use the right strategies. These are skills that need to be taught, spoken about, and modeled for students so they can learn them. We need to start teaching it before students start needing it.
It is very important that we teach students how to manage themselves and their tasks effectively. If they can’t organise their time and manage their tasks, they will never become independent learners. The self management skill is very important especially as students grow and start dealing with workloads and deadlines.
The IB curriculum breaks self management into two categories, Organisation and State of Mind, which are used in the classroom on a daily basis and modeled by the teacher. Students start by understanding the importance of these skills and move to application as soon as they start acquiring those skills and strategies.
Students are always thinking, even before they can communicate with us. In IB, we teach students not only how to think effectively, but how to evaluate ideas and choices, and how to make decisions. We teach them how to come up with new ideas and consider things from different perspectives. We also teach them how to transfer information from the classroom and the learning context to the real world. Thinking is a huge part of learning. As a curriculum that does not focus on the product, but on the process, thinking is a major part of the process that we teach. The IB breaks thinking skills into the following four categories: Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Information Transfer and Reflection and Metacongnition.
“The IB curriculum is perfectly suited to conscientious and motivated students who wish to combine cooperative and independent learning across a broad base of subjects,” says Sara Sankari, Associate Head of Lower School at Dwight School Dubai. “It is highly regarded by leading universities and is excellent preparation for success at university level.”
With competition to get into the best universities tougher than it has ever been, the IB’s holistic approach enables students to show that they contribute more to the world than just good grades. “Dwight School Dubai will give students more than just an IB diploma – it will give them an international advantage,” says Sara Sankari.
For better web experience, please use the website in portrait mode
