As a lonesome IB Coordinator mostly working in the Diploma and CP realm I have always found methods for authentically embedding the IB Learner profile in 17/18 year old's minds slightly problematic. There are many approaches that have always seem like 'bolt-ons' whether posters around the classrooms, assemblies focused upon different profile words, reports that mention the learner profile words and much more.

In fact at my current school we did a 'student takeover' of the IB learner profile to place in our context (we are a Round Square school as well so students have to manage the Discoveries and the IDEALS as well - don't get me started in the overload sometimes these students feel,) something that the IB tolerates and it is a great activity to give students supposed agency. Here it is to the right in all its resplendence!

Did it make any difference, did any student or teacher or even me refer to it during the rest of the year - NO WAS THE SIMPLE ANSWER!

So after however many years as an IB Coordinator, I had had enough what could I do that really embedded the skills, attributes or ways of being that I knew could so easily have an impact. I must emphasise that there is nothing wrong with the IB Learner profile (I promise IB...) however it just seemed to not work for those final two years, especially in a non-continuum school.

I have learnt over the years to say it is okay that these IB learner profile characteristics at the core of the IB are fine to be implicit rather than explicit. But is it really okay?

What was bugging me is I had had much more success with some 'cheesy phrases' over the years, some of which had stuck with me through different leadership positions. The above trusty phrase was so successful but disliked, that a group of sixth formers all made T-shirts with these words on for their graduation! Did it make a difference, yes, does it still make a difference yes - as it easily identifies a key characteristic of a learner in a really catchy difficult to forget phrase. Which IB learner profile attribute well that could be argued - balanced, open minded, reflective and I wish this one was included resilient.

"Fail well, Fail early and Fail often..." - Lance King

My email signature has also had two or so phrases attached; one from Gladwell and one from Ken Dodd's teacher (and on occasion one from David Hockney) - that i regularly mention, in assemblies, discussions with students. And I know anecdotally had had a lasting affect at least on some students.

“No one - not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software’s billionaires, and not even geniuses - ever makes it alone.” - Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers)

"Just because I'm cheeky, doesn't mean I'm not serious" - David Hockney

“You have not come here to be educated – you have come here to have your minds opened.” - Ken Dodd’s Headteacher (Supposedly!)

At the beginning of the 2023 this made me reflect on what was the best way to transfer habits, attributes and it reminded me a little of the "Habits of Mind" tool I had seen a few years ago, where attributes were linked to simple phrases that had that same catchy bite to them.

Such as 'Laugh a little' knowing that every situation is not the end, and that most important skill of being able to laugh at yourself. The tool is a little old, but it linked well with the thoughts discussed by a very current author Daniel Coyle in his book 'The Culture Code.'

"Don't be an ostrich" - Wikpedia (Apologies I was amused it had a page!)

I won't review the book but he talks about what makes successful companies, and one of the obvious areas is the success of the culture of that company (just as with schools!) Anyway he discusses the difficulties one restaurant owner had with trying to get consistency of service in two restaurants, to such an extent a once successful business was about to go under due to the poor service. The owner looked at priorities and what made them successful in the past:

'He already had an assortment of catchphrases that he used informally in training—he had a knack for distilling ideas into handy maxims. But now he started paying deeper attention to these phrases, thinking about them as tools.' - Daniel Coyle (Page 151)

Some of the catchphrases were excellent '...Read the guest, Finding the yes, Skunking, Put us out of business with your generosity, To get a hug, you have to give a hug...' and you get the idea of the attributes and actions that his whole staff needed to portray to make the restaurant successful again. Surprise surprise it was a success, '...a simple set of rules that stimulate complex and intricate behaviors benefiting customers.'

So as you can imagine this led me in consultation with the tutor team to see if we could emulate this idea, to improve the success and wellbeing of each and every student. Our initial set of 'cheesy phrases' are below:

Here are the posters, which were used in all presentations...

These were introduced to the students, but most importantly were continually used with students in assemblies and in one to one conversations. Each of the phrases, was linked to metacognitive processes and/ or self regulatory strategies through what we call 'Core' periods that all sixth form students are involved in each week. I will hopefully cover more regarding this in another blogpost soon! But was it a success, could like my initiative on sleep be able to show through data any improvements? Well the short answer is no, at this stage their use shows anecdotal signs as my initial 'fail well' phrase that it has become part of the students ' vocabulary.

Can you guess which are favourite? 'Don't be an ostrich' of course, and 'Habits not motivation' - why well I think they were used most and struck true when it came to the ways of working of an IB student. So a mild success, with I think much to do to improve and actually find and judge the ideas success in the future. Here are some thoughts and reflections:

Thanks to VESPA, who through there books and activities also inspired some of these phrases and the associated Core lessons and assemblies.

Thanks to Wisdom Made Easy for some of the graphics for fair use, I hope to have sixth formers create some better graphics this year!