How IB Learner Profile Traits Prepare Our Students for Success
By Ryan Martin, Assistant Head of St. Andrew’s School
One of International Baccalaureate’s appealing elements is the IB Learner Profile – ten traits that not only guide the curriculum, but help our students grow into well-rounded, empathetic young adults ready to create, engage, and lead. It would be impossible for me to highlight just one trait as the crown jewel as each element complements the others producing people uniquely ready for post-St. Andrew’s pursuits. For someone new to understanding the value of IB, I would start by steering them toward a conversation on the future of work. The definition of work is not only changing rapidly, but exponentially. This is not something to be feared as you can trace the origins of today’s climate back 500 years. Just as the agrarian and manufacturing cultures of my grandfather and father faded, so has the 9-to-5 corporate world my high school experience pushed me towards.
Today, artificial intelligence, information, and transparency are driving observable trends, but within a decade many current jobs and industries will fade or disappear, too, while previously unfathomable movements will emerge. The one constant through the decades of change has been human-centered innovation, ingenuity, and collaboration.
St. Andrew’s students are ready for the future of work, because they are adaptable and determined. Our graduates understand how technology influences both themselves and society, and they model digital citizenship. They also exhibit savvy in analyzing, interpreting, and creating data and content, and actively demonstrate a “can-do” spirit whether solving complex problems or skillfully bringing their own ideas to fruition. And when alumni return to campus, they routinely report feeling prepared for college and beyond, because they possess self-efficacy and resolve while remaining conscientious creators.
Students who graduate from International Baccalaureate programs aspire to be: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced, and Reflective.
