The characteristics of an IB student, in 10 quotes…

Since 2014, Enko Education has followed its dream of opening, in sub-Saharan Africa, international schools that enable African students to access the best international universities. The first future Enko graduates in Cameroon have already begun to receive acceptance letter from British and American universities. To ensure their success, Enko offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. We have already looked at the different benefits of an IB education in our articles, here and here. But it is the “learner profile” that is at the heart of the IB education system, more than the academic programme. It’s not so much a question of developing “well-filled heads” as “well-made heads”, which are capable of adapting to their life circumstances in a world that is undergoing so many changes.

The ten dimensions of the learner profile to be developed, which have been highlighted since the very beginning of the programme, are as follows:  Students must:

1. learn to think for themselves:

“Man only exists when he thinks” – Jacques-Henri Meister.
Education is not about absorbing knowledge without ever questioning it

2. be altruistic:

“Science without conscience is the soul’s perdition” – François Rabelais.
We have to use our knowledge in a way that is not solely egotistical and self-centred

3. be scientists:

“The true scientist never loses the faculty of amazement. It is the essence of his being” – Hans Selye.
To be amazed, and never stop questioning, is the only way we can hope to understand the complex phenomena of the world we live in

4. keep an open mind:

“A mind is like a parachute; it doesn’t work if it is not open” – Frank Zappa
We see better through an open window than a closed one…

5. be integrated:
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
If every individual had this quality at their own level, the world would be a much better place for everyone!

6. be balanced:

“It is as noble to aim towards balance as towards perfection, since keeping balance is a perfection” – Jean Grenier.
A harmonious development of all aspects of the self is one of the common points of boundless wisdom…

7. stay informed:

“Well informed, people are citizens; ill informed, they become subjects” – Alfred Sauvy.
To understand the information and knowledge available, and to understand how it is produced to be able to critique it and form one’s own opinion…

8. be thoughtful:

“Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous” – Confucius.
Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly.

9. be daring:

“Fortune favours the brave” – Proverb
Put forward bold hypotheses, think outside the box, even if you’re not sure of being right…

10. know how to communicate:

“The human need for language is not simply for the transmission of meaning, it is at the same time listening to and affirming a person’s existence”. – Gao Xingjian, Nobel Prize for Literature.
Self-centred knowledge does not serve the community!

These dimensions are all necessary for future leaders in their lives and in their communities, local and international. More than ever, these characteristics are essential in helping to build a better world every day and in our interaction with others.

What do you think? Are you an educator, teacher, parent or student? Tell us what you think by commenting on this post!