Using Books to Address PYP Agency and Self-Efficacy

Imagine you are in Mr. Waltman's room. Mr. Waltman’s sixth-grade class has just completed their exhibition projects and presentation, culminating their final year of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in their International Baccalaureate^® (IB) school. Parents are amazed at how the students used their creativity and curiosity to solve real-world problems and worked collaboratively with their peers to investigate and act on important issues in the community and world like clean water shortages, cyberbullying, child labor, and drugs. 

Through the PYP curriculum framework, Mr. Waltman’s students have learned how to take ownership of their learning with agency and self-efficacy. These two themes are at the forefront of the PYP learning process, where students have choice, voice, and ownership of their learning.

Throughout their early years of schooling, the students have been guided through a learning process that emphasizes the importance of inquiry. Encouraged to investigate their curiosities, these students have mastered the process that leads them beyond inquiry to taking action and making a difference in the world.

One of the three pillars of the PYP curriculum framework emphasizes the learner and describes the characteristics and behaviors of the student and their learning process. Agency and self-efficacy are developed alongside the learner profile, which pinpoints specific attributes that exemplify a successful learner. 

The learner attributes – inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective – help individual students become successful learners and responsible members of local, national, and global communities. Through careful learning experiences focused on agency and the learner profile, students become self-efficient learners and partners in the learning process.

You stop by Miss Smith's class and see her reading aloud to her students. Miss Smith uses "Star in the Jar" by Sam Hay and Sarah Massini as a mentor text with her first-grade students. As she reads the story to the class, she pauses for discussion, encouraging students to identify and elaborate on the learner profile attributes exhibited in the story. Jamir raises his hand and points out that the main character is principled when searching for the true owner of something he found. Maya notes that the character is a risk-taker when he tries many ways to solve a problem. 

Teachers need resources like Star in the Jar to model and mentor their students. They can use these titles in lesson plans or when the need arises. Perhaps there is a squabble on the playground. A teacher may pause the current classroom schedule to use a mentor text like The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt as a learning opportunity and promote discussion about how emotions are reactions. These resources provide opportunities that engage students, encourage them to analyze texts, and help them relate to the characters in the stories.

Follett is ready to equip educators to foster agency, self-efficacy, and the learner profile with curated lists like Approaches to Learning and the Learner Profile. Kickstarting the PYP is a curated selection of digital multimedia resources created by the International Baccalaureate and tailored to assist educators at different stages of PYP implementation. Learn from concrete examples of what the PYP looks like in classrooms around the world.

What Do You Do With An Idea? is the story of a child who has an idea and isn’t sure what to make of it but persists and ultimately brings it into the world. Books like this inspire students to welcome their ideas, give them space to grow, and dare to see what happens next. It is an excellent example of agency because the character is actively engaged in learning and decision-making.

Our many solutions offer valuable resources that classroom teachers can use as mentor texts, small group instruction, or independent reading experiences for learners. To learn more, view Kickstarting the PYP and PYP book lists on Titlewave^®.  

Read more from Lori Woods: 

• Learning and Teaching: A Strong Alloy in the PYP Classroom
• Internationally Minded in the PYP Classroom 

Lori Woods
Lori Woods is a master’s level educator with ten years of classroom experience, primarily teaching Grade 3. Most recently, she taught for six years at an International Baccalaureate school, where she served on the IB reauthorization team, ELA pilot team, and technology committee. Lori also presented at the 2021 IB Global Conference. When she’s not working, she enjoys crafting and spending time with her family. Lori lives in South Central Pennsylvania with her husband, three children, and two dogs.