Approaches to Learning (ATLs)

“What is of paramount importance in the pre-university stage is not what is learned but learning how to learn … What matters is not the absorption and regurgitation either of fact or pre-digested interpretations of facts, but the development of powers of the mind or ways of thinking which can be applied to new situations and new presentations of facts as they arise.” (Peterson, 1972)

As the quote above illustrates, schools should equip students with knowledge, facts, and the skills to be successful learners at school, in university, and their lives beyond.

As a school with the IB Diploma as one of its programs, we incorporate the approaches to learning developed by the IB organization aligned with their curriculum philosophy. The IB has undertaken extensive research in this area and outlined a set of skills that support student academic and personal success. The skills are provided to schools as an overview, allowing the individual school to develop further these skills aligned to their specific context.

The ATLs developed by the IB fall into five categories: Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Research Skills, Social Skills, and Self-management Skills.

The IB organization outlines six approaches to teaching that foster the development of these skills as follows:

• Based on inquiry: A strong emphasis is placed on students finding their own information and constructing their own understandings.

• Focused on conceptual understanding: Concepts are explored to deepen disciplinary understandings and help students connect and transfer learning to new contexts.

• Developed in local and global contexts: Teaching uses real-life contexts and examples, and students are encouraged to process new information by connecting it to their own experiences and the world around them.

• Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration: Promoting student collaboration and the collaborative relationship between teachers and students.

• Designed to remove barriers to learning: Teaching is inclusive and values diversity. It affirms students’ identities and aims to create learning opportunities that enable students to develop and pursue appropriate personal goals.

As Approaches to Learning are skills that individuals can continue to develop throughout their lives, we do not see the need or effectiveness of grading ATLs. As a result, we will no longer add ATL grades to our report cards or transcripts. Universities do not require this information, nor do we feel it is in the best interests of our students to continue to grade ATLs on their report cards and transcripts. Teachers will provide feedback on ATL progress to students and parents in the comments they write on report cards. 

You can find detailed descriptions of the ATLs here.