My Role in the Extended Essay of the International Baccalaureate

I am currently enrolled in the International Baccalaureate's (IB) Extended Essay (EE) online class courtesy of the Academy. It is my third EE Workshop. It is a continuing professional education activity I am required to partake in. It has been two weeks and it is eating most of my working time. Just saying. 

Which also means, I am deeply invested in the topics, skills and activities in the workshop. It has kept me up late into the night for written tasks, slide presentations and asynchronous discussions with colleagues in the IBO system. It is a lot of work. But, it can be, ah, fun. The diversity of experiences shared by participants of the class make it so. Learning from teachers and librarians of varied cultural backgrounds opens up to new perspectives. Appreciating traditional methods mixed and matched with instructional trends and current technology. 

I feel small but not diminished nor insignificant. 

In module 1, "reflection" and "metacognition" are two topics that I have marked a tag on. Like language and literacy skills it must be taught within and alongside content areas. These words - reflection; metacognition, say them one after the other and it sounds intimidating. In a country where smart shaming has become a norm and intellectual elitism is frowned upon, even ridiculed (for valid reasons, too) I wonder how I can make teaching these cognitive skills in the context of Research Skills and MIL Program of the library palatable and creatively served to learners of this age and generation. I went back to John Hattie, Ron Richart and the Design Thinking approaches of the Kelley Brothers. From their works, they look at critical thinking and creative thinking as well as cognition beginning from the learner's context, background and socio-emotional well being. 

Reflection and metacognition are powerful words. So are compassion and kindness. From this framework, I move on to module 2 of the workshop with an assessment of my expected roles in the EE based on the IB guide. Of course. 

 Here is what I whipped up. I meant to share this on my timeline for friends, peers, colleagues in the profession who are curious and those who are running IB programs in their schools and libraries. The red check marks mean I am doing the roles and skills. The happy face emojis mean I am doing them quite well - I think. And the exercising brain means areas for strengthening. Other factors come into play for these things to happen. And that, my friends, is for another post.

The Role of the Librarian in the EE by zarah gagatiga