SISJ · DP/CP PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Friday DP/CP PD
25 September 2026 · 12:20–1:00 PM
TODAY’S INQUIRY
How much support helps students
manage their own learning?
HOUSEKEEPING
12:20–12:25
MYP → DP language placement
FOR THE RECOMMENDATION MEETING
Use the placement guide
MYP levels inform the recommendation.
Apply the SISJ guidance for the same language.
Final placement is a school decision.
The approved poster is retained unchanged.
HOUSEKEEPING
Finish by 12:25
Dates and actions
Internal Assessments
Please review your subject’s IA submission requirements.
Final IA deadline13 October
To review your IA process together, arrange a meeting with me.
Grade 12 report cards
1 OctoberOpen
7 OctoberDue to coordinator
9 OctoberReleased to parents and students
DP/CP newsletter
Items dueFriday 2 October
PublicationFriday 9 October
Send photos and short updates about DP and CP learning in and beyond the classroom, achievements, events and core experiences.
Holiday invigilation
Some IB examinations fall during the school holiday.
Interested in invigilating? Please let me know.
With sufficient interest, I will explore overtime pay or another form of compensation.
Any compensation would need approval.
Later todayMYP → DP recommendations · Use the language placement guide.
IB RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
12:25–12:30
Making the abstract explicit
The role of metacognition in teaching and learning
What is it?
A four-page IB research brief by Beach and colleagues (2021).
Where is it?
Public IB website → Research → Metacognition.
Open the research page ↗Why might it help?
It explores how teachers make learning processes explicit through modelling, questions and reflection.
IB-commissioned research, not assessment rules. Metacognition connects with thinking and self-management; it is not the whole self-management category.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
12:30–12:33
What do we mean by self-management?
Self-management is not just meeting deadlines, doing homework and studying.
WHAT WE OFTEN NOTICE
Meeting deadlines
Completing homework
Studying
Staying organised
WHAT STUDENTS ALSO NEED TO LEARN
Make decisions
Plan and prioritise
Choose strategies
Respond when stuck
Monitor progress
Reflect and adapt
Manage attention
Regulate emotions
Use feedback
Decide what to change
Seek help
Ask a focused question
Think of a recent moment when a student needed you to decide what to do next.
Classroom examples for today’s inquiry; several connect self-management with thinking skills. Sources are available below.
THE DISCUSSION
Continue to the group task by 12:33
Can there be too much help?
A QUESTION RAISED IN IB RESEARCH
A 2017 study reported that one school was reconsidering how much support it provided after an external reviewer questioned whether students had enough opportunity to think for themselves.
Barnett, Avila & Aklog (2017), p. 22 · paraphrase ↗When might this support
be needed?
What is it helping the student access or learn?
When might it take over
a learner decision?
What will the student get to decide or practise?
What would you need to know before deciding?Prior teaching · subject knowledge · task demands · learner needs
One reported school discussion, not proof that less help is always better. Appropriate support and help-seeking remain important.
GROUP INQUIRY · CHART PAPER + MARKERS
12:33–12:47 · 14 minutes
How much support is appropriate?
Think individually for 1 minute. Then choose one scenario to explore as a group.
AThe weekly checklist
An IA student falls behind. The teacher gives a weekly checklist, Friday check-ins and reminders of the next task. The student meets the next two checkpoints.
BTwo possible directions
Ten minutes remain. A student is stuck on an extended response. After guiding questions, the teacher suggests two directions. The student chooses one and continues.
CThree feedback priorities
After students struggle to use feedback on a practice task, the teacher identifies three changes for each response. Students revise, and the work improves.
DThe shared timetable
A student misses CP project deadlines. Teacher and student build a timetable with twice-weekly check-ins. The student says these help and asks to continue them.
Fictional facilitator-created scenarios, not official IB cases. More than one response may be defensible.
Discuss
How might the support help? What might it limit?
What extra information could change your view? Consider what the student needs to learn.
Research
Use the IB brief (pp. 2–4) to challenge or develop one idea. You may consult another source.
Distinguish experience, source guidance and a proposal to test.
Write on your chart
Keep / change / gradually hand over — and why.
Teacher action → what students practise.
One sign of ownership.
One uncertainty to test.
Before you finish
Try 30–60 seconds of your teaching in one subject context.
Which decision would students practise making? Keep student examples anonymous.
PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE
12:47–12:55 · 8 minutes
Compare the reasoning
Look for an idea you could adapt — or a judgement you see differently.
ASK ABOUT CONTEXT
“This support might
help when…”
What learner or task would make it useful?
OFFER AN ADAPTATION
“In my subject,
I might change…”
Explain what you would keep or adapt, and why.
KEEP THE INQUIRY OPEN
“I would need
to know…”
What is still uncertain or open to another interpretation?
Final 2 minutesReturn to your chart
Refine your teaching response.
Add one useful adaptation or unresolved question.
SYNTHESIS AND CLOSE
12:55–1:00
What would we take into the classroom?
When does support help students make decisions — and when might it make decisions for them?
What still needs to be tried or understood in real classrooms?
ONE MINUTE · PERSONAL NOTE
One possible next step
In a suitable lesson, I might try…
I would look for…
Or: I need to understand… before choosing an approach.
Today’s ideas will inform our ATL work and the future PDP.