# Learning (approaches to teaching)

The IB approaches to teaching provide an additional check point for teachers when designing and implementing engaging learning experiences. 

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School coordinators serve to ensure that teachers feel supported and empowered to employ the following IB approaches to teaching:

* Based on inquiry
* Focused on conceptual understanding
* Developed in local and global contexts
* Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration
* Designed to remove barriers to learning  
* Informed by (formative and summative) assessment
  {% endhint %}

Each of the IB approaches to teaching provide opportunities for in-depth exploration and inquiry. As teachers show readiness and interest, consider how a collaborative investigation and focus on the individual approaches to teaching may evolve the practice and culture around teaching in the school. 

This might look like:

* Choosing a school-wide (or grade/age level) concept about which to inquire.
* Engaging in a professional book study.
* Experimenting with and reflecting upon instructional practices.
* Learning with and from others, perhaps outside of the immediate learning community.

![Showcasing learning and teaching](/files/EPb5Hd7RU60Hmy60SK9U)

Think about how the following actions may support teachers as they develop their approaches to teaching:

* Engage in learning about inquiry-based teaching strategies and learning engagements.

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Ask: Are there opportunities for students to express and pursue their curiosity?
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* Ask teachers to document how student agency will be incorporated throughout the scope of a unit of inquiry.

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Ask: Where do students have voice, choice and ownership with their learning?
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* Review unit planners to ensure that related concepts are being explored and addressed in classroom experiences.

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Ask: Can students use the concepts to drive investigation and development  to deepen their understanding of a big idea?
{% endhint %}

* Provide teachers with time to explore how their units of inquiry may have connections to both local and global contexts.

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Ask: Could students apply this learning to more than one situation?
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* Facilitate collaboration amongst teachers, so that they may facilitate collaboration amongst their learners.

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Ask: How are students collaborating with each other and the teacher to move their learning forward?
{% endhint %}

* Help teachers identify opportunities for differentiation within the learning process, product, and/or environment.

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Ask: Is every student being guided to engage with the same thing, in the same way, toward the same result? If so, how can we make revisions that account for differentiation?
{% endhint %}


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