Action Cycle

                                   

    The Action Cycle                    

                                  

 

At H. Clarke Powers School, as within the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), appropriate student-initiated action is valued and promoted.  Students are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves. Through their learning, they become aware of how each of them can make a difference, no matter how big or small.

 

The PYP Action Cycle encourages students to reflect on the interpersonal, local and global consequences of their actions, to make choices based on these reflections, and them to act in responsible and meaningful ways.

 

The action cycle is the simple yet powerful tool used to teach children how to take action. By going through the three steps of choosing, acting and then reflecting upon the results of their choices, students are able to grow socially and personally, developing skills such as cooperation, problem solving, conflict resolution and critical thinking. This is an important part of students’ participation in their own learning.

 

Student action can be an independent act, or something that a group has worked on, and may occur well after the learning engagements or experiences.  It may be something as simple as bringing in a book or an artifact related to what is being studied at school, taking action about something that has been learned a result of a unit of inquiry or cutting the grass for an elderly neighbor. 

 

You will notice action cycle posters around the school. These posters describe the action cycle (choose, act, and reflect) to help guide inquirers and thinkers in developing meaningful courses of action.

 

Parents can help by encouraging their children to make a plan to take action about something they've observed. Parents can also encourage their children to share this with their classmates or teachers.