INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
Learner Profile BY MARK BOGHEN, WRITER
No one accustomed to walking the corridors of LCC will be surprised to see the many images of the school’s stately symbol, the lion, gazing down on them. Lions in various guises adorn posters and sports banners everywhere. Sharp-eyed observers, however, will note that one of these icons differs from the rest: it is composed purely of words. This clever cat is the IB learner profile word-cloud lion (pictured opposite), and those words describe the traits that represent the very core of LCC’s philosophy. Among the most highly regarded and successful educational systems in the world, the International Baccalaureate has distilled more than 50 years of best practices into the 10 traits, or attributes, that define it. These traits that encompass the goals, methods and characteristics of an exceptional learner and citizen have been incorporated into all parts of LCC’s curriculum. Indeed, LCC is the only English high school in Quebec that offers both the IB Middle Years (IB MYP) and Diploma Programmes (IBDP). Connor Girouard, LCC social science teacher and coordinator of the Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) element of the IBDP, sees how the IB traits play out on a day-to-day basis. “These attributes aren’t just tacked on,” he says, “they are the IB programme. From being risk-takers to consistently reflecting and focusing on communication, the attributes give every student a clear framework to guide them through pretty much everything they do.” These well-delineated and clearly defined attributes are also a boon to teachers. Not only do LCC teachers share a common pedagogic language with their in-school colleagues, they are part of a worldwide network of
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LION SPRING 2022
educators and can share in countless IB resources with the click of a mouse. LCC’s director of academics, Constance McGuire, notes that being guided by the IB attributes creates students who not only learn, but learn how to learn. “If you consider the ‘inquirers’ attribute for instance: a student in, say, a science class isn’t just passively receiving material to be able to spit it back out afterwards. That student is actually encouraged to become a practitioner of the subject: a scientist perhaps, or an historian, or an artist.” The past decade or so of integrating the traits of the IB learner profile into both LCC’s academic and co-curricular culture has been exceptionally valuable to graduating students, and the adaptation to IB methods is only growing over time. Constance McGuire says that feedback from CEGEPs and universities has consistently been positive: “One McGill professor who spoke to the LCC academic advising office said she can always spot an LCC student in a lecture — they are confident speakers who know their stuff and engage fully, whether in a small discussion group or a large class.” This issue of the LION explores some of the many ways, large and small, that the IB learner traits are helping to guide students to success at school and beyond. You will meet fledgling poets, internet fraud detectives and shoe designers. You will hear about how students work towards better mental health, stress management and wellness, and how they participate in social outreach and the fight against systemic racism. It is safe to say that in exemplifying these traits, our students will leave LCC as balanced, principled and caring thinkers, fully prepared for whatever challenges life has to offer.
