What is the IB Learner Profile?

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Learner Profile is a framework that defines a broad set of attributes designed to develop internationally-minded, lifelong learners. It extends beyond academic success, encouraging students to cultivate personal, social, and cognitive skills that prepare them for a complex, interconnected world. The IB learner profile is embedded within all IB programmes, including the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), and the Diploma Programme (DP), ensuring a concept-based learning approach that nurtures deep understanding across disciplines.

At the heart of the IB’s educational philosophy is the belief that learning should be holistic, inquiry-driven, and globally relevant. The learner profile supports this by equipping students with essential attributes such as open-mindedness, reflection, and principled action, which guide them in their academic and personal growth. Whether a student is in the early years of the PYP or completing their Diploma Programme extended essay, the learner profile acts as a unifying set of principles that fosters independent thinking, cultural awareness, and ethical decision-making.

The IB Learner Profile consists of ten interrelated attributes that help shape students into active, compassionate, and knowledgeable individuals. These attributes align closely with concept-based learning, ensuring that students develop transferable skills and a deeper understanding of global issues rather than just memorizing content.

Key aspects of the IB Learner Profile include:

• Concept-Based Learning Approach – Encourages students to connect knowledge across subjects and apply it to real-world problems.
• Development Across All IB Programmes – Supports learners from early years (PYP) to pre-university studies (DP and CP), ensuring continuity and depth in skill development.
• Global Citizenship & Inquiry-Driven Learning – Fosters critical thinking, international-mindedness, and the ability to reflect on perspectives beyond one’s own culture.

By integrating the IB learner profile into the curriculum, schools provide students with a structured yet flexible framework that supports academic excellence, personal growth, and responsible global citizenship.

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What are the attributes of the IB learner profile?

The IB Learner Profile consists of ten attributes designed to develop well-rounded, thoughtful, and engaged students. These attributes guide learners in their academic journey while fostering international-mindedness, curiosity, and ethical responsibility. One of these key attributes is being knowledgeable, which encourages students to explore ideas and issues of both local and global significance.

A knowledgeable IB student seeks to understand the world through inquiry and research, developing a deep and balanced understanding across multiple disciplines. They actively make connections between different areas of knowledge and apply their learning in meaningful ways.

How Can Students Cultivate Knowledge?

Students become knowledgeable by:

1. Applying, Acquiring, and Sharing Knowledge – Actively engaging with new concepts, discussing ideas with peers, and applying what they learn in real-world situations.
2. Exploring Unique Perspectives – Investigating different viewpoints to broaden their understanding of historical, social, and scientific issues.
3. Asking Thought-Provoking Questions – Encouraging critical thinking by questioning assumptions and seeking deeper understanding of complex topics.
4. Considering Multiple Factors in Decision-Making – Weighing evidence and perspectives before forming conclusions.
5. Embracing Challenges and Learning from Failure – Recognizing mistakes as opportunities for growth, resilience, and reflection.
6. Staying Informed – Developing awareness of global and local events by reading newspapers, listening to the news, and engaging in discussions about current affairs.

Teachers and parents play a crucial role in instilling knowledge-seeking behaviours in students. By fostering an inquiry-driven learning environment, they help students develop a lifelong love for learning and a broader awareness of the world.

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Students as Inquirers

Inquirers: These students develop their innate curiosity. They learn research skills and demonstrate independence in learning. Their love for learning will be fostered throughout their lives.

Inquirers do not perceive themselves as experts, they like being a learner. In most cases, when children question parents or teachers, they immediately provide an answer. The better way is to say something like 'Good question! How could we learn about it?' And inquire together.

A child’s curiosity, creativity and thinking skills are improved when children use a variety of resources and carry out small, simple activities and experiments to investigate any topic, from making a circuit to seeing how it is impossible to create a circle with only straight sticks. The main objective of improving skills of inquiry in children is to develop them into independent and lifelong learners.

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Advancing Curriculum Learning and Communication Skills

Communicators: They express and understand information and ideas creatively and confidently in a range of modes of communication skills and in more than one language. They work willingly and effectively in collaboration with others.

Learners who are active communicators, can convey their ideas through drama, dance and music. Communication is key to expressing oneself, and communicators can often talk in more than one language.

Having good listening skills is an important characteristic of effective communicators. Active listening enables students to express empathy and gain new insights, perspectives and ideas. Teachers and parents can develop students who are communicators by:

• Talking about children's daily activities;
• Exploring other modes of communication along with speaking;
• Actively listening to the children when they talk;
• Talking about children's books and reading together.
• Talking about the TV shows and videos and watching them together.
• Asking questions to explain what a child is saying.

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Promoting active learners and thinkers

Thinkers: They think critically and creatively when approaching problems, and they're able to identify complex issues and make responsible actions.

Parents and teachers can build creative thinking skills in a child by encouraging him/her to solve problems independently. To develop critical thinking skills, parents and teachers may ask open-ended questions and discuss real-life problems with the children. It is also suggested to ask a child questions when they are working on a problem.

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Developing open-minded students

Open-minded: They appreciate and respect others' cultural backgrounds and traditions, and are open to others' views and perspectives. They're open to new ideas and willing to learn from their experiences.

Open-minded students understand that everyone is different. They listen to many possibilities and consider the points of view of others before finalising a decision. They celebrate people's uniqueness and individual differences. Parents and teachers may:

• Encourage students to try new ways, new foods, new activities and new games.
• Expose children to different festivals, traditions and celebrations and present children in a non-judgmental manner.
• Motivate children to listen to others when others speak.
• Introduce literature about different cultures. It must be ensured that the literature is appropriate and appropriately reflects the culture.
• Introduce learners to other global issues, countries, and cultures.

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Building positive school cultures with principled learners

Principled: They take responsibility for their acts and the learning outcomes that accompany them. They exhibit honesty and integrity, with an emphasis on a strong sense of fairness and justice for the rights of people, community, and group.

An extraordinary feature of principles is that, unlike procedures and concepts ,principles are discovered, not invented. Principles are the only type of content that depicts "truth" in any substantial way. Facts are mostly either false or true, and they are details, not generalities. As compared to principles, facts are trivial. A procedure may either create the desired goal (or output) or not. But procedures lack the details of how things work, and procedures can be changed and still create the desired goals. In most cases, there are more than one different procedures to achieve the same goal.

On the other hand, principles give us an understanding of the surrounding world, within us, and among us; an awareness of how things work and why they occur specifically. Hence, principles are considered among the most important type of content to include in teaching. It is helpful for teachers to learn how to implement the principles in unfamiliar situations.

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Encouraging reflective learners

Reflective: They show thoughtful consideration for their experience and classroom efforts. They know themselves well enough to understand their weaknesses and strengths and use them to improve their own skills and knowledge.

Reflective students have 3 essential characteristics. They:

• Think
• Reflect and
• Grow

Reflective students know what they are not good at and what they’re good at. They try to make necessary changes where ever they can. They perceive their weaknesses and strengths constructively. Parents and teachers can help students to become reflective learners by:

• Encouraging students to maintain a journal;
• Asking learners to record a 1-second video every day;
• Make students spend some time reviewing their class progress reports.
• Reviewing the goals that learners could set for the next term.
• Making a list of particular actions that students can take to accomplish these goals.

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Embracing emotional learning

Balanced: They understand how important is balance of emotions, physicality and intellect is for their and others well-being.

Balanced students know the significance of physical, intellectual, and emotional balance to gain well-being for themselves and others around them.

They learned how to understand and assess where they're at with teaching others and helping them improve their own outcomes.

These students achieve healthy school-life balance by exercising and eating a balanced range of foods. They know the importance of maintaining a balance between the mental and physical features of their bodies. They spend time engaging in many different activities.

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Fostering caring learning environments

Caring: These students show respect, compassion and empathy towards the feelings and needs of others. They are dedicated to being in service and bring about a positive change in the world and it others' lives.

Across different grade levels and throughout the school year, these students show their caring behaviour in many of their transdisciplinary units. Care can be integrated into the students' inquiries in various areas such as housing, garbage, money, migration, health and more. Teachers and parents can play their role in making children more caring by:

• Modelling the caring behaviour they would want to see in the children.
• Being an active listener, using kind words, and helping others.
• Encouraging students to read books that demonstrate kindness and caring behaviour.
• Helping students to reduce, reuse and recycle.
• Emphasizing social skills such as sharing with siblings saying thank you and please, and understanding when others may be having a difficult time.
• Brainstorming ways children can get involved in the welfare of the community such as donating clothes, food, or toys and sending cards to the residents of a nursing home.

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Encouraging intellectual risk-taking

Risk-takers: They show the courage to deal with uncertainty and unfamiliar situations and have an independent spirit to explore innovative strategies, new ideas and roles. They are articulate and brave in defending their beliefs.

Young children are natural risk-takers. They are curious. They love to discover and want to explore how the world works. As they grow older, they may quickly stop themselves from taking a risk because they understand that there is a likelihood that they might fail. According to the rules of risk taking, the more the children avoid taking risks, the more difficult it will become for them to accept any challenges in the future.

Teachers and parents need to provide children with opportunities to be risk-takers. The goal should be to make children feel confident and comfortable while trying something new, even if they have to face failure in the end. In real life, most students reveal that when they take a risk, they are successful.

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Monitoring Learner Profiles

Creating accurate assessments of the wider development of children is always going to be a difficult task. We created the learning skills profile that helps schools understand the development of the wider capabilities of their students. The framework enables classroom teachers to acknowledge when children have advanced their learning skills. Each of the competencies can be regarded as both an outcome and a mechanism for creating lifelong learners.

These badges have been used to communicate with parents when children have made progress in any given area. The simple statements enable school communities to discuss the outcomes of children with greater confidence. Classroom tasks are filled with assessment opportunities for these essential skills, we use the term 'learning to become...'. In terms of how they are incorporated into daily school life, we follow the simple formula.

We are learning about: [e.g. Healthy eating]

We are learning with: [e.g. Mind maps and internet research]

We are learning to become: [e.g. Critical thinkers and excellent communicators]

Many schools around the world have already carefully embedded IB Learner profile into everyday practice. If your school is considering how to take the first step look at how the schools have incorporated the profile:

• International School of Texas
• IB World School
• Xi'an High-Tech International School
• Beijing BISS International School
• Seisen International School

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7 Ways to Get started with the IB Learner Profile

Implementing the International Baccalaureate (IB) learner profile requires a shift not just in practice but also in mindset. Here are seven practical ways to start:

1. Curricular Integration: Embed the learner profile into the curriculum by designing lessons that emphasize 'project-based learning' and address different types of intelligence, such as kinaesthetic and creative play.
2. Professional Development: Organize regular workshops for educators, focusing on how the IB profile complements the school's vision of education and promotes a range of skills pertinent to the 21st century.
3. Student-Led Initiatives: Inspire students to take the lead in their learning process, fostering their natural curiosity and motivation towards lifelong learning.
4. Modeling by Educators: Teachers should embody the IB profile attributes, demonstrating ethical decisions and emotion regulation, serving as role models for students.
5. Reflection and Assessment: Integrate reflection into the Middle Years Programme assessment criteria, helping students develop conceptual understanding through self-evaluation.
6. Community Engagement: Use the school community to cultivate intercultural understanding, encouraging students to engage with diverse cultures as part of their international education experience.
7. Learning Environment: Craft a learning environment that reflects the education philosophy of the IB, one that supports the development of the learner profile through physical space and resources that promote ethical decisions and natural curiosity.

As the educational researcher, John Hattie, states, “The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge.” This ethos aligns perfectly with the learner profile's aim to create proactive, self-regulated learners equipped for the modern world. By incorporating these methods, school leaders can truly make the learner profile a cornerstone of their educational philosophy

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Further Reading on the IB Learner Profile

The following research studies examine the impact of the Learner Profile on student progress, teacher perspectives, and educational outcomes, offering evidence of its effectiveness in shaping learner development and teaching strategies.

1. The Impact of Implementing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme on Students' Self-efficacy Beliefs
El Souefi, N. (2021).
This study found that the IB Learner Profile fosters student self-efficacy, supporting independent learning and academic motivation. Using qualitative data from an IBPYP school, it highlights how students develop self-regulation skills and a sense of responsibility, making the IB approach beneficial for long-term learner progress.

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2. Teachers’ Perspectives Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program
Bahn, C. M., Cale, C., Metros, A., Panesar-Aguilar, S., & McCraney, M. (2022).
This qualitative study explores teacher experiences in IB classrooms, revealing that inquiry-based learning enhances student engagement and aligns with the IB Learner Profile attributes. Teachers reported that while the learner-centered approach supports deep learning, they face challenges in curriculum flexibility and maintaining balanced assessment practices.

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3. Development and Validation of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile Questionnaire (IBLPQ)
Walker, A., Lee, M., & Bryant, D. A. (2016).
This study developed a validated questionnaire to measure the effectiveness of the IB Learner Profile. Findings confirm that IB schools successfully promote attributes like critical thinking and global awareness, providing empirical evidence of the positive impact of the Learner Profile on student development.

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4. Teachers’ Perceptions, Attitudes, and Concerns About the Implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program
Mukazhanova, N. (2017).
Research conducted in Kazakhstan found that teachers value the Learner Profile for its emphasis on higher-order thinking skills. However, educators face challenges in implementing and assessing the IB attributes in classrooms, with concerns about balancing the curriculum with national education standards.

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5. Transnationalism and the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile
Rizvi, F., Savage, G. C., Quay, J., Acquaro, D., Sallis, R., & Sobhani, N. (2020).
This comparative study across IB schools in India, Hong Kong, and Australia found that the Learner Profile is interpreted differently based on cultural and educational contexts. While schools maintain a shared commitment to global citizenship, variations in local implementation affect the educational outcomes associated with the IB approach.

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