IB curriculum embraces the idea that respecting the diversity and differences in learners’ learning styles is an important aspect of cultivating their international mindset. Each learner is predisposed to a preferred method to perceive things in the outside world and receive information. Some students process information most effectively by using a visual learning style, just as others rely more heavily on either an auditory, read/write or kinesthetic style of learning.

Hence, at ASJ, MYP teachers adhere to the teaching philosophy of differentiated instruction so that each student can enjoy opportunities for personalized learning. Teachers provide extra help, encouragement and support for students based on students’ characteristics, interests and learning needs, creating a learning community that encourages student engagement, focuses on collective collaboration and responds to diverse learning needs.

As you can see above, in the first two months of this school year, various extracurricular classes have been offered by MYP teachers, including IELTS Class, foreign and Chinese teachers’ English Corner, Visual Arts Class, Mathematical Olympiad Class, Math Tutorials, Chinese Tutorials, English Tutorials, etc. These classes are designed to expose and engage students in a state of persistent and autonomous learning, and to accommodate students’ diverse learning needs with a variety of teaching materials and methods.

First, to help students with their second language acquisition, some English teachers place a focus on auditory experience by playing original Cambridge IELTS tapes to cater to auditory learners; some organize classes from the perspective of visual learning by showing original English videos and pictures for visual learners; some take care of kinesthetic learners by providing textual materials or showing the framework of knowledge to match their cognitive level. In short, they have racked their brains preparing for lessons, always in search of the most appropriate way for students to learn.

Secondly, in order to foster students’ science thinking, mathematics teachers have also experimented a variety of teaching methods, such as the flipped class model which focuses on students’ group discussion and independent exploration, supplemented by teachers’ guidance. They’ve also been practising one-to-many or one-to-one collision of ideas with students. For visual learners, some mathematics teachers use tables, formulas, mind maps and other visual aids in their classes to display abstract knowledge, so that these students can better understand and remember the content. It is with their unremitting attempts that the MYP students at ASJ are increasingly enthusiastic about learning mathematics.

Education is never only about the classroom, but rather a synthesis that requires educators’ ability to pay close attention to learners, adjust classroom management and develop instructional content in a timely manner. In the future, ASJ will continue to focus on students’ learning status, discern their learning styles, provide targeted assistance and support for each of them, and teach according to their different personalities and needs to promote the their participation and bring out their initiative and creativity.