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Core Competencies: Personal and Social

Positive personal and cultural identity is the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of all the facets that contribute to a healthy sense of oneself. It includes awareness and understanding of one’s family background, heritage(s), language(s), beliefs, and perspectives in a pluralistic society. Students who have a positive personal and cultural identity value their personal and cultural narratives, and understand how these shape their identity. Supported by a sense of self-worth, self-awareness, and positive identity, students become confident individuals who take satisfaction in who they are, and what they can do to contribute to their own well-being and to the well-being of their family, community, and society

 

Personal awareness and responsibility includes the skills, strategies, and dispositions that help students to stay healthy and active, set goals, monitor progress, regulate emotions, respect their own rights and the rights of others, manage stress, and persevere in difficult situations. Students who demonstrate personal awareness and responsibility
demonstrate self-respect and express a sense of personal well-being.

 

Social responsibility involves the ability and disposition to consider the interdependence of people with each other and the natural environment; to contribute positively to one’s family, community, society, and the environment; to resolve problems peacefully; to empathize with others and appreciate their perspectives; and to create and maintain healthy relationships.

A Positive Personal and Cultural Identity

1. Relationships and cultural contexts

Students understand that their relationships and cultural contexts help to shape who they are. (“Culture” is meant in its broadest sense, including identifiers such as ethnicity, nationality, language, ability, sex/gender, age, geographic region, sexuality, and religion.) Students define themselves in terms of their relationship to others and their relationship to the world (people and place) around them.

I CAN statements:

 I can describe my family and community
 I am able to identify the different groups that I belong to
 I understand that my identity is made up of many interconnected aspects (such as life
experiences, family history, heritage, peer group)
 I understand that learning is continuous and my concept of self and identity will
continue to evolve

2. Personal values and choices

Students define what they value. They understand how what they value has been influenced by their life experiences.
They identify ways in which what they value helps to shape their choices in all contexts of their lives.

I CAN statements:

 I can tell what is important to me
 I can explain what my values are and how they affect choices I make
 I can tell how some important aspects of my life have influenced my values
 I understand how my values shape my choices

3. Personal strengths and abilities

Students acknowledge their strengths and abilities, and explicitly consider these as assets that can help them in all aspects of their lives. Students understand that they are unique and are a part of larger communities. They explain how they are using their strengths and abilities in their families, their relationships, and their communities.

I CAN statements:

 I can identify my individual characteristics
 I can describe/express my attributes, characteristics, and skills
 I can reflect on my strengths and identify my potential as a leaders in my community
 I understand I will continue to develop new abilities and strengths to help me meet new
challenges

Personal Awareness and Responsibility

1. Self-determination

Students who are personally aware and responsible have a sense of personal efficacy and growing confidence in a variety of situations. They value themselves, their ideas, and their accomplishments. They are able to express their needs and seek help when they need it, to find purpose and motivation and act on it, and to advocate for themselves.

I CAN statements:

 I can show a sense of accomplishment and joy
 I can celebrate my efforts and accomplishments
 I can advocate for myself and my ideas
 I can imagine and work toward change in myself and the world
 I take the initiative to inform myself about controversial issues

2. Self-regulation

Students who are personally aware and responsible take responsibility for their own choices and actions. They set goals, monitor progress, and understand and regulate their emotions. They are aware that learning involves patience and time. They are able to persevere in difficult situations, and to understand how their actions affect themselves and others.

I CAN statements:

 I can sometimes recognize emotions
 I can use strategies that help me manage my feelings and emotions
 I can persevere with challenging tasks
 I can implement, monitor, and adjust a plan and assess the results
 I can take ownership of my goals, learning, and behaviour

3. Well-being

Students who are personally aware and responsible recognize how their decisions and actions affect their mental, physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and spiritual wellness, and take increasing responsibility for caring for themselves. They keep themselves healthy and physically active, manage stress, and express a sense of personal well-being. They make choices that contribute to their safety in their communities, including online interactions. They recognize the importance of happiness, and have strategies that help them find peace in challenging situations.

I CAN statements:

 I can participate in activities that support my well-being, and tell/show how they help
me
 I can take some responsibility for my physical and emotional well-being
 I can make choices that benefit my well-being and keep me safe in my community,
including my online interactions
 I can use strategies to find peace in stressful times
 I can sustain a healthy and balanced lifestyle

Social Responsibility

1. Contributing to community and caring for the environment

Students develop awareness and take responsibility for their social, physical, and natural environments by working independently and collaboratively for the benefit of others, communities, and the environment. 

I CAN statements:

 With some support, I can be part of a group
 I can participate in classroom and group activities to improve the classroom school,
community, or natural world
 I contribute to group activities that make my classroom, school, community, or natural
world a better place
 I can identify how my actions and the actions of others affect my community and the
natural environment and can work to make positive change
 I can analyze complex social or environmental issues from multiple perspectives. I can
take thoughtful actions to influence positive, sustainable change

2. Solving problems in peaceful ways

Students identify and develop an appreciation of different perspectives on issues; they generate, use, and evaluate strategies to resolve problems.

I CAN statements:

 I can solve some problems myself and can identify when to ask for help
 I can identify problems and compare potential problem-solving strategies
 I can clarify problems, consider alternatives, and evaluate strategies
 I can clarify problems or issues, generate multiple strategies, weigh consequences,
compromise to meet the needs of others, and evaluate actions

3. Valuing diversity

Students value diversity, defend human rights, advocate for others, and act with a sense of ethics in interactions, including online.

I CAN statements:

 With some direction, I can demonstrate respectful and inclusive behaviour
 I can explain when something is unfair
 I can advocate for others
 I take action to support diversity and defend human rights, and can identify how
diversity is beneficial for my community, including online.

4. Building Relationships

Students develop and maintain diverse, positive peer and intergenerational relationships in a variety of contexts.

I CAN statements:

 With some support, I can be part of a group
 I am kind to others, can work or play co-operatively, and can build relationships with
people of my choosing
 I can identify when others need support and provide it
 I am aware of how others may feel and take steps to help them feel included
 I build and sustain positive relationships with diverse people, including people from
different generations