International Baccalaureate - Primary Years Programmemilesfranklinprimaryschool-pyp.weebly.com/uploads/...PYP Category- 1 Workshop . Making the PYP Happen in the Classroom . Conceptual

InternationalBaccalaureateAfrica/Europe/Middle EastMaking the PYP happen in the classroom

Category 1

Mar Qardakh School, Erbil- IraqNovember 2013English

Özden Özer

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2012


Teacher Training Workshop

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The IB mission statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Conceptual Understandings 5

What is an IB education? 6

Articles 24

Boix-Mansilla, V. May 2010. “Crafting multifaceted unit questionsin the areas of interaction.” MYP guide to interdisciplinaryteaching and learning. Cardiff, Wales, UK. InternationalBaccalaureate Organization. Pp 52-53

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Boix-Mansilla, V. May 2010. “What disciplinary tools will studentsneed?” MYP guide to interdisciplinary teaching and learning.Cardiff, Wales, UK. International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp54-58

27

Siu-Runyan, Y. February 1999. “Inquiry, Curriculum andStandards: A conversation with Kathy Short.” The ColoradoCommunicator

32

Walker, G. 2011. “Introduction: Past, present, and future.” TheChanging Face of International Education.” Cardiff, Wales.International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp 11-14

46

Resources 50

Graphic Organizers 51

Constructivist Teachers 52


Workbook contents

International Baccalaureate

PYP Category-1 Workshop

Making the PYP Happen in the Classroom

Conceptual Understandings

1. Individual teachers’ beliefs and experiences related to teaching affect the way they perform.

2. International-mindedness is encompassed in the IB Learner Profile. It is further developed by practices under PYP standards.

3. In the PYP, the school’s curriculum includes all those student activities, academic and non-academic, for which the school takes responsibility, since they all have an impact on student learning.

4. At the heart of the curriculum cycle is the learner constructing meaning.

5. The five essential elements resonate throughout the entire curriculum.

6. The PYP curriculum is concept-driven and transdisciplinary.

7. Teaching and learning takes place when a range and balance of teaching strategies are selected appropriately to meet particular learning needs.

8. Assessment is integral to planning, teaching and learning, and needs to be varied and purposeful.

9. Responsibility for learning is shared within a learning community through collaborative and reflective planning.

10. The programme of inquiry and the subject scope and sequences are components of the curriculum, which when used together, define a coherent curriculum.

11. Units of inquiry must illuminate the transdisciplinary theme under which they are placed.

12. There is a range of IB professional development available to support the implementation of the PYP.

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I B C O N T I N U U M


What is an IB education?

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The IB programme continuum of international education


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Switzerland by the

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Cardiff, Wales CF23 8GLUnited Kingdom

Website: www.ibo.org

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2013The International Baccalaureate Organization (known as the IB) offers four high-quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools, aiming to create a better, more peaceful world. This publication is one of a range of materials produced to support these programmes.

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Email: [email protected]

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IB mission statementThe International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

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Introduction 1 IB learners 3

The learner and the IB World School 3

Teaching and learning in the IB 4

Global contexts for education 6

Multilingualism and intercultural understanding 6

Global engagement 7

Significant content 8

Conclusion 10

Additional reading 11

Introduction

Contents


What is an IB education

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The aim of this document is to communicate clearly what lies at the heart of an International Baccalaureate (IB) education. For educators, supporters, students and their families, it explains the ideals that underpin all IB programmes. By describing the IB’s educational philosophy, What is an IB education? also offers support for schools on their IB journey through programme authorization and ongoing implementation.

In 1968, the IB Diploma Programme (DP) was established to provide a challenging and comprehensive education that would enable students to understand and manage the complexities of our world and provide them with skills and attitudes for taking responsible action for the future. Such an education was rooted in the belief that people who are equipped to make a more just and peaceful world need an education that crosses disciplinary, cultural, national and geographical boundaries.

With the introduction of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in 1994 and the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in 1997, the IB identified a continuum of international education for students aged 3 to 19. A decade later, the adoption of the IB learner profile across the continuum described internationally minded learners of all ages. The learner profile continues to provide important common ground for these challenging, stand-alone programmes, each developed as a developmentally appropriate expression of the IB’s educational approach. The introduction of the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) in 2012 enriches this continuum by providing a choice of international education pathways for 16- to 19-year-old students.

The IB’s work is informed by research and by over 40 years of practical experience. This overview honours the vision that launched the IB and sustains its growth today. The dynamic legacy of the IB’s founders continues to support a growing global network of schools dedicated to high-quality education, ongoing professional development and shared accountability.

What is an IB education? aims to be informative, not definitive; it invites conversation and regular review. The IB has always championed a stance of critical engagement with challenging ideas, one that values the progressive thinking of the past while remaining open to future innovation. It reflects the IB’s commitment to creating a collaborative, global community united by a mission to make a better world through education.

As the IB’s mission in action, the learner profile concisely describes the aspirations of a global community that shares the values underlying the IB’s educational philosophy. The IB learner profile describes the attributes and outcomes of education for international-mindedness.

The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.

Informed by these values, an IB education:

• centres on learners

• develops effective approaches to teaching and learning

• works within global contexts

• explores significant content.

Working together, these four characteristics define an IB education.

Introduction

What is an IB education?1

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At the centre of international education in the IB are students aged 3 to 19 with their own learning styles, strengths and challenges. Students of all ages come to school with combinations of unique and shared patterns of values, knowledge and experience of the world and their place in it.

Promoting open communication based on understanding and respect, the IB encourages students to become active, compassionate, lifelong learners. An IB education is holistic in nature—it is concerned with the whole person. Along with cognitive development, IB programmes address students’ social, emotional and physical well-being. They value and offer opportunities for students to become active and caring members of local, national and global communities; they focus attention on the values and outcomes of internationally minded learning described in the IB learner profile.

IB learners strive to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective. These attributes represent a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond intellectual development and academic success. They imply a commitment to help all members of the school community learn to respect themselves, others and the world around them.

IB programmes aim to increase access to the curriculum and engagement in learning for all students. Learning communities become more inclusive as they identify and remove barriers to learning and participation. Commitment to access and inclusion represents the IB learner profile in action.

The learner and the IB World SchoolThe IB learner profile brings to life the aspirations of a community of IB World Schools dedicated to student-centred education. IB programmes promote the development of schools that:

• create educational opportunities that encourage healthy relationships, individual and shared responsibility and effective teamwork and collaboration

• help students make informed, reasoned, ethical judgments and develop the flexibility, perseverance and confidence they need in order to bring about meaningful change

• inspire students to ask questions, to pursue personal aspirations, to set challenging goals and to develop the persistence to achieve them

• encourage the creation of rich personal and cultural identities.

These educational outcomes are profoundly shaped by the relationships between teachers and students; teachers are intellectual leaders who can empower students to develop confidence and personal responsibility. Challenging learning environments help students to develop the imagination and motivation they need in order to meet their own needs and the needs of others.

IB programmes emphasize learning how to learn, helping students interact effectively with the learning environments they encounter and encouraging them to value learning as an essential and integral part of their everyday lives.


IB learners

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Teaching and learning in the IB celebrates the many ways people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world. Through the interplay of asking, doing and thinking, this constructivist approach leads towards open, democratic classrooms. An IB education empowers young people for a lifetime of learning, independently and in collaboration with others. It prepares a community of learners to engage with global challenges through inquiry, action and reflection.

InquirySustained inquiry forms the centrepiece of the written, taught and assessed curriculum in IB programmes. IB programmes feature structured inquiry both into established bodies of knowledge and into complex problems. In this approach, prior knowledge and experience establish the basis for new learning, and students’ own curiosity provides the most effective provocation for learning that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant.

ActionPrincipled action, as both a strategy and an outcome, represents the IB’s commitment to teaching and learning through practical, real-world experience. IB learners act at home, as well as in classrooms, schools, communities and the broader world. Action involves learning by doing, which enhances learning about self and others. IB World Schools value action that encompasses a concern for integrity and honesty, as well as a strong sense of fairness that respects the dignity of individuals and groups.

Principled action means making responsible choices, sometimes including decisions not to act. Individuals, organizations and communities can engage in principled action when they explore the ethical dimensions of personal and global challenges. Action in IB programmes may involve service learning, advocacy and educating self and others.


Teaching and learning in the IB

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ReflectionCritical reflection is the process by which curiosity and experience can lead to deeper understanding. Reflective thinkers must become critically aware of their evidence, methods and conclusions. Reflection also involves being conscious of potential bias and inaccuracy in one’s own work and in the work of others.

An IB education fosters creativity and imagination. It offers students opportunities for considering the nature of human thought and for developing the skills and commitments necessary not only to remember, but also to analyse one’s own thinking and effort—as well as the products and performances that grow from them.

Through inquiry, action and reflection, IB programmes aim to develop a range of thinking, self-management, social communication and research skills referred to in IB programmes as “approaches to learning”.

Effective teaching and learning requires meaningful assessment. IB World Schools strive to clarify the purpose of student assessment, the criteria for success and the methods by which assessments are made. In IB programmes, assessment is ongoing, varied and integral to the curriculum. Assessment may be formal or informal, formative or summative, internal or external; students also benefit by learning how to assess their own work and the work of others.

IB students demonstrate what they know and can do through consolidations of learning, culminating with the PYP exhibition, the MYP personal project, the DP extended essay and the IBCC reflective project. The entire school community can be involved in providing feedback and support as students demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and mastery of skills.

Global contexts for education


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In our highly interconnected and rapidly changing world, IB programmes aim to develop international-mindedness in a global context. The terms “international” and “global” describe that world from different points of view—one from the perspective of its constituent parts (nation states and their relationships with each other) and one from the perspective of the planet as a whole. Sharp distinctions between the “local”, “national” and “global” are blurring in the face of emerging institutions and technologies that transcend modern nation states. New challenges that are not defined by traditional boundaries call for students to develop the agility and imagination they need for living productively in a complex world.

An IB education creates learning communities in which students can increase their understanding of language and culture, which can help them to become more globally engaged.

Education for international-mindedness relies on the development of learning environments that value the world as the broadest context for learning. IB World Schools share educational standards and practices for philosophy, organization and curriculum that can create and sustain authentic global learning communities. In school, students learn about the world from the curriculum and from their interactions with other people. Teaching and learning in global contexts supports the IB’s mission “to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect”.

Multilingualism and intercultural understanding For the IB, learning to communicate in a variety of ways in more than one language is fundamental to the development of intercultural understanding. IB programmes, therefore, support complex, dynamic learning through wide-ranging forms of expression. All IB programmes require students to learn another language.

Intercultural understanding involves recognizing and reflecting on one’s own perspective, as well as the perspectives of others. To increase intercultural understanding, IB programmes foster learning how to appreciate critically many beliefs, values, experiences and ways of knowing. The goal of understanding the world’s rich cultural heritage invites the IB community to explore human commonality, diversity and interconnection.


Global contexts for education

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Global engagementGlobal engagement represents a commitment to address humanity’s greatest challenges in the classroom and beyond. IB students and teachers are encouraged to explore global and local issues, including developmentally appropriate aspects of the environment, development, conflicts, rights and cooperation and governance. Globally engaged people critically consider power and privilege, and recognize that they hold the earth and its resources in trust for future generations.

An IB education aims to develop the awareness, perspectives and commitments necessary for global engagement. The IB aspires to empower people to be active learners who are committed to service with the community.


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PYP MYP DP IBCC

An IB education provides opportunities to develop both disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding that meet rigorous standards set by institutions of higher learning around the world. IB programmes offer curriculum frameworks and courses that are broad and balanced, conceptual and connected.

Broad and balancedAn IB education represents a balanced approach, offering students access to a broad range of content that spans academic subjects. In the PYP, learning aims to transcend boundaries between subject areas. As students develop in the MYP, DP and IBCC, they engage subject-specific knowledge and skills with increasing sophistication.

ConceptualConceptual learning focuses on broad and powerful organizing ideas that have relevance within and across subject areas. They reach beyond national and cultural boundaries. Concepts help to integrate learning, add coherence to the curriculum, deepen disciplinary understanding, build the capacity to engage with complex ideas and allow transfer of learning to new contexts. PYP and MYP students encounter defined sets of key concepts, and students in the DP and IBCC further develop their conceptual understanding.

ConnectedIB curriculum frameworks value concurrency of learning. Students encounter many subjects simultaneously throughout their programmes of study; they learn to draw connections and pursue rich understandings about the interrelationship of knowledge and experience across many fields. Course aims and programme requirements offer authentic opportunities to learn about the world in ways that reach beyond the scope of individual subjects.

In the PYP, students learn about and use knowledge, concepts and skills from a variety of subjects to explore six transdisciplinary themes of global significance. In the MYP, students study a range of subjects and often bring together two or more established areas of expertise to build new interdisciplinary understanding. In the Diploma Programme, students encounter a range of subjects, and through the creativity, action, service (CAS) component of the DP core may continue their own explorations of physical activity and the creative process. Interdisciplinary DP courses and requirements offer students ways to explore new issues and understanding that reach across subjects, and the theory of knowledge (TOK) course helps students connect their learning across the curriculum. In the IBCC, the components of the core act as a link between the DP subjects and the career-related studies to assist students understanding across the curriculum.


Significant content

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In IB programmes, assessment forms an integral aspect of teaching and learning. To understand what students have learned and to monitor their progress, teachers use a range of assessment strategies In IB programmes, assessment forms an integral aspect of teaching and learning. To understand what students have learned and to monitor their progress, teachers use a range of assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback. IB assessment supports good classroom practice by encouraging authentic performances of understanding that call for critical and creative thinking. Final assessments for older students in the IB continuum are internationally benchmarked. Assessment in the PYP stresses the importance of both student and teacher self-assessment and reflection with a primary objective of providing feedback on the learning process. A range of strategies for assessing student work take into account the diverse, complicated and sophisticated ways that individual students employ to understand their learning experiences. Assessment in the MYP features a robust design that includes rigorous, criterion-related internal assessment (course work) for all subject groups, as well as an optional range of externally marked or moderated onscreen examinations and portfolios of student work. Assessment in the DP aims to balance valid measurement with reliable results, providing an internationally recognized university entrance qualification whose results are based on both coursework and external examinations. Assessment in the IBCC incorporates the validity and reliability of DP subject assessment together with summative and formative assessment in the IBCC core.


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An IB education is unique because of its rigorous academic and personal standards. IB programmes challenge students to excel not only in their studies but also in their personal growth. The IB aims to inspire a lifelong quest for learning hallmarked by enthusiasm and empathy. To that end, the IB gathers a worldwide community of supporters who celebrate our common humanity and who share a belief that education can help to build a better world.

The IB connects this higher purpose with the practical details of teaching and learning. A global community of IB World Schools put these principles into practice, developing standards for high-quality education to which they hold themselves mutually accountable. An IB education represents a testament to the power of this collaboration.

Education is an act of hope in the face of an always-uncertain future. An IB education calls forth the very best in students and educators alike. The IB believes that together we can help to prepare students for living and working in a complex, highly interconnected world.


Conclusion

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What is an IB education? was informed by multiple perspectives and readings, which included the following English-language titles:

Audet, RH and Jordan LJ, (eds). 2005. Integrating inquiry across the curriculum. Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Corwin Press.

Bates, R, (ed). 2010. Schooling internationally: globalisation, internationalisation and the future for international schools. London, UK. Routledge.

Bok, S. 2002. Common Values. Columbia, Missouri, USA. University of Missouri Press.

Boix Mansilla, V and Jackson, A. 2011. Educating for global competence: Preparing our youth to engage the world. New York, USA. Council of Chief State School Officers and Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning.

Boyer, EL. 1995. The Basic School: A community for learning. Stanford, California, USA. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Brooks, JG and Brooks, MG. 1999. In search of understanding; The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Bruner, J. 1996. Culture of education. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J, Goodnow, J and Austin, G. 1986. A study of thinking. New York, USA. John Wiley.

Collins, HT, Czarra, FR and Smith, AF. 1995. Guidelines for global and international studies education: Challenges, culture, connections. New York, USA. American Forum for Global Education.

Cummins, J. 2000. Language, power and pedagogy. Clevedon, UK. Multilingual Matters.

Delors, J, et al. 1999. Learning: the treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Paris, France. UNESCO.

Dewey, J. 1909. Moral principles in education. In LA Hickman and TA Alexander (eds). The Essential Dewey volume 2. 1998. Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Indiana University Press.

Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York, USA. Macmillan.

Dewey, J. 1933. How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Heath.

Doll, WE and Gough, N. 2002. Curriculum visions. New York, USA. Peter Lang.

Erickson, HL. 2008. Stirring the head, heart and soul. Heatherton, Victoria, Australia. Hawker Brownlow.

Fairclough, N, (ed). 1992. Critical language awareness. London, UK. Longman.

Gardner, H. 2011. Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York, USA. Basic Books.

Gee, JP. 1990. Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. New York, USA. The Falmer Press.

Grant, CA and Portera, A. 2011. Intercultural and multicultural education: Enhancing global connectedness. New York, USA. Routledge.


Additional reading

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English, F, (ed). 2004. Sage handbook of educational leadership. Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Sage Publications.

Hanvey, R. 2004. An attainable global perspective. New York, USA. American Forum for Global Education.

Hicks, D and Holden, C. 2007. Teaching the global dimension: Key principles and effective practice. Oxford, UK. Routledge.

Kincheloe, JL. 2004. Critical pedagogy: A primer. New York, USA. Peter Lang.

Laverty, M. 2010. “Learning our concepts”. Journal of philosophy of education. Vol 43.1. Pp 27-49.

Grainger, T, ed. 2004. The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Language and Literacy. London, UK. Routledge.

McWilliam, E. 8–10 January 2007. “Unlearning how to teach”. Paper presented at Creativity or Conformity? Building Cultures of Creativity in Higher Education. Cardiff, UK.

Murdoch, K and Hornsby, D. 1997. Planning curriculum connections: Whole-school planning for integrated curriculum. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Eleanor Curtain Publishing.

Perkins, D. 1995. Smart schools: Better thinking and learning for every child. New York, USA. Free Press.

Perkins, D. 1999. “The many faces of constructivism”. Educational Leadership. Vol 57.3. Pp 6-11.

Piaget, J. 1970. Structuralism. New York, USA. Basic Books.

Pike, G and Selby, D. 1989. Global teacher, global learner (second edition). London, UK. Hodder & Stoughton.

Schön, D. 1983. The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London, UK. Temple Smith.

Steinberg, S and Kincheloe, J, (eds). 1998. Students as researchers: Creating classrooms that matter. London, UK. Falmer.

Stiggins, RJ. 2001. Student-involved classroom assessment (third edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Merrill/Prentice-Hall.

Waxman, H and Walberg, H, (eds). 1991. Effective teaching: Current research, Berkeley, California, USA. McCutchan Publishing Corporation.

Vygotsky, LS. 1986. Thought and language (revised and translated by Alex Kozulin). Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. MIT Press.

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. 2005. Understanding by design. New Jersey, USA. Pearson.

Wing Jan, L. and Wilson, J. 1998. Integrated assessment. Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press.


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Articles

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Chapter 5 Crafting multifaceted unit questions in the areas of interaction

MYP guide to interdisciplinary teaching and learning52

Environments

What are the physical, biological and cultural worlds like in which we live?What resources do we have or need and how do our needs for different kinds of resources complement or conflict with one another?How can I draw on multiple areas of expertise to understand and act on my responsibilities toward the environment?

Health and social education

How do I think and act as a biological, social and cultural being and how do these aspects of myself inform others?How am I changing in various dimensions of who I am?How can understanding the historical or environmental context in which I live help me look after myself and others?

The problem with “thematic units”All too often, interdisciplinary teaching in schools takes the form of “thematic units”, whereby a large theme such as “civilizations” or “water” is established and teachers are charged with finding how to connect these. Too broad a topic definition is likely to result in a lack of clarity about what exactly it is that we would like students to understand about the theme in question. As a result, not uncommonly, broad themes can yield superficial or forced connections and fragile understandings.

An example: Egypt

As a schoolwide theme, students aged 11 are studying Egypt. In history they learn about Egyptian lifestyle and theocracy. In art they examine Egyptian paintings and create their own motifs. In geography they study the patterns of flooding in the Nile. In mathematics they learn to estimate the surface and volume of pyramids and other shapes. In theatre students put together a show based on Cleopatra’s biography.

The hallway displays in the school suggest a schoolwide effort to provide students with a more integrated learning experience across subjects. However, the substantive integration of content is less than optimal. Why should students learn to estimate the surface of shapes including the pyramid to understand ancient Egypt? What is the significance of the flooding patterns in the Nile? To move beyond superficial links across subjects teachers must clarify their inquiry goals through the articulation of clear multifaceted unit questions. For example, teachers may ask “how do we know that the ancient Egyptians advanced a great civilization and what kind of society did they need to have to reach their peak?”

A question of this kind integrates an analysis of the pyramids and Egyptian art meaningfully. A real-size calculation of the surface of the pyramids may be used to estimate the number of individuals, indeed generations, needed to construct them. Students can then examine the type of social structure and government that would have been necessary to accomplish the task. Similarly, Egyptian drawings would not simply add enjoyment to student learning but serve as sources of evidence to identify markers of social structure and interactions.

A second multifaceted unit question within the same theme might emphasize “how did the Egyptians’ natural environment contribute to their great cultural production?” Here the long-studied and predictable patterns of flooding of the banks of the Nile may inform students’ further analysis of social structure and accumulated wealth. In these examples, learning in the subjects comes together purposefully to address clearly formulated questions that would not be satisfactorily answered through single disciplinary approaches.

Boix-Mansilla, V. May 2010. "Crafting multifaceted unit questions in the areas of interaction." MYP guide to interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Cardiff, Wales, UK. International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp 52-53.

Copyright 2010, International Baccalaureate Organization. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 5 Crafting multifaceted unit questions in the areas of interaction

MYP guide to interdisciplinary teaching and learning 53

The problem with field tripsLike thematic units, field trips hold the promise of integrative learning. Excursions into cities, parks and mountains genuinely engage students in real-life experiences that can be transformative and present opportunities for deep learning. Teachers capitalize on such opportunities when they structure the trip around key multifaceted unit questions for inquiry. Consider two contrasting examples.

A unit on national parks concludes with a day-long visit to the local park. A group of excited 14-year-old students step off the school bus and prepare to walk from one landmark area to another in the park—the sandy shore, riverside and mangroves. Their task is to listen carefully to the guide and gather as much information as possible about each area. For the first hour some students take notes diligently while others scribble haphazardly onto a page a few names of local species and information on local tourism. As the day unfolds it becomes clear that the main source of excitement for students is the experience of a day out of school.

In a different case (a unit portrayed in the next chapter) students visit a local park with an important purpose in mind. The area has been attracting tourists to the park and students are expected to measure levels of pollution at particular areas. They employ geographic and biological tools to map the three courses of the rivers and the shape of the shore, and to assess the conditions of the environment. Unlike their peers in the previous example, these students approach their fieldwork with multifaceted unit questions in mind. They ask the following.

How is human activity affecting the mangroves and sandy shores that attract tourism to the region?•

How can an ecotourism initiative support a sustainable and balanced relationship between water and •humans?

Reflection point

Consider the following themes commonly used in schools around the world. How might they be transformed into potent multifaceted unit questions?

My community•

Time•

Water•

The news•

Values•

Ancient civilizations•

Think about a field trip for your course. How might the field trip invite interdisciplinary learning and what multifaceted unit question might guide students’ inquiry during the trip?

Boix-Mansilla, V. May 2010. "Crafting multifaceted unit questions in the areas of interaction." MYP guide to interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Cardiff, Wales, UK. International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp 52-53.


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Chapter 6 What disciplinary tools will students need?

OverviewThis chapter outlines how successful interdisciplinary teaching in the MYP is informed by teaching in the disciplines. Specifically this chapter examines two questions.

What constitutes quality learning in a discipline or subject?•

How can teachers select and craft disciplinary understandings?•

Quality disciplinary understanding in the MYP is characterized. It indicates how disciplines differ from factual information and explains why disciplinary understanding is often difficult to acquire. Using an interdisciplinary unit on the Pak Sha O river in Hong Kong as an example, this chapter offers an overview of the MYP aims and objectives and points out two criteria that teachers must keep in mind in order to ensure a quality disciplinary grounding of interdisciplinary work.

What constitutes quality learning in a discipline or subject?Whether they teach history or biology, mathematics or visual arts, MYP teachers strive to nourish students’ deep understanding of key ideas, theories, and modes of thinking in their subjects or disciplines. Teachers recognize that understanding a concept in depth is more than merely knowing about it. MYP students are encouraged to use such concepts effectively in new contexts and situations demonstrating deep understanding. Understanding is a capacity. It involves being able to employ concepts, skills and information to produce explanations, offer interpretations, create products, or solve problems in workable ways. Disciplinary understanding, in turn, involves students’ ability to employ concepts and modes of thinking developed by experts in domains such as geography, biology, physics, mathematics, language or the visual arts. To nurture it, MYP teachers must understand what disciplinary understanding is and why it is difficult for students to acquire.

All disciplines embody distinct ways of thinking about the world. Scientists hold theories about the natural world that guide their particular observations: they make hypotheses, design experiments to test them, revise their views in light of their findings and make fresh observations. Artists, on the other hand, are less constrained by empirical demands. They seek to shed new light on the object of their attention, depict it with masterful technique, stretch and provoke themselves and their audiences through deliberate ambiguities in their work. Becoming a better artist does not make students better historians, scientists or mathematicians, or vice versa.

Of course, it is unreasonable to expect MYP students aged between 11 and 16 to become expert scientists, historians and artists. Rather, a quality MYP education in the subject areas should ensure that students become deeply acquainted with the fundamental perspectives on the world that each subject group offers. Teachers prepare to nurture disciplinary understandings by reflecting about their disciplines themselves. Why do I teach science, history or the arts? What about these disciplines matters most for my students to learn? Perhaps most importantly, what constitutes deep understanding in my subject or discipline?

Boix-Mansilla, V. May 2010. "What disciplinary tools will students need?" MYP guide to interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Cardiff, Wales, UK. International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp 54-58.


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Disciplinary understanding definedA discipline like biology or geography is clearly not a list of items to be “covered” during a given class period three times a week. Instead, disciplines are best described as dynamic networks of concepts, theories and examples, produced through the use of agreed methods and techniques to answer relevant questions about particular aspects of the world. By inviting students to use the perspective of the biologist, the geographer, the historian, the scientist, the artist or the poet to make sense of the world around them, MYP teachers open the door to the most important cognitive achievements of our era—achievements that students may come to share only through dedicated and carefully designed instruction. In the MYP model disciplines are grouped in eight subject groups. The subject aims and objectives offer teachers an overview of important understandings to be nurtured in each subject group.

Building on such aims and objectives experienced teachers seek to nurture four key capacities among young people. They involve understanding:

the purpose of disciplinary inquiry1.

an essential knowledge base2.

disciplinary inquiry methods3.

forms of communication.4.

These capacities are described below and illustrated with examples of aims and objectives in humanities, science and arts.

1. Understanding the purpose of disciplinary inquiryCommonly, students ask a question that all teachers ought to be able to address genuinely: “Why do we have to learn this?” Responses such as “because it is important that you know this”, or “because it is part of the course syllabus, test or state mandates” or even “because you will need it next year” miss the point if what we seek is students’ true involvement in disciplinary understanding. Addressing the question of why a particular disciplinary topic is to be learned invites a broader reflection about the nature of disciplinary inquiry. Why do historians, scientists and artists dedicate their lives to their quests? How do our societies use (or dispute) the findings of biology and history or the works of visual arts and dance? Why does disciplinary understanding matter?

Disciplinary knowledge stems from our human need to understand and predict, express a point of view, create products and tools, and/or solve complex problems. Disciplines inform the contexts in which students live. Supply-and-demand principles determine the products that line the shelves of supermarkets. In recent years, a renewed interest in the study of industrial revolution has been sparked by our experience of the digital revolution—the rapid growth of computing and communication capacities transforming the planet. “Biological interdependence” shapes the life of animals and plants at the local park and in the rainforest. Environmental artworks call society’s attention to the importance of preserving our ecosystems. Therefore, by inviting students to see how disciplinary knowledge informs human pursuits and everyday life—by nurturing their “disciplined mind”—teachers are preparing them to be more informed and discerning participants in their world.

The MYP aims and objectives highlight this aspect of learning. In the humanities students are expected to develop decision-making skills and inform their actions with knowledge. In science students examine the role of science in society and the purposes that drive us to inquire. Scientific understanding includes our responsibility to the living and non-living environment and the capacity to apply science to solve local and global problems, or discussing how science and its applications interact with social, economic, political, environmental, cultural and ethical factors. In the arts too students are encouraged to appreciate the arts as a form of expression and critique as a means to reflect, comment upon and transform our world.



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To reflect on the purpose of disciplinary inquiry with their students, teachers may ask:

Why does this disciplinary topic, concept or theory matter?•

How can we apply what we learn about this concept, topic or theory?•

Why do individuals dedicate their lives to study in this discipline?•

2. Understanding an essential knowledge baseEach discipline embodies innumerable concepts, examples and ideas. Educators are challenged to select those that are most significant for students to learn. An essential knowledge base embodies concepts and relations that are central to the discipline, and applicable in multiple contexts. For example, in a unit on the Industrial Revolution, students must understand social and economic forces that set the stage for industrial advancements in 18th century Britain: widespread Protestant ethics, growing entrepreneurial spirit among artisans and labourers, accumulated capital, largely accessible raw materials and markets, and technological innovation. In a unit on ecosystems, biology students must understand how living organisms relate to their physical environment in a particular place, examine the cycling of nutrients and the factors that enable or disrupt the balance of an ecosystem. Understanding of this kind enables students to link particular incidents of the Industrial Revolution or observation during a field trip with more general interpretations. In other words, a rich knowledge base enables students not only to “know” but also to “make sense” of the information they receive.

An essential knowledge base is central to the MYP aims and objectives in each subject group. In the humanities students are expected to know and use humanities terminology in context and demonstrate understanding of elements of history, geography, economics and sociology in their descriptions and explanations of our social and cultural world. Students are expected to think deeply about matters of time, space, change, systems and the global sphere, moving flexibly between big ideas and relevant examples. In the sciences too, students are challenged to recognize and recall scientific information, explain and apply it to solve problems in familiar and unfamiliar situations. In the arts, students are encouraged to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical basis of the art forms studied, as well as a variety of styles, developments and ideas that have shaped the arts across time and cultures.

To reflect on the knowledge base in a discipline with their students teachers may ask the following.

What are the big ideas, key concepts, or theories that students must learn in this discipline?•

What are examples, cases and findings that illustrate the big ideas in this discipline?•

Are there important connections among ideas in the discipline?•

3. Understanding inquiry methodsIn contrast to naive beliefs or elementary information, disciplinary knowledge emerges from a careful process of inquiry and vetting of claims. The disciplined mind considers forms of evidence, criteria for validation, and techniques that render trustworthy our knowledge of the past, nature, society or works of art. In the arts students develop habits of visualization, observation, critique, technical mastery and perseverance in the study of a subject. In history students exhibit their understanding of inquiry methods when they compare competing accounts to assess their acceptability, when they are wary of simple explanations, when they consider the sources used, and when they attend to how actors’ perspectives are selected and portrayed. In science students learn that experiments require carefully designed controls and that the coexistence of two phenomena does not mean that one is causing the other. By beginning to learn about the ways in which experts do their work, students come to humanize the disciplines.

In the MYP aims and objectives students are strongly encouraged to learn humanistic and scientific inquiry skills. In the humanities students learn to plan, carry out and present investigations; identify key questions and issues; observe, select and record relevant information; evaluate the values and limitations of sources; engage in fieldwork in order to complement an investigation. In science too, they are taught to define a problem or research question to be tested by a scientific investigation; collect and record data using



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appropriate units of measurement; organize and transform data into numerical and diagrammatic forms (mathematical calculations, tables, graphs and charts). In the arts students engage in artistic inquiry; they plan and organize effectively to define and set goals, solve problems, experiment and explore through spontaneous and structured activities.

To reflect about the methods of a discipline with their students teachers may ask the following.

What are the methods that students must learn to understand how knowledge is constructed in a •discipline?

What tools and instruments are helpful to use in the discipline?•

How can we best explain, describe or express our interpretation of an event or phenomenon?•

How can we discern between trustworthy and less trustworthy claims in the discipline?•

4. Understanding forms of communicationFinally, disciplines communicate their expertise in preferred forms and genres. Historians see narratives as the best fit for their work while scientists opt for data-heavy research reports. To become proficient communicators, MYP students are encouraged to understand these differences. In science students are encouraged to write (and recognize) a well-crafted scientific report where clear testable hypotheses, methodology, results and discussion are made public for readers to weigh up. They are invited to use a range of scientific languages. In history, they appreciate vivid and well-footnoted narratives as well as well-curated museum exhibits, monuments and documentary films. Humanities students are also expected to organize information in a logically sequenced, clear and concise manner, to use appropriate language, style and visual representation, as well as referencing and a bibliography to clearly document sources of information, using appropriate conventions. In the arts students are invited to use multiple media to explore aesthetic options in depth.

To reflect about the modes of communication of a discipline with their students, teachers may ask the following.

What are the languages and symbols that we can use to share what we learn in this discipline?•

What are the main genres in which we can communicate what we know in this discipline (essays, •scientific reports, poster presentations, videos)?

How do we take into account our audience and context when we communicate with others about •what we know?

In summary, MYP teachers are required to draw on the MYP subject aims and objectives as well as their local school curriculum to select the concepts and modes of thinking that matter most to teach in their subject. By encouraging teachers to do this the MYP model fosters not only students’ ability to master particular concepts, theories and examples that are central to these disciplines but also to employ disciplinary methods, apply disciplinary insights and communicate effectively with others. Experienced MYP teachers know that for students disciplinary understanding is not always simple to construct. Often, it involves transforming intuitive or naive views of the world with which students arrive in our classrooms.

The challenge of building disciplinary understandingBuilding disciplinary understanding is a challenging task for students. Even the most experienced disciplinary teachers describe their dismay when, by the end of what they thought was an outstanding unit, students’ initial beliefs and misconceptions seem to have remained untouched. Why is this so? Psychologists explain that, early in life, students develop intuitive beliefs about the world that are sometimes at odds with disciplinary ideas.

Before entering the elementary school students develop intuitive ideas about how nature works, how people think, what is beautiful and what is not, and how narratives unfold. Many of these ideas, extensively documented by developmental psychologists, are powerful precursors of sophisticated disciplinary



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understandings. For example, by the age of 5, children understand that narratives have beginnings, turning points, and ends and that the succession of events in them must “make sense” for the story to work. Historians also organize their accounts of the past in the form of narratives. They must establish when their stories will begin, and when they will end, and select turning points and actors’ perspectives that will make their accounts intelligible.

Unfortunately not all initial ideas are equally auspicious. Young children also tend to believe that stories are always about “the good guys versus the bad guys”—a belief that leads to easy stereotyping of historical actors and oversimplifications of their experience. Young students are inclined to believe that events are always the result of intentional actions—especially in the case of leaders. They find it more difficult to understand the unintended consequences of actions in the past. Most strikingly, students often project contemporary values and world views onto the minds of actors in the past, a misconception known as “presentism” that is difficult to correct even with good instruction.

In science, students often hold the belief that experiments are successful when their results match the one in the textbook. Students confuse “theories” with unfounded beliefs (as opposed to well-founded conceptual systems) or believe that hypotheses are claims to be proved right (as opposed to tested). Even after years of schooling, youngsters hold mistaken beliefs about how the solar system works, how electricity functions, how evolutionary changes come about. In mathematics, students are often inclined to detach numbers from their meanings, filling in equations mechanically. In the arts, they find it difficult to understand that a “good” painting does not have to be “beautiful” but could be provocative or suggestive, inviting deep aesthetic exploration. Because the task of addressing and transforming students’ early misconceptions may seem daunting, the MYP curriculum design offers a repertoire of clear aims and objectives to guide teaching in the subjects and support even the youngest children to develop more informed understandings.

Reflection point

Consider the following statements produced by teachers in different schools. In what ways do they reflect the concept of “disciplines” similar to the one presented above? Which one seems closer to your own sense of your subject?

In teaching history, the biggest obstacle is always time. Teaching history itself is not that difficult. I have a list of people and important events that I need to cover. I expect students to know these by the end of the year.

I teach history because I want students to understand how events in the past help us understand who we are and where we come from. I want my students to become able to think about the past and how we come to know it critically. I want them to think about the options that people had then which are different from the ones we have today.

How can teachers select and craft disciplinary understandings?Clearly, when designing interdisciplinary units of instruction teachers must decide which disciplines will best address the multifaceted topic under study. Quality interdisciplinary learning requires deep disciplinary grounding. Designing interdisciplinary units presents teachers with an important challenge: how much expertise in a discipline will their students need to develop in order to accomplish the unit’s overarching goal? Indeed some teachers wonder if it is necessary for students to master the disciplines fully before they can integrate them in any meaningful way. Questions of this kind are important because they reveal teachers’ commitment to quality work. Interdisciplinary learning builds on disciplinary expertise—it does not replace it. To illustrate the MYP approach to interdisciplinary teaching, consider the following unit on river studies.



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Siu-Runyan, Y. February 1999. “Inquiry, Curriculum and Standards: A conversation with Kathy Short.” The Colorado Communicator.

Reprinted with permission

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11

Introduction: Past, present and future

The IB is not just affected by globalization; it has become a part of it. Its pro-grammes are to be found in nearly three-quarters of the world’s countries, and one reason for the high reputation of the DP is the international benchmarking of its curriculum and assessment. The IB does not yet offer the educational equivalent of a “Big Mac and a Coke” but it does provide a globally popular, respected and marketable pre-university qualification. Consequently, in some countries the IB stands in competition with the national system as part of a free educational market. And in common with other dimensions of globalized activity there are many who are simply unable to engage, unable to gain access to what some might regard as a privileged club.

Refining the message: Meeting the challenges of a globalized world

Four major challenges seem likely to dominate the thinking of international educa-tors as they consider the implications of a globalized world: diversity, complexity, sustainability and inequality.

Diversity

“Global citizens seek out diversity, welcome diversity, even celebrate diversity.” How many times have we read that, or something similar, in the mission statements, straplines and letterheads of IB World Schools? The growing impact of migration makes us more conscious of human diversity than at any time in the past. There is no longer much of a fit between national frontiers, language and culture. There is an increasing chance that we will live next to, work in a team with, play soccer against, choose as a lifelong partner, someone of a different ethnic origin. In the United Kingdom, for example, close to 1 in 10 of the population is now from an ethnic minority group; a generation ago the figure was 1 in 50.

What do IB students think about a situation that many people see as a threat to their job, to their way of life, even to their security? Is there a moral argument for seeking out, welcoming and celebrating diversity? What does history have to tell us about the way in which our comparisons with “others” affect our own self-perception? Economists tell us that most economies depend upon migrant labour; scientists insist that a more diverse gene pool will ensure the maintenance of the healthy human species; and the artist will point to the enrichment that ethnic diversity brings to a community. Happily there is no shortage of world literature that explores each of these themes.

Walker, G. 2011. "Introduction: Past, present and future." The Changing Face of International Education." Cardiff, Wales. International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp 11-14.


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Serious discussion of these opinions requires a multidisciplinary approach so that IB students can approach the complex and controversial challenge of cultural diversity from an intellectual rather than an emotional viewpoint. There are good reasons for celebrating diversity but they are not always self-evident and they need debating from the foundation of different disciplinary understandings, which the IB encourages.

“There are good reasons for celebrating diversity but they are not always self-evident and they need debating from the foundation of different disciplinary understandings, which the IB encourages.”

Complexity

As well as becoming more diverse, life is also becoming more complex: more infor-mation becomes cheaply and readily accessible; official, canonical interpretations are more frequently challenged; and a multitude of individual opinions is given a public hearing using the new digital media. The blacks and whites of the 20th century are giving way to much more complex shades of grey, whatever the issue: building more nuclear power stations, developing stem cell research, pursuing the war in Afghanistan, making sense of the politics of Iran.

Research suggests that there are significant differences between Eastern and Western cultures in their responses to controversial issues.6 For example, the Chinese response to contradiction is to moderate their opinions and seek a com-promise; Americans tend to respond by polarizing their beliefs. The IB encourages students to acquire critical-thinking skills from the earliest age and to apply them to a range of international issues, to learn the skills of negotiation and to understand that flexibility and compromise are essential qualities in a globalized world.

Sustainability

The widespread recognition that the planet’s capacity to sustain life is being put at serious risk has surely become a defining feature of the 21st century. Human activity is destroying habitats, using up irreplaceable resources, accumulating waste and polluting the atmosphere at an uncontrollable pace. Nowhere are the risks more evident, but the causes and possible remedies more argued about, than in the



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controversial area of climate change, which promises to dominate the 21st century in much the same way as the threat of nuclear war dominated the second half of the 20th century.

Five Minds for the Future

In his book Five Minds for the Future, Professor Howard Gardner describes five intellectual minds that people will need if they are to “thrive in the world during the eras to come”.7 These are:

• the disciplined mind, which has mastered (over about 10 years) at least one of the major schools of thought

• the synthesizing mind, which brings to bear on an issue information from a variety of disciplines

• the creating mind, which breaks new ground, asks different ques-tions and proposes new solutions

• the respectful mind, which explores, respects and tries to make sense of the differences between different groups of people

• the ethical mind, which recognizes one’s responsibilities as a worker and a citizen.

Gardner’s minds form a valuable checklist against which to measure the IB’s programmes, in particular their balance between disciplinary and trans-disciplinary learning, the application of critical-thinking skills, intercultural understanding and the ethical values that underlie the programmes.

Scientists, who have little experience of such behaviour, are finding it hard to get their message across in order to counter the aggressive tactics of the so-called “climate skeptics”. Politicians are finding it hard to accept the inevitable material sacrifices that will follow from carbon reductions, the very idea of resource contrac-tion taking them into unknown territory. The media are finding it hard to report in a balanced and informative way on technically complex issues. The United Nations, called upon to discharge what is arguably the most important responsibility in its history, is finding it hard to keep member states on board.



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The IB insists on the study of science in each of its programmes and it also encour-ages students to reflect on the reliability of scientific evidence and the scope of scientific investigations. But science alone will not solve this problem. Climate change is a global issue that requires international cooperation, which IB students are well prepared to exercise, as well as a philosophy of lifelong learning that devel-ops responsible, caring and contributing citizens, capable of bringing about change.

Inequality

Globalization is producing winners and losers and, as the world grows richer, the inequality gap between and within countries is growing wider. The statistics make depressing reading however they are presented. In the United States, for example, the richest 1% of the population own over one third of the country’s wealth. The world’s richest 20% are responsible for 77% of private consumption; the middle 40% consume 22% and the poorest 20% consume just under 2%. As inequality deepens, the fabric of society is damaged as the wealthy go their own way, weakening their commitment to the community’s shared services and facilities, including education.

But all is not lost. In sub-Saharan Africa the participation rate in primary education has increased from 50% in 2000 to 71% in 2006 thanks to the Education For All initiative of UNESCO. This is still a long way from achieving the UN’s millen-nium goal of full participation by 2015, but encouraging progress is being made; given the will, the deepest social problems can be solved. What we need are social entrepreneurs who (in the memorable description of Thomas Friedman) “combine a business school brain with a social worker’s heart”.8

According to the IB mission statement, its programmes “encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners”. This statement brings together knowledge, concern and action—three qualities that lie at the heart of the IB experience and at the heart of a solution to the world’s dangerous inequalities.

International education has grown to maturity in a privileged and protected sector of the world’s economy. International schools have been described as “atolls in a sea of cultures”, sometimes isolated from the local conditions of deprivation and social injustice. In spreading their influence into the mainstreams of the world’s education systems, will the IB’s programmes be sufficiently robust to address the inequalities that exist? Will they be able to contribute to the much-needed reform of education in many parts of the developing world?



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Resources

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Key Purpose of the Organizer

Sample Graphic Organizers

Recalling, grouping, classifying, summarizing ideas.

Star diagram

Brainstorm web

Affinity cluster web

Concept map

Sequencing events, ordering ideas.

Cycle circle

Flow chart

Chain of Eve

Sequencing

Showing causal links (cause and effect)

Bridge

Fishbone

Deeper analysis – Dissecting an idea into specific components and exploring different attributes.

looks like

sounds feels like like

Y chart

Is Isn’t

T chart

Venn diagram

Planning and decision making or reviewing.

Scales

Tree diagram

Teaching and Learning Strategies:

Graphic Organizers

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Behaviours of Constructivist Teachers Reflection Sheet

Reflect upon your own practice using these characteristics of constructivist teachers.

Constructivist teachers:

• Value students’ points of view

• Challenge students’ beliefs

• Have control over what they teach but far less over what children learn

• Use words such as analyze, classify, predict and create

• Have children share, hear and reflect on the ideas of others

• Clarify student questions and demand accuracy but withhold judgement

• Provide time for inquiry based upon student interests and ideas

• Respect learners, using names, valuing their ideas, encouraging their responses

• Withhold their own views in order to allow students to challenge their own views

• Challenge correct responses, encouraging a search for alternative perspectives

• Ask for elaboration of initial responses

• Allow for wait time

• Consider the importance of bigger concepts

• Understand that inquiry can be difficult and messy

• Are positioned on the side not always at the front and in the lead

• Observe children and use students’ daily work, points of view, ideas, projects, demonstrations and observations to guide teaching.

From Brooks and Brooks The Case for Constructivist Classrooms

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Documents

International Baccalaureate - Primary Years Programmemilesfranklinprimaryschool-pyp.weebly.com/uploads/...PYP Category- 1 Workshop . Making the PYP Happen in the Classroom . Conceptual