The MYP Programme
Model and Fundamental Concepts
The
IB Middle Years Programme Model is a very useful way to understand how the
curriculum works. The MYP is a framework that is designed to help students find
a sense of belonging in an ever changing and increasingly interrelated world.
A further explanation of the parts which make up the MYP
can be found here
. Notice that the center of the programme is the learner—something to
keep in mind each and every day in the IB classroom! The fundamental concepts
form the basis of the whole Middle Years Programme. They should infuse:
•
teaching and learning
•
the ethos of a school
•
the activities of a school
•
the relationships of a school with the wider
community.
The
three fundamental concepts form the basis for the MYP’s curriculum framework,
which is shared by different types of schools in all parts of the world. They
should be the guiding principles in designing the curriculum and school
activities. These three fundamental concepts overlap. None of them should be
considered as “alternative areas of interaction”.
Questions for
Reflection:
1.
Write your own definitions of each fundamental
concept.
2.
What does each fundamental concept imply for
education in general?
3.
What you do in your humanities classroom to
facilitate each concept?
Communication: the practice of effectively transmitting information, including making inquiries, explaining and analyzing information, interpreting that information, and drawing conclusions, by a variety of methods, including visually, in written form, and verbally.
ReplyDeleteIntercultural Awareness: The practice of learning about, and remaining sensitive to, the history, customs, and perspectives of different cultures.
Holistic Education: The understanding that education goes beyond memorization of discrete pieces of information and applies more broadly to nuturing the development of habits including inquiry, investigation, knowledge acquisition, analysis, and making judgments, but also extending to the personal well being of the student.
Each concept implies that education is more than just memorizing information and regurgitating that information or selecting the best answer on a multiple choice exam. Rather, it is a constructive process where broad habits are developed in an environment of high expectations.
In my Comparative Government class, I assign a variety of activities that challenge students to communicate in different ways, for example in written form (essays), visually (political cartoons and campaign ads), and verbally (Supreme Court oral arguments).
Regarding Holistic Education, I try to take an interest in the personal well being of my students and offer them tips on balancing their workloads, budgeting their time, and leaving time for recreation. I also emphasize the processes that are important in planning and completing certain assignments, when often they are only concerned with the grades they will receive.
Finally, Annandale High School's diverse student population offers many opportunities to integrate intercultural awareness discussions. I try to call on students of different cultural backgrounds to share their perspectives on a variety of issues - political, economic, and religious. This often results in everyone in the classroom learning something new.
(1) Communication is the ability to convey information meaningfully and accurately to another entity and to derive meaning from information. It includes many modes and modalities and can be influenced by a variety of factors. Intercultural awareness is recognizing that different societies have developed their own norms and values and respecting people’s right to embrace the norms and values of their culture. Holistic education is the all-around social, emotional, and intellectual development of a person through education whether it be by their family, community or society both formally and informally.
ReplyDelete(2) These concepts are fundamental to education in the modern world. We live in an ever more diverse society and a world that is growing ever closer. Just today in the Washington Post there was an article about a clash between French police and Muslim immigrants over the wearing traditional cloths and veiling their faces.
(3) I am luck in that I teacher World History I in an exceptionally diverse school. Throughout the year as we cover different topics ranging from Hinduism to the Aztecs I have students who share the belief systems we are covering or have seen the part of the world he are discussing. By focusing on clear communication with the goal of respect and understanding I hope the class develops a sense of intercultural awarenss
1.-2. Communication is the effective transmittal of information from one to another. Students need to become proficient in a variety of modalities of expression.
ReplyDeleteIntercultural awareness is the realization that "my way" is not the only way! Understanding of the other is the first step toward peace.Each concept that is taught in our US History curriculum is examined through the prism of many lenses.
Holistic education leads the student to form her own opinions as she becomes more proficient in the exploration of the characteristics in the Learner Profile. This approach helps the student to more thoughtfully apply knowledge.
1-2. Communication indicates messages pass from one to another. In our school that means ideas are passed from each of us to others through different means using different modalities. Those ideas inform, educate, entertain and express feelings. Holistic education means to meet the needs of the whole student, with all his strengths and weaknesses; and to prepare the student to have life skills to live in the world with others of differing perspectives. Intercultural awareness is not only to be exposed to others with different perspectives but to understand the differences and to seek to find a middle ground for all perspectives.
ReplyDelete3. In my classroom, we communicate through speaking, writing, drawing and use of technologies. We develop communication skills and assess those skills on a regular basis. We deal with the whole student including learning styles, family background, language acquisition and tech readiness. We believe in developing mastery and that no one fails to make progress along the continuum if they are given multiple chances. Intercultural awareness is evident as one walks our halls (the most diverse middle school in FCPS) but we also teach respect for each others’ differences and rely on each other to bring those differences to light in analyzing our curriculum.
1. (I'm lost in the jargon a little here, I assume these are the three in the Venn-like diagram?) Communication is about expressing yourself and your ideas in oral and written form. My understanding of teaching communication skills to students is not just to share and write well, but to learn how to code-switch depending on your audience, writing in different formats and different audiences, and knowing when your writing should be creative, argumentative, descriptive, etc.
ReplyDeleteHolistic education is all about every second of your life being an educational moment. In a school, it might mean being cross-curricular, but really students are absorbing knowledge and data throughout their day and they should be processing that data for what it means to them, their future, and their world.
Intercultural awareness means being as knowledgeable as possible about other cultures around the world. Assumed in that definition is that you will have respect for the similarities and differences you learn about in your educational journey.
2. I think it means that education is more than just learning the standardized facts as a list; especially the humanities are about learning as much as you can about people, their cultures, and their histories and incorporating that knowledge into your actions.
3. Share, share, share - I use a lot of Kagan cooperative learning structures and other things I think I've made up (maybe I've learned them at some point) to have students think, share, and reflect about what we are learning. They also have a number of different ways to share with me what they learned and what they think. Last year I tried as much as possible to be cross-curricular and bring in current events and philosophy into my world history class and I look to expand on that this year. There are projects in the works for a genocide unit with the history and english departments. As mentioned, our school is ridiculously and awesomely diverse so intercultural awareness is a constant at Stuart and makes it a great place to teach world history (in my opinion). We are constantly sharing and learning about different cultures within the student body and it opens up a wide variety of activities and discussion topics in class.
Communication: the ability to convey facts, ideas, and beliefs openly
ReplyDeleteHolistic education: education for the body and mind that encourages
Intercultural awareness: respect of cultural interactions that encourages diversity; cultural empathy
These concepts imply that education is meant to encourage openness and acceptance of differences. While teaching the content in schools is important, these are just as important to be included and discussed in lessons. To foster these concepts, discussions and cooperative learning are often the best. Allowing students to see that even their own classmates have different perspectives from themselves is important, because they must embrace the different ideas and work past it.
1) Communication: the clear transfer of information.
ReplyDeleteHolistic Education: learning with the understanding of bettering the whole.
Intercultural Awareness: Learning without bias.
2) The IB/MYP program encourages education through exploration outside of comfort zones if necessary.
3) We find that interpreting primary documents is a good way to utilize the fundamental concepts.
1. Communication is the ability to process and then relay or present information that has been attained in a clear and understanding manner.
ReplyDeleteHolistic Education would best be described as the idea that it is not the concepts and facts that are most important but the act of learning and processing information and critically thinking about it in your own terms that it is more important.
Intercultural awareness would be the idea that there are other cultures around us and though we may share different fundamental beliefs and ideas that most cultures are not threatening and are critical to every day life.
2. Succintly, it means that students should be good communicators who have a natural inclination to learn, particularly about other cultures and ideas.
3. In my classroom, I attempt to make the class extremely student centered and put the onus on students to communicate and ask questions if they are unfamiliar. We attempt to understand other cultures as best we can. I also attempt to integrate ways to pique students' curiousity to learn.
I see communication as the ability to express ideas, information, questions, problems, solutions, etc. in a variety of formats that will ultimately improve the educational experience of yourself and your peers. Holistic education deals with students becoming well rounded and able to think for themselves. To be aware that life, like the IB program, will come at them in many shapes and angles and to always be aware that there are many aspects to their development in life, which goes beyond GPAs and SAT scores. As I mentioned earlier, I do teach US History and really make an effort to focus on relating US History concepts to not only other cultures and places around the world but also to the diverse communities that our school works with. The list could go on but we work with respecting different cultures, we look at the perspectives of young people that live in other nations, and we think about how other people view us, either in 2012 or during times in US History.
ReplyDelete1. Write your own definitions of each fundamental concept.
ReplyDelete• Communication: Students need to be able to share what they are learning and experiencing with others in a compelling, compassionate way.
• Holistic Education: Learning can not be isolated or siloed; Students need to develop their understanding of the world inside and outside of the classroom, and across various content areas and skills
• Intercultural Awareness: In an increasingly interconnected world, students must be aware of and literate in the different cultures that exist within a global landscape
2. What does each fundamental concept imply for education in general? And 3. What you do in your humanities classroom to facilitate each concept?
The fundamental concepts tell what lens we should be using to instruct our students. To me, this means developing my students’ written and oral communication, engaging them in authentic instruction that extends beyond my content area, and developing their ability to see and consider a variety of cultural perspectives.
- Sarah Beck