WHAT DO WE WANT STUDENTS TO DO AS A RESULT OF THEIR LEARNING?

We encourage students to take thoughtful and responsible action as a result of the learning process.  Examples of action may include changing our own behaviors, educating and informing others, or doing something to prevent a problem or improve a situation.  Ultimately, we want students to care deeply about themselves, their community, and the world around them, and then to realize that they have the ability to make a difference.  

The PYP Action Cycle

As a PYP school, we commit to concept-driven instruction to:

• Support inquiry
• Promote real understanding
• Teach for depth over quantity
• Help learners construct meaning through critical thinking
• Provide context within transdisciplinary units so students can make connections and acquire essential knowledge, life skills, and attitudes
• Avoid teaching superficial knowledge memorized only to be forgotten

A set of seven concepts was chosen to design a transdisciplinary curriculum. Each concept includes a broad question prompt.

Form: What is it like?
Function: How does it work?
Causation: Why is it like it is?
Connection: How is it connected to other things?
Perspective: What are the points of view?
Responsibility: What is our responsibility?
Change: How is it changing?

WHAT DO WE WANT STUDENTS TO KNOW?

The knowledge component of the IB Primary Years Programme is developed through in-depth inquiries into six different transdisciplinary themes of global significance.  Traditional subject areas (such as language, mathematics, science, and social studies) are supported and taught through exploration of these larger units.

The Six Transdisciplinary Themes:

Who We Are:
An inquiry into identity as individuals and as part of a collective through:

• Physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being
• Relationships and belonging
• Learning and growing

How the World Works:
An inquiry into the understanding of the world and phenomena through: 

• Patterns, cycles, systems
• Diverse practices, methods, and tools
• Discover, design, innovation, possibilities, and impacts 

Where We Are in Place and Time:
An inquiry into histories and orientation in place, space, and time through:

• Periods, events, and artifacts 
• Communities, heritage, culture, and environment
• Natural and human drivers of movement, adaptation, and transformation

How We Organize Ourselves:
An inquiry into systems, structures, and networks through:

• Interactions with and between social and ecological systems
• Approaches to livelihoods and trade practices; intended and unintended consequences
• Representation, collaboration, and decision-making 

How We Express Ourselves:
An inquiry into the diversity of voice, perspectives, and expression through:

• Inspiration, imagination, and creativity
• Personal, social, cultural notes, and practices of communication
• Intentions, perceptions, interpretations, and responses 

Sharing the Planet:
An inquiry into the interdependence of human and natural worlds through:

• Rights, responsibilities, and dignity 
• Pathways to just, peaceful, and reimagined futures
• Nature, complexity, coexistence, and wisdom 

APPROACHES TO LEARNING:
WHAT DO WE WANT STUDENTS TO BE ABLE TO DO?

In order to be well-prepared for lifelong learning, students in PYP schools master a range of skills that can be developed and applied in all subject areas and, if differing degrees, at all grade levels. These approaches to learning are grouped into five skill areas:  social skills, communication skills, thinking skills, research skills, and self-management skills.