An Introduction to the IB

MYP
Peter Fidczuk

5th March 2018

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2017

International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato Internacional®
 So what exactly is the
International Baccalaureate?
“... The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a not-for-profit foundation,
motivated by its mission to create a better world through
education”

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2017

-

...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...

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...Our 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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 IB Programmes are
globally recognized
THE BIG 1,558
Programmes
NUMBERS
4977
Authorized IB World
Schools 1,427
around the world Programmes

2781
Number of State
funded schools 3265
1,500,000
Programmes

Number of students
with access to the
four IB programmes 161
Programmes

IB schools in 152 countries

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CBI/Pearson Education and Skills
Survey 2016

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Andreas (Mr PISA) Schleicher,
Director of Education, OECD

‘Education today is much more about ways of thinking

which involve creative and critical approaches to problem-
solving and decision-making. It is also about ways of
working, including communication and collaboration….
And last, but not least, education is about the capacity to
live in a multi-faceted world as an active and engaged
citizen.’

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Cognitive Skills
• Analysing
• Synthesising
• Critical thinking
• Evaluating
• Problem solving
• Inquiring mind
• Intellectual insight
• Innovation
• Argument construction
• Intellectual risk

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Affective Skills
Attitudes to learning:
• Persistence and perseverance
• Focus and concentration, overcoming distractions
• Self-motivation, self confidence
• Dealing with anxiety
• Working to long term goals
• Managing impulsiveness and anger
• Developing resilience
• Working independently, in a team

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IB learner profile
IB Programmes give
structured opportunities
for students to be:

• Knowledgeable
• Caring
• Risk-takers
• Principled
• Balanced
• Communicators
• Thinkers
• Open-minded
• Reflective
• Inquirers

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Fundamental Principles of the MYP

• Holistic Learning
• Intercultural Awareness
• Communication

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Aims of the Programme
• addresses holistically students’ intellectual, social, emotional and
physical well-being
• provides students opportunities to develop the knowledge,
attitudes and skills they need in order to manage complexity
and take responsible action for the future
• ensures breadth and depth of understanding through study in
eight subject groups
• requires the study of at least two languages to support students
in understanding their own cultures and those of others
• empowers students to participate in service with the community
• helps to prepare students for further education, the workplace
and a lifetime of learning.

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© International Baccalaureate Organization 2017
Subjects
• 8 subject groups are mandatory from Y7 to Y9;
students can ‘’drop’ 2 subjects in Y10 and Y11 (but
not languages)
• 50 teaching hours per group per year minimum
• No detailed subject content prescribed by IB
• Guides & TSM on PRC
• Each has following:
• Subject objectives
• Prescribed Key and Related concepts
• ATL
• Statements of inquiry
• Assessment criteria for Y1, Y3, Y5

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Programme flexibility
• MYP is a 5 year programme 11-16, however it can
be adapted
• The full 5 year options are:
• External eAssessments in Y11
• Internally assessed school awarded grades
• Internally assessed school awarded grades with
(i)GCSEs
• All of these cause problems in the UK context

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‘UK friendly’ Curriculum Models

Y10-Y11 GCSE
Y7-Y9 MYP with NC content retaining MYP
pedagogy

Y9 MYP Y10-Y11 GCSE

Y7-Y8 MYP with NC
with GCSE retaining MYP
content
content pedagogy

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Pedagogy
• Inquiry
• Key Concepts
• Related Concepts
• Global Contexts
• Approaches to Learning
• Interdisciplinary Learning
• Social & Emotional Learning
• Service learning

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Approaches to Teaching and
Learning

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 Key Concepts
Key concepts are broad, organizing, powerful ideas
that have relevance within and across subjects and
disciplines, providing connections that can transfer
across time and culture.

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 Related Concepts
Explore key concepts in greater detail, providing
depth to the programme. They emerge from
reflection on the nature of specific subjects and
disciplines, providing a focus for inquiry into subject-
specific content.

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Global Contexts
• MYP global contexts provide points of entry for
inquiries into what it means to be internationally
minded, framing a curriculum that promotes
multilingualism, intercultural understanding and
global engagement. When teachers select a
global context for learning, they are answering
the following questions:
• Why are we engaged in this inquiry?
• Why are these concepts important?
• Why is it important for me to understand?
• Why do people care about this topic?

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Global Contexts

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Example from Science –
combustion of fuels
National Curriculum:
• combustion, thermal decomposition, oxidation and
displacement reactions
• exothermic and endothermic chemical reactions
(qualitative)
• the production of carbon dioxide by human activity
and the impact on climate
• representing chemical reactions using formulae and
using equations

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Key Concepts

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Example from Science
The key concepts contributed by the study of sciences
are change, relationships and systems.

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Example from Science – Global Contexts
“Many inquiries into sciences concepts naturally focus
on scientific and technical innovation. However,
courses in this subject group should over time offer
students multiple opportunities to explore all MYP
global contexts in relationship to the aims and
objectives of the subject group.”

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Example from Science - Combustion
• Key concept: Change
• Related Concepts: Energy, Consequences
• Global Context: Globalization and Sustainability

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Statement of inquiry
• Teachers construct the statement of inquiry for a
unit by combining a key concept, one or more
related concepts, and a global context for the unit
into a meaningful statement that students can
understand. This statement expresses the
relationship between concepts and context; it
represents a transferable idea supported by factual
content. Statements of inquiry facilitate synergistic
thinking, synthesizing factual and conceptual levels
of mental processing and creating a greater impact
on cognitive development than either level of
thinking by itself
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Inquiry Questions
• Inquiry questions are drawn from, and inspired by, the
statement of inquiry. Teachers and students develop
these questions to explore the statement of inquiry in
greater detail. Students can develop their own questions
in ways that satisfy curiosity and deepen understanding.
The strands of subject-specific objectives can also be
helpful in formulating inquiry questions.
• Inquiry questions give shape and scope to a unit of
study, and they help to scaffold the objectives that
students should strive to achieve. As the unit progresses,
both teachers and students can develop additional
questions to explore.

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Inquiry questions

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Example from Science - Combustion
• Key concept: Change
• Related Concepts: Energy, Consequences
• Global Context: Globalization and Sustainability
• Statement of Inquiry:
Combustion of fuels is a chemical change which
releases energy and reorganises molecules to
produce carbon dioxide and water and has
consequences for the global environment.
• Inquiry Questions:
• Factual – what is combustion?
• Conceptual – can combustion be reversed?
• Debatable – if combustion of fuels damages the
environment why do we use fuels?

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Approaches to Learning
How do we learn best, Learning to Learn, A4L

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Approaches to Learning
• Communication Skills
• Exchanging thoughts, messages and information effectively
through interaction
• Reading, writing and using language to gather and communicate
information
• Social Skills
• Working effectively with others
• Self Management Skills
• Managing time and tasks effectively
• Managing state of mind
• (Re)considering the process of learning; choosing and using ATL
skills (reflection)
• Research Skills
• Finding, interpreting, judging and creating information
• Interacting with media to use and create ideas and information
• Thinking Skills
• Analysing and evaluating issues and ideas
• Generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives
• Using skills and knowledge in multiple contexts

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Approaches to Learning
• Novice/beginning—students are introduced to the skill,
and can watch others performing it (observation)
• Learner/developing—students copy others who use the
skill and use the skill with scaffolding and guidance
(emulation)
• Practitioner/using—students employ the skill
confidently and effectively (demonstration)
• Expert/sharing—students can show others how to use
the skill and accurately assess how effectively the skill is
used (self-regulation)

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Critical Thinking Skills Used Most
Frequently in MYP Classrooms
Student and teacher surveys, and classroom
observations, showed a high level of consistency. The
skills reported by the highest percentages of students
and teachers and observed in most classrooms were:

• Gathering and organizing information

• Considering ideas from different points of view
• Making connections
• Students explaining or elaborating on their thinking

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Interdisciplinary Learning

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Social and Emotional Learning

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Assessment
• Criterion referenced
• Each subject has 4 criteria
• Criteria change in challenge through the
programme – Y7, Y9, Y11
• Weighting of components different to GCSE,
more emphasis on development of skills
• Optional end of MYP external assessment in Y11
– e-Assessments which are Ofqual registered but
not in the School Performance Measures

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Assessment Criteria

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Assessment Criteria

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Moving the ‘goal posts’
• Assessment criteria are provided at 3 levels for each
subject: Y7, Y9, Y11.
• Therefore a student could remain on the same
grade through Years 7-11 but would still make
progress as the challenge of the criteria will increase,
ie a grade 5 in Year 7 is not the same as grade 5 in
Year 9 because the criteria in Year 9 are more
difficult.
• To maintain grade 5 the student will have to have
increased their achievement.
• Target setting potentially simplified

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 Interim Assessment Criteria: English
Analysing

Year 7

Year 9

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Reasons for using the criteria
Better formative assessment
• Wider range of skills assessed which links to a
wider range of assessment tasks
• Clearer indication of what students need to do to
improve
Backwash effect
• Positive backwash effect is when assessment drives
the taught curriculum in a beneficial way
Requirement for authorisation

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Approaches to Teaching – The Unit
Planner
Planning tool to ensure that all key areas are included
in a unit of work:
• Key Concept
• Related Concept
• Global Context
• Statement of Inquiry
• Inquiry Questions
• Subject Group Objectives
• Assessment
• ATL
• Learner Profile

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Community Project
• Carried out during Year 9
• Pulls together the different strands of the MYP
• Develops independence
• Design Cycle – identify of need, action, reflection

“In the community project, action involves a

participation in service learning (service as action).”

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Personal Project
• Carried out in Y11 – clash with GCSE
• At Dartford Grammar School, started in Y10 and
completed in Y11.
• Not required for a 3 year MYP
• In a 5 year MYP it is mandatory and is externally
moderated

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