Middle Years Programme

The Middle Years Programme (MYP) at Saint Andrew’s spans the three years of Middle School. The MYP provides a framework to help students develop the knowledge, understanding, attitudes, and skills necessary to participate actively and responsibly in a changing world.

IB Learner Profile

As with the Primary Years and Diploma Programmes, the IB Learner Profile defines the type of lifelong learner that the MYP strives to develop. The IB learner profile represents 10 attributes valued by IB World Schools. We believe these attributes, and others like them, can help individuals and groups become responsible members of local, national, and global communities. (IBO, 2013). The profile aims to develop learners who are:

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

International-Mindedness

International-mindedness is a core component of the MYP curriculum through which students are challenged to think analytically and creatively about global topics in order to be best prepared for 21st century challenges, learn to value their own culture and those of others, build awareness that the world is much larger than the local community in which they live, and gain the ability to see themselves as responsible global citizens.

MYP CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK

The International Baccalaureate is the world's most rigorous academic program emphasizing academic achievement, critical thinking, research skills, and community service. It aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

It also emphasizes intercultural awareness and communication. It is essential that the curriculum reflects, and is responsive to, the different perspectives of all students. It should also guide them in forming their own, international outlook. This necessitates an emphasis on communication skills, both in the languages and in other subjects. Students are required to study at least two languages (English and an additional language of choice) to support their understanding of their own culture and those of others and to broaden their ability to communicate.

Subject Areas

The MYP emphasizes holistic learning in order to expose students to as many different subjects, skills, and experiences as possible so that students will learn to see knowledge as an interrelated whole. The MYP curriculum emphasizes a broad and balanced education in each of eight subject areas: Language and Literature (English), Language Acquisition (Chinese, French, or Spanish), Individuals and Societies (Social Studies), Sciences, Mathematics, , Physical and Health Education, Design, and the Arts (Visual and Performing). Wherever possible, connections across these subjects are emphasized and reinforced through interdisciplinary units of study.

Concepts

A concept is a big idea or a principle that is enduring, the significance of which goes beyond aspects such as particular origins, subject matter, or place in time. Concepts represent the vehicle for students’ inquiry into issues and ideas of personal, local, and global significance, providing the means by which the essence of a subject can be explored. The MYP identifies prescribed key concepts and related concepts. These concepts ensure the development of a rigorous curriculum and promote a shared community of practice among IB World Schools offering the MYP. The MYP key concepts taught across the range of subjects in the Middle School are:

Aesthetics
Change
Communication
Communities
Connections
Creativity
Culture
Development
Form
Global Interactions
Identity
Logic
Perspective
Relationships
Systems
Time, Place, and Space
Global Contexts

Providing a global context helps students understand the complex world. Categories of information help students to answer the question, “Why are we learning this?” These are the six categories of global contexts:

Identities and relationships Orientation in space and time Personal and cultural expression Scientific and technical innovation Globalization and sustainability Fairness and development

Units of work in all subjects allow students to explore one of the Global Contexts. Global Contexts are designed to encourage the students to make worthwhile connections between the real world and classroom learning. Through their learning of subject concepts, students will come to a better understanding of a Global Context.

Approaches to Learning

The MYP is student-centered in that it fosters in students an awareness of their own learning process and supports them in developing the necessary skills to continue learning throughout life. The curriculum seeks to shift the emphasis from teacher-led instruction to student-led inquiry and learning wherever possible. A focus on higher-order thinking skills gives students opportunities to develop a growing awareness of themselves and others, as they explore real-world issues. The Approaches to Learning skills encompass traditional academic skills, such as, communication, research, and critical and creative thinking, however, the ATL skills also develop students holistically. Social skills promote collaboration, while self- management focuses on developing organization, reflective and affective (social-emotional) skills. Students learn and reflect on their growth in using the ATL skills throughout their time in the Middle School.

Approaches to Teaching

Units are taught in a student-centered, inquiry-based style of instruction with the teacher serving as the coach rather than the expert. Techniques can include guided inquiry, problem-based learning, and constructivist investigations. Teachers collaborate with each other to build connections between their subjects as well as ensure alignment between the grade levels. Within the classroom, they differentiate instruction to support all students to develop their personal best. They focus on developing skills and utilize assessment to inform instruction allowing them to guide students to increasing levels of mastery.

Assessment

MYP teachers use internationally-published IB assessment criteria as a benchmark for their grading. They utilize a range of assessment tasks, such as open-ended activities, research-based investigations, creative projects, organized debates, experiments, and reflections, allowing students to demonstrate their achievement according to subject-specific criteria. Students’ grades in each of the MYP subjects are based on the teacher’s assessment of growth according to that subject’s specific, objective-based criteria. Students’ achievement levels are reported as MYP scores that are then converted to percentage grades.

Service as Action (Community Service)

Action and service have always been shared values of the IB community. In the Middle School, students take action when they apply what they are learning in the classroom and beyond. Students are encouraged through the MYP curriculum to be caring members of the community who make a positive difference to the lives of others and the environment. Each grade level participates in various types of group service as action through class projects and advisory.

Community Project - Grade 8

The Community Project is completed in year 3 (grade 8) of the MYP. As a consolidation of learning, the Community Project focuses on community and service, encouraging students to explore their right and responsibility to take action on a cause they are passionate about that contributes to their community. Students develop their projects through advisory, keep an ongoing process journal, and deliver a culminating presentation to showcase their service, learning, and growth. The project provides students the opportunity to engage with a self-directed, self-initiated project which helps develop self-management skills that will prepare them for high school and beyond.