Introducing the Middle Years Programme Part 2

INTRODUCING THE Middle Years Programme

PART 2

The 21st-century world is a constantly changing environment characterised by rapid developments in knowledge, technology and globalisation. Education across the globe is undergoing reform as we look at how we can better prepare our young people for what lies ahead. One of the central pillars of our strategic plan at Dio has always been ‘Our Education’ which has been underpinned by an intention to ‘instil the courage and confidence to positively shape the future’. As we have continued to implement the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) this year, we are further developing ways that we can ‘educate girls at the speed of light’. (Diocesan, 2018)

In order to respond to the demands of preparing young people for a future-focused environment, the IB has developed six researchbased approaches to teaching. These approaches are deliberately broad and allow teachers the flexibility to use different strategies to best suit the needs of their students and the context of the learning.

In the MYP (and all IB programmes), teaching is:

• Based on inquiry A strong emphasis is placed on students finding their own information and constructing their own understandings. • Focused on conceptual understanding Concepts are explored in order to both deepen disciplinary understanding and to help students make connections and transfer learning to new contexts. • Developed in local and global contexts Teaching uses real-life contexts and examples, and students are encouraged to process new information by connecting it to their own experiences and to the world around them. • Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration This includes promoting teamwork and collaboration between students but also refers to the collaborative relationship between teachers and students. • Designed to remove barriers to learning Teaching is inclusive and values diversity. It affirms students’ identities and aims to create learning opportunities that enable every student to develop and pursue appropriate personal goals.

• Informed by assessment. Assessment plays a crucial role in supporting, as well as measuring, learning. This approach also recognises the crucial role of providing students with effective feedback. (IBO, 2017)

As part of the MYP implementation process this year, teachers are looking at ways to develop the IB Approaches to Teaching in classes with Year 7 students. In particular, we are focusing on inquiry-based teaching and learning in order to promote age-appropriate levels of student collaboration and independence. During the middle years, emerging adolescents have an increasing need to develop a sense of identity, both individually and within their peer group. This is, however, balanced by a continuing desire to have adult guidance and mentorship. At its core, inquiry learning aims to foster active questioning, which drives student curiosity. At Dio, we are taking a guided inquiry approach; using various types of question to give a balance of direct support from the teacher while encouraging greater levels of student independence. In the MYP, teachers use three types of questions:

• Factual questions – which engage students with essential disciplinary groundings and skills. • Conceptual questions – which require students to make connections between the subject content and the larger conceptual ideas that are driving the learning. • Debatable questions – which require the students to think critically, evaluate perspectives, form opinions and justify them with factual evidence.

In Year 7 social studies, students are engaging in a topic called ‘A Sustainable World’. The girls have been developing their understanding of the three main concepts: Systems, Sustainability and Resources. In order to relate this to the real world, they have focused on the context of sustainable practices in the Pacific region. They used this knowledge to suggest ways we could develop sustainable practices here at Dio. During the unit, teachers have used questions to promote individual and collaborative inquiry such as:

• Factual – What kinds of resources can you find in the Pacific? and What are the different types of sustainability? • Conceptual – What could New Zealand learn from the Pacific in terms of sustainable resource use? and

What systems could we develop at Dio to promote sustainability? • Debatable – Who should be responsible for resource use in different countries? Students added to these big questions from the teachers with questions of their own. They used tools such as a question matrix and question dice to help in the formulating of smaller questions for their own research and to stimulate their own curiosity about the topic.

Diocesan School for Girls is a Candidate School* for the Middle Years Programme (MYP). The School is pursuing authorisation, expanding its status to a three-programme IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy: a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Dio believes is important for our students.

Glen Fleury, MYP Co-ordinator

*Only schools authorised by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorisation will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org