Learning and teaching

Transdisciplinary learning

that two inquiries of the same theme will arrive at the same outcome, leading to potentially new

realities and the transcendence of learning.

of learning during our entire life”.

such interchange” with people in their environment (Gardner and Boix Mansilla).

of learning during our entire life”.

distinguishes transdisciplinary from multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary.

from different participants, disciplines and perspectives, and not merely those of any single individual.

greater disciplinary knowledge, but of children’s “potential for reecting critically on an answer, for

drawing on relevant daily experience, for engaging in discussion and dialogue and beneting from

such interchange” with people in their environment (Gardner and Boix Mansilla 1999: 85).

AND

Subject-specic teachers at PYP schools extend their support for

learners transitioning to disciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking in the next stage of education in

the MYP or other programmes.

subject, namely learners, teachers, members of the wider learning community and the “emotional

relations between them and the object of knowing ...” (Bostan 2015: 490).

create a shared understanding of the world.''

that learners are better served when we support knowledge as a socially constructed process rather

than an end goal

persons, facts, images, representations, elds of knowledge, and action and to discover the Eros [love]

of learning during our entire life”.

international-mindedness.

concepts to permit genuine dialogue”

and

Every planning meeting is an opportunity for teachers to rework their personal interpretation of the relationship between theory and practice.

“Shared knowledge should lead to a shared understanding based on an absolute respect for the collective and individual otherness united by our common life on one and the same Earth regardless of background or beliefs” p. 6

Anna &Tim

"transcending knowledge"

"context"

nature.

engage in a rapidly changing, uncertain, and complex world.

theories and explanatory framework to explore complex themes and to solve problems,"

of knowledge and different beings.

community.

of knowledge and different beings. The principal task is elaboration of a new language, logic, and

concepts to permit genuine dialogue”

of knowledge and different beings."

This approach connects the knowledge, or understanding of individual learners in different areas of the subject, or topic.

• Ensures Conceptual and Skill Progression Across Grades

• Improves Curriculum Relevance and Engagement -

• Supports Coherent ATL Skill Development

• Encourages Student Agency and Ownership

•  Strengthens Transdisciplinary Connections

• Aligns Curriculum with Real-World Issues

• 🔄 Conduct learner reflections at the end of each unit, and analyze trends across year levels.
  
  

• 🧠 Student focus groups during curriculum review cycles.
  
  

• 📊 Surveys to gather feedback on which units or themes resonated most.
  
  

• 🗣️ Student participation in PoI review meetings or curriculum committees (Grade 5/6).
  
  

✍️ Collect journals or learning stories that reveal personal connections to the units.

Collaboration: Our Wednesday morning late start as a way to have time for collaboration.

TD Themes: Learning leaders looked at new unit descriptors.

Agency - a strong connection with agency, authentic opportunities, teacher hones in on student interests and letting students find their interest, students' tasks can evolve and have space to change ("fluidity")

Collaboration - the value of collaboration

Agreements between teachers and how they show how it works

PYP learners explore authentic situations by going beyond subject boundaries

Vertical analysis of central ideas

Collaboration: Visual POI in a communal area and getting feedback from the whole learning community, including parents and students.

TD Themes: Involving the whole school (including students) in reviewing the units

-Learning goes beyond subject areas

-Connects knowledge concepts and skills across disciplines

-Concepts help frame a unit of inquiry

-Moves past traditional subject

-POI should be a living document that is continually evaluated and changed

-instead of focusing on facts move towards big ideas

Collaboration: Having a communication tool across subjects [jump rope, Chalk, Rubicon Atlas] for real time connections

TD Themes: Finding time to do a full program review that includes all ES staff here at ASW

Seeing the example on page 11 that shows four subjects integrated within a unit of inquiry (file:///Users/mkim/Downloads/Designing%20and%20reviewing%20a%20transdisciplinary%20programme%20of%20inquiry.pdf)

Agency - humility and vulnerability of what happened to a teacher in her classroom (i.e. having the support of her team, but not knowing what the students' ideas will eventually be, not having everything mapped out ahead of time), looking at big picture that still hits all targets while being authentic to students

Collaboration - giving feedback on unit review but later realizing it's also good to ask students and parents

We did NOT connect with the idea of collaboration that is not directly connected with our daily work. We understand the underlying theme of building that philosophy of collaboration but...the scarcity of time...it doesn't resonate as a good use of it.

Edyta was talking about integration meetings with grade level LL and specialist/language teachers. She felt it was helpful but we haven't done that since Lisa is LL. Is there a reason we don't collaborate that way now?

- I've done something similar in units of inquiry - dedicating space for kids to pursue personal inquiry within the context of the current inquiry.
- I've also done personal inquiry time (sometimes called genius hour, i-time, me day, etc...) that is outside of curriculum (which was freeing and amazing).

- asking "so what?" of our units' central idea and LOI is so important.

- in the references, there's a cool source that posits that, "agency isn't something we give the students." it's either being developed or stunted in school - or ignored altogether.

• process (rather than outcomes) orientated

• Design process: Rather than have this as a disconnected experience, the coach suggested that it would be more effective to develop these skills with the students in a real-life context.

• the class already knew that they were in charge of their learning time, not me. I view it as my job to respond to the needs and inspirations of the community—to create an environment that sets up their learning and guide students through different ways of thinking so that they reach the goals they have constructed for themselves.

• each teacher would organize learning stations in the shared space as provocations for exploration and play. 

• creating a class that spoke to each other, not just to the teacher

• Documenting and facilitating their reflections became another part of my role. Without reflection, students could not see what steps would be needed next.

Extend -

- more time for intentional planning - naomi and i are new, so we haven't had a lot of time to ruminate and get creative with units etc...

- student "committees" was an interesting idea. almost like a jigsaw concept. a good example of hearing an idea for a project and centralizing it.

- "We also used our transdisciplinary mathematics learning time to explore the tinkerspace inquiry. The
students measured the shared space, and relied on each other’s addition and multiplication strategies to
help them with the large numbers. These measurements lent themselves to conversations about rounding
decimals and conversions, and some groups used tape for dividing the space into manageable shapes for
area and perimeter. " .............We have done this activities in the past. And yes, students' agency has a great impact in their own learning, plus the memory retention is much greater if they touch, see and feel what they are doing. We could design a more challenging, and less challenging activities to target students with what they need.

Challenge -

- we have to really value inquiry and even personal inquiry with time if we want to increase student agency and voice.

- it needs to be scaffolded

- it needs to be documented and the time spent used accounted for.

• Time and Scheduling Constraints

• Inconsistencies in Documentation

• Repetition or Gaps in Learning

• Limited Involvement of Specialist Teachers

In Kindergarten, we have student agency built into the way we set up our environment and schedule - through station and choice times in our day. This leads to student engagement. Also, we also listen to student voice and agency and allow their ideas come to action (eg. Student developed/ designed celebration).

Where the teacher lets the students "take the reins" from the examples in the reading? What was the lead-up and how much time? The process seemed so dynamic and seemed like it would take so much time.

Planning-wise, when do we meet with other teachers to be a spark?

(tension) There's a lot to the start, middle, and end.

Follow-through on essential agreements - what is the structure of time? We need help creating a system/structure of coming together. Recognizing that the students are OUR students.

Sometimes we don't need to create totally new things, but glad to see "little tweaks" also working in a real life example

“Over the years, there has been a significant increase in the number of students speaking a diverse range of languages. Due to this, we have moved to a learning and teaching model which integrates home languages and additional languages through dedicated language support teachers. These teachers worked with grade-level teachers to plan for, adapt and change the learning experiences we had in place, which led to a greater emphasis on collaboration—language teaching was no longer a supporting role, but an integral one.“

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BaFzlDWMNhEQdww1Oj-nVKq8M2YOjIabFH-UuIf2gn0/edit?tab=t.0

Identified Challenges:

• Misunderstandings regarding the content and conceptual depth of the Units of Inquiry (UoIs)

• Lack of clarity around the different levels of integration and what constitutes genuine transdisciplinary learning

• Unclear pathways and practices that lead towards authentic transdisciplinarity in planning and implementation

• Varying levels of teacher readiness to provide meaningful, constructive feedback on curriculum design and programme implementation

• Uncertainty around the role of Additional Languages (AL) within UoIs, including how to meaningfully integrate AL into transdisciplinary learning and how to support subject-specific inquiry within the AL curriculum

As a school we often start with the purpose for our work ex: meetings, committees, etc. This article showed how inviting staff voice on creating essential agreements for collaboration set up the teams for productive meetings. They used a collaborative protocol to create 9 essential agreements. The essential agreements were framed like this: We value ______ so we ______.

· Transdisciplinary feels natural — the importance of coherence across subject areas is clear and intuitive.

· Within the PYP curriculum and transdisciplinary teaching, the emphasis is placed more on the integration of thinking (grounded in shared concepts) rather than on the simple connection of content.

explores authentic situations by going beyond subject boundaries.

We were reminded that when we plan, we need to look for resources, opportunities, and perspectives (what, how, and who).

• The need to look for balance between science and social studies in the POI.

• How does one continue to look for vertical alignment from different lenses?

• What's the best way to access the and process the vertical alignment as a team?

  
  

  
  

Role of Subjects (including Additional Languages) in the Programme of Inquiry

• While learning in the PYP is transdisciplinary (beyond subject boundaries), subjects like additional languages play a vital role in supporting, extending, and enriching the units of inquiry.

• Subject areas are not stand-alone: they are expected to contribute to students’ understanding of central ideas, concepts, and lines of inquiry.

Making Connections Between Additional Languages and UOIs

• Authentic integration: Grade/year-level and specialist teachers (including language teachers) work collaboratively to integrate language learning into the programme of inquiry, where relevant.

• Subject representation: At least two or three subjects (such as additional languages, mathematics, arts, etc.) should be integrated and documented in every unit of inquiry. Across the school year, all subjects must be represented.

• Scope and sequence alignment: Schools use their language scope and sequence (from the IB or local curriculum) to plan how additional language objectives can connect to UOIs.

• Connections can happen in multiple ways:

  • Through subject-specific inquiry that aligns with a UOI.

  • By preparing for or following on from a UOI (for example, reinforcing vocabulary or cultural context).

  • Through skills-based teaching that supports broader inquiry needs (e.g., communication skills, intercultural understanding).

Collaboration for Language Integration

• Homeroom and single-subject teachers (including language teachers) are expected to co-plan so that links between the UOI and additional language learning are documented and intentional.

• Teachers identify concepts and subject connections within, between, and beyond the six transdisciplinary themes (e.g., connecting “How we express ourselves” with language learning).

• Language teachers can generate transdisciplinary and subject-specific questions that connect to UOI central ideas.

Reviewing the Programme of Inquiry with Languages in Mind

• When schools review their Programme of Inquiry, they check that:

  • All PYP subjects (including additional languages) are represented across all grade levels.

  • Additional language learning contributes to learners’ understanding of central ideas, not just taught in isolation.

  • There is a balance of subject integration across themes and years, avoiding overemphasis on only a few subjects.