• What philosophical shifts would you need to make to create a learning environment that invites student agency or the process of the exhibition?

  
  

• What physical shifts would you need to make to create a learning environment that invites student agency or the process of the exhibition?

• What challenges and opportunities do you see in making these shifts in the learning environment?

  
  

• Choose a question and type your answer below

1. Reflect on one area in which you would like to immediately provide opportunities for more student agency.

2. Create a brief action plan that you will start this week.

Questions to consider:

• How will you gauge how students feel about the changes?

• How will you measure or evidence success of your changes?

• What potential obstacles do you see that you could plan for?

  
  

3. Share your plans

2. 3 essential agreements for effectivel collaborating

2. Create a visual model of the collaborative planning process you used including goal or objective setting, roles, information gathering, decision-making, monitoring and evaluation, adjustments, review, and reflection.

3. Make or upload your visual model to our discussion sandbox

The PYP curriculum framework begins with the premise that students are agents of their own learning and partners in the learning process. It prioritizes people and their relationships to build a strong learning community.

PYP students use their initiative to take responsibility and ownership of their learning. By learning through inquiry and reflecting on their own learning, PYP students develop knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and the attributes of the IB learner profile to make a difference in their own lives, their communities, and beyond.

The framework also emphasizes the central principle of agency through the recognition of the importance of fostering an individual's self-efficacy. Students with a strong sense of self-efficacy are active in their own learning and take action in their learning community.

The following provides the most basic definitions of the terms.

Interdisciplinarity is concerned “with the links and the transfer of knowledge, methods, concepts and models from one discipline to another” (Padurean and Cheveresan 2010: 128). Disciplinary boundaries may blur. The transfer of knowledge can sometimes yield a new discipline. For example, when the disciplines of nuclear physics and medicine came together, they yielded a new treatment called chemotherapy (Choi and Pak 2006). Again, in everyday analogy, interdisciplinarity is represented as stew, where ingredients are partially distinguishable (Choi and Pak 2006).

Multidisciplinarity is concerned with studying a topic “in not just one discipline only, but several at the same time (Nicolescu 2014: 187). Multidisciplinary learning begins and ends with the subject-based content and skills (Beane 1997). The boundaries among the subjects remain. Using an everyday analogy, multidisciplinarity is represented as a mixed salad where the ingredients remain separate and distinguishable (Choi and Pak 2006).

Transdisciplinarity “concerns that which is at once between the disciplines, across the different disciplines, and beyond all disciplines” (Nicolescu 2014: 187). Nicolescu notes that a key imperative of transdisciplinary learning is to unite knowledge for the understanding of the present world. In transdisciplinarity, the disciplines are no longer distinguishable, like the ingredients in a cake, and the result is something completely different (Choi and Pak 2006).

Transdisciplinarity transcends subjects. It begins and ends with a problem, an issue or a theme. Students’ interests and questions form the heart of transdisciplinary learning. It is a curriculum-organizing approach where human commonalities rise to the top without regard for subject boundaries. Subjects become an instrument/tool/resource to explore a theme, problem or concept in depth. The result is a different or new organizing framework (Beane 1997; Klein 2006).

Last update: 12/08/2022

These themes are worth exploring regardless of where PYP students are in the world and with which ethnic or cultural group they identify. Framing the programme of inquiry, these globally and socially driven themes provide a starting point from which students can examine issues and opportunities as they are being experienced in the real world. Taken together, these themes provide students with authentic learning experiences that are not confined to the boundaries of traditional subjects because real-world problems have no boundaries.

Last update: 12/08/2022

2. Share units with your group members that you currently teach or facilitate that might fit under, or within, some of these transdisciplinary themes.

3. Collaboratively select one transdisciplinary theme and then select one unit that you all agree works well under the selected transdisciplinary theme.

4. On the PYP planner template, write your group’s transdisciplinary theme in the appropriate space.

5.After viewing the first video of the PYP Nano entitled Concept-based learning, briefly discuss the word “transfer” and its impact with your group members.

6. Now consider the natural conceptual connections to the different subject areas in your unit, ensuring there is a balance of subjects to support understanding of the selected transdisciplinary theme. Note down the concepts that connect across the different subjects.

7. Next consider the specified concepts that will drive your inquiry.

• the concepts selected for the central idea can also be used in the next inquiry where LOIs will be created

8. Identify 2-3 concepts that connect your disciplinary knowledge and transdisciplinary theme. Add them to your planner template.

9.Keeping what you learned about ‘transfer’ in mind, view the first video of the PYP Nano entitled Strong Central Ideas.

10. Use some action words or verbs to connect how your concepts relate to each other as a start to building your central idea.

• brainstorm some words together – influence, develop, create, design, curate, connect etc.

11. Work collaboratively to create a central idea to fit your unit of inquiry. Rewatch the PYP Nano if needed.

12. When your group has crafted a central idea, use this checklist to see if your central idea meets the criteria.

✅ Does it offer students opportunities to explore the commonalities of the human experience?

✅ Does it promote the associated conceptual understandings?

✅ Is it broad enough to offer multiple lines of inquiry?

✅ Is it underpinned by concepts?

✅ Is it relevant to students in all cultures and contexts?

✅ Will it engage students in thinking critically and creatively?

✅ Does it present an opportunity for students to co-construct meaning of the conceptual framework being explored?

✅ Is it open to a range of student responses?

13. When your group is satisfied that your central idea is complete and meets the criteria checklist, add it to your planner (Note: assessment related parts will be covered Inquiry 5)

14. Upload and save the completed planner on padelt (below this section), as it will be used for Inquiry 5 tomorrow.

Juxtaposed with learning based on memorization of facts and algorithms, learning in the PYP is anchored on goals of developing conceptual understandings. Concepts (which may transcend time, contexts, and cultures) are the basic building blocks of units of inquiry in each PYP school; they are relied upon to deepen disciplinary understandings and to help learners make connections and transfer learning to different contexts. True understanding looks like a learner being able to use learning from one context and apply it to another context; concepts transcend contexts and can connect knowledge. (PSP realised)

Concepts are fundamental and abstract ideas which can often be expressed in a single word (i.e. change, patterns, perspective, responsibility) which support the development of conceptual understanding. Concepts fall at varying places on continuums of abstraction and universality and serve a variety of purposes in the learning environment,

not limited to organizing content (what learners will learn), organizing curriculum, serving as the basis for objectives, assessments, and learning engagements. (PSP realised)

Concepts are fundamental and abstract ideas which can often be expressed in a single word (i.e. change, patterns, perspective, responsibility) which support the development of conceptual understanding.

Concepts fall at varying places on continuums of abstraction and universality and serve a variety of purposes in the learning environment, not limited to organizing content (what learners will learn), organizing curriculum, serving as the basis for objectives, assessments, and learning engagements. (PSP realised)

“Teaching for conceptual understanding is supported by the approaches to teaching. In particular, collaboration and inquiry activities support the development of a learner’s conceptual understanding. In turn, teaching for conceptual understanding enhances the process and outcomes of inquiry.” (PSP realised)

Teaching developed in local and global contexts

Contextualized learning places an emphasis on students processing new information by connecting it to their own experience and to the world around them. In this approach, learning occurs when students “process new information or knowledge in such a way that it makes sense to them in their frame of reference… This approach to learning and teaching assumes that the mind naturally seeks meaning in context—that is, in the environment where the person is located—and that it does so through searching for relationships that make sense and appear useful” (Hull, 1993, p. 41).

Grounding learning in real-life contexts is one of the six pillars Claxton (2008) identifies as fundamental to student engagement. He goes on to state that grounding learning and teaching in local and global contexts can help make it

more authentic and more meaningful for students; the exploration of real-life problems can be more interesting for students because they are relevant and authentic. It also helps students see the purpose or ‘why’ they are learning. (Claxton 2008).

Teaching based on inquiry

Teaching and learning in the PYP is based on inquiry. This means that a very significant emphasis is placed on learners finding their own information and building their own understandings. IB PYP teachers lean heavily into inquiry as the most fundamental strategy for teaching and learning; they understand that meaning-making is unique to learners and their contexts. They value exploration, negotiation, questioning, and cooperation because these practices play a vital role in the development of conceptual understanding.(PSP realized)

Deeply woven into inquiry practices is the understanding that language is crucial to the building of understanding and ways in which it is communicated. Language provides a way for learners to explore their inner worlds and the worlds of others, broadening the perspectives and appreciation for diverse world views and interpretations. Technology is a particularly useful resource that contributes greatly to the meaning-making within classrooms. (PSP realized)

A transdisciplinary theme

A central idea, specified and selected additional concepts, and lines of inquiry

1 Wish🎐

1. Review the transdisciplinary theme, the central idea and the specific and additional concepts you have selected.

2. Taking into consideration the subject areas that will be part of this unit and the big ideas from the concepts you have selected, together view the Teacher Support Material (TSM) School B: Scope and sequence programme of inquiry development. Discuss how this school collaboratively created lines of inquiry that draw from the central idea.

3. Collaboratively write a line of inquiry (see success criteria below) that is connected to the central idea of your unit. This line of inquiry should help define the parameters of your unit as well as unpack the concepts in the central idea.

4. Brainstorm the opportunities you have just created through your line of inquiry to support the transfer of learning across, between, and beyond subjects. Are there connections to learning within and outside the unit of inquiry? Can you ensure that learning is purposeful and connects to local and global challenges and opportunities?

5. Document your group’s thinking in the ‘Connections’ box of the planner (from inquiry 4).

2. Review the transdisciplinary theme, the central idea, the concepts and the lines of inquiry on your planner (from Inquiry 4) and discuss how you will monitor, document and measure student learning of the knowledge, skills and conceptual understandings of this unit. Use the following prompts.

• What assessment strategies will I use – observations, rubrics, checklists?

• What assessment tools will I use – anecdotal records, portfolios, learning stories, self-assessment?

• What evidence of learning will I gather – student work samples, reflections, self-assessments?

3. Remember to also consider how your assessments are aligned with the central idea, the lines of inquiry, and the specified and additional concepts.

4. In the ‘Prior Learning’ box on your planner, document the tools and strategies you will use to note evidence and the ways of gathering evidence of what students already know, understand and can do regarding their understanding of the central idea and lines of inquiry.

5. Next, consider what student questions may arise because of their prior knowledge, experiences and interests.

Write these questions in the ‘Student Questions’ box.

6. Consider both ‘Ongoing Assessment’ and ‘Student Self-Assessment and Peer Feedback’ sections of the planner – how will you use ongoing assessment to ensure learning is engaging, accessible and student-centred. Complete the ‘Ongoing Assessment’ box.

7. In the box, ‘Learning goals and success criteria’, write a general learning goal or outcome that could answer a student’s questions: “Where am I going in my learning?” and “What do I need to get there?”.

8. Again with your group, discuss how you and your students will measure success.

9. In the same box you just wrote in, document how you will co-create specific and measurable success criteria with your students. Success criteria can answer the questions: “What does successful learning look like?” and “What are we looking for during learning?”.

10. Now reflect on the opportunities you will provide students to self-assess and self-adjust based on feedback

from teachers and peers. Complete that box.

11. Finally, synthesize your learning and understanding of PYP assessment by brainstorming potential assessment tasks for evidencing student learning for this unit.

12. Save the completed planner, as it will be used for Inquiry 6.

1. Brainstorm and then write down two ways in which a shared assessment culture could enhance collaboration among teachers.

2. Now, reflect on how collaboration among teachers on assessment practices could impact students. Write these ideas down too.

3. Debrief your words and develop a six-word memoir that represents your ideas.

4. Be prepared to share and explain your memoir.

Add the memoir below

• authentic: supports connections to the real world

• clear and specific: including learning goals and success criteria

• varied, developmental: with an emphasis on progress within each individual

• collaborative: teachers and students are both engaged in assessment development and analysis, interactive, feedback to feedforward (feedback is provided to inform what will support future learning (Hattie, Timperley 2007) in order to raise motivation

2. You will participate in a scavenger hunt to find examples of each approaches to learning skill category. Your facilitator will share the spaces you can explore.

3. Identify as many approaches to learning skills as possible for each category.

For example: Communication – an example of effective communication could be a well-designed notice or bulletin board or a sign with clear information.

4. Share with the whole group some of the examples you found. (upload below)

5. Whole group discussion on why each skill is important and how it can be applied in different academic and real-life situations.

2. With a partner, discuss these questions：

• Which of these different thinking strategies stood out to you, and why?

• Are you using any of these thinking strategies in your own classroom? If so, what impact have they had on student learning?

• If not yet, what impact do you think they could have on student learning?

3. With your collaborative unit planning group:

• Consider what skills your students will be able to know, do and understand as a result of this inquiry.

  
  

4. Write the relevant approaches to learning skills in the ‘Approaches to learning’ box in the planner. (save the planner for Inquiry 7)

5. Finally, create a learning experience that highlights the use of one of the ATL skills you have identified on your unit planner.

6. Share you plans and learning experience to the whole group.

1. Locate the self-audit tool for determining how multilingual your school is. 

2. Download the entire table and complete your self-audit.

3. Review the IB language tenets.

4. Select one tenet that is a strength for your school based on the self-audit and one tenet that is an area for further development.

5. Write a brief action plan of how you will continue to sustain the tenet which is a strength and how you will enhance the tenet that needs further development.

6.Share your plan with the whole group.

1. Write down one word that comes to mind when you think about language development.

2. Share your word with your assigned or self-selected group. Together, create a slogan from all your words that describes your groups’ ideas about language development.

3. Share your slogan with the whole group by posting it on the walls.

With your collaborative unit planning group:

4. Wearing your ‘language teacher’ hat, review your progress on your unit of inquiry.

5. Share with your group any new perspectives or insights on the unit through this new lens.

6. Discuss and make adjustments where warranted.

7. Save the planner for Inquiry 8

1. Read the Teacher Support Material-Student Language Agreements

2. reflect on how you could involve students in the creation of a classroom culture that respects and values a variety of languages. (add comments below)

2. Investigate by doing desk research and by keeping the six approaches to teaching in mind.

3. Together, create a graphic organizer outlining how your learning space considerations contribute to one or more approach to teaching.(paper or sandbox)

4. Be prepared to share and explain your graphic organizer to the whole group.

1. View and interact with the digital resource from the PYP Playlist: Designing Learning Spaces.

2. Each share something new you hadn’t considered as part of a learning environment.

Return to your collaborative unit planning group:

4. With the chart paper provided (or on discussion sandbox), map out a classroom that ensures learning is engaging, flexible, accessible, co-constructed, and student-centered.

• Share the learning environment of your class/school to the group

  
  

5. Now add potential for local (or global) community members who may broaden perspectives for learners or inspire student-generated inquiries.

6. List any field trip opportunities.

2. Celebrate one aspect of a learning environment that already feels effective in your classroom.

3. Identify one aspect of a learning environment you believe you could adapt to your own classroom.

4. Open your calendar or reminder app and write a reminder to yourself outlining, with bullet points, the changes you would like to make.

5. Set the reminder or calendar date to two weeks following the end of this workshop.

Write in the section below: 

• how what you learned connects to what you already know and do

• what new ideas you got that broadened or extended your thinking in new directions

• what challenges or puzzles emerge for you. 

2. As a group, decide upon a type of student action.

You may decide upon your own or select one of these suggestions.

• Starting a school garden

• Organizing a student-run assembly about the learner profile attributes

• Minimizing food waste in the cafeteria

• Creating a visible space for acknowledging student-initiated action

• Inviting parents in for a writing share

• Keeping classroom supplies tidy and replenished

3. With the paper provided, create a ‘placemat’ with ‘Transdisciplinary learning’ written in the centre.

4. In the box for ‘Transdisciplinary learning’, add a few words to describe the type of student action your group has selected.

5. Label each of the four quadrants with the following headings:

• Skills & Knowledge Required

• Connected Subject Areas

• Potential Learning Community Involvement

• Challenges & Opportunities of Implementation

6. With your group, envision planning for time for a small group of students OR your entire class to carry out this action. Complete the four quadrants.

7. When your four quadrants are completed, collaboratively create a presentation (in any medium or format) for your school community on the student action you would like to plan, taking into account all four quadrants of your placemat

8. Be prepared to share your presentation with the whole group.

• Schools: 4 IB schools in SZ hold joint PYPx kick-off

• Departments (MYP & DP support)

• Teachers (mentors)

• Families: research, field trip, experienment

that empowers learner agency.

LPA posters in all classrooms and around the campus

--Students handmade posters,

--LPA Posters with students' photos there (photos from ASA, class activities, school events, etc.)

For students (show products):

1. LPA postcard design competition

2. LPA winners every week in all subjects

3. LPA song creation

4. LPA Gallery Walk

5. LPA-related activities: match the LPA with photo

   
   

   For teachers:

   1. Have certain LPA in the planner for all subjects

   2. Spiderweb discussion during PYPC meeting

   3. Explicitly teach LPA in class: stories, books, videos, activities, poem writing etc.

   4. Use the vocabulary all the time

      
      

      Learning community:

      1. PYP workshops for parents from all subjects

      2. Use the vocabulary with the parents during PTC

New plan: complain letter to the aquarium

Learner Profile：Open-minded, Caring, Communicator