For me, contextual learning means connecting learning to meaningful experiences and authentic situations. Students are more engaged when they can see how their learning relates to their lives, communities, and the world around them. When learning has context, students are more likely to understand why it matters and remember it long after the lesson has ended.

One aspect of the PYP that I find particularly valuable is the transdisciplinary approach. Instead of teaching subjects in isolation, learning is organised around significant ideas that connect multiple subject areas. This helps students see relationships between concepts and develop a deeper understanding of the world. It also reflects how knowledge is used outside of school, where problems and situations rarely fit neatly into one subject.

As a primary ESL teacher, I can see conceptual and contextual learning taking place when language is used as a tool for inquiry rather than being taught in isolation. For example, instead of simply teaching vocabulary related to weather, students might investigate how weather affects people's lives in different countries. They would develop language skills while also exploring concepts such as adaptation, environment, and perspective.

I believe conceptual teaching and learning benefits both students and teachers. Students develop deeper understanding, critical thinking skills, and the ability to transfer learning to new situations. Teachers are able to create more meaningful learning experiences and move beyond covering content to helping students make connections. Ultimately, conceptual learning helps create curious, reflective, and engaged learners who are better prepared to understand and contribute to the world around them.

Context-based learning embeds curriculum knowledge in students’ real-life and cultural contexts. It makes abstract knowledge tangible, boosts learner engagement, and helps students link classroom learning to real-world problems.

In IB frameworks, PYP transdisciplinary learning eliminates subject boundaries to explore shared themes holistically. MYP interdisciplinary learning integrates two or more subjects while preserving individual subject features. Both prioritize student inquiry.

As a pre-service teacher, I will integrate the two learning approaches in future classes. For instance, I will teach the concept of sustainability via local community waste issues, combining multidisciplinary learning. This student-centered method supports sustainable learning growth and efficient teaching delivery.

Contextual learning, to me, is meeting children where they are. It means embedding concepts in experiences they can touch, see, and feel—cooking together to explore transformation, visiting a local park to observe interdependence in nature, or using their own classroom community to explore relationships and responsibility. The advantage is engagement and relevance; when a concept is rooted in a child's immediate world, it sticks.

As a [pre-service/in-service] early years teacher, I see conceptual and contextual learning in action when [describe a specific example: e.g., "we explore the concept of 'connection' by mapping who helps us in our school community—cleaners, cooks, nurses, teachers—and then children draw and interview them," "we investigate 'patterns' through nature walks, music clapping games, and bead threading rather than just worksheet exercises," or "we use our class garden to explore 'causation'—what happens when we forget to water? What do plants need to thrive?"]. This looks like children asking their own questions, making connections across experiences, and using conceptual language in unexpected ways.

In the IB PYP framework, this is the foundation of inquiry-based learning in early childhood—concepts like form, function, connection, and responsibility become lenses through which children make sense of their world, rather than boxes of content to be delivered.

For me, transdisciplinary learning is about using subjects as tools to help students understand bigger ideas and real-world issues. Rather than teaching knowledge in isolation, learning is connected through meaningful inquiry that encourages students to think critically, collaborate and apply their understanding in authentic contexts.

This links closely to concept-based learning, which I understand as moving beyond simply teaching facts and content. Instead, students explore broader concepts such as change, perspective, connection or responsibility. These concepts help students see patterns, make connections and transfer their understanding across different subjects and situations. Contextual learning then brings those concepts to life by placing them in meaningful, real-world situations that students can relate to. When students can see the purpose behind their learning and understand how it connects to their own lives and the world around them, learning becomes much more engaging and meaningful.

As I have reflected on these ideas, I have realised that I have already been incorporating aspects of conceptual and contextual learning in my own teaching, even if I did not always use those specific terms. For example, in English, my students have recently been comparing a novel with its television adaptation. While they are developing literacy skills, they are also exploring larger concepts such as perspective, interpretation and change. They discuss how different people can interpret the same story in different ways and how stories change when they are adapted for different audiences. These discussions encourage students to think more deeply rather than simply recalling information.

I also see contextual learning in many of the inquiry-based and project-based learning experiences I have facilitated. Students are often most engaged when learning is connected to authentic issues and experiences. Whether they are investigating environmental challenges, community issues or cultural traditions, they begin to see that what they learn in school has relevance beyond the classroom.

What I particularly like about these approaches is the shift they create in both teaching and learning. Students move from asking, "What do I need to remember?" to asking, "Why does this matter?" and "How does this connect to what I already know?" At the same time, the teacher's role becomes less about delivering information and more about guiding inquiry, supporting thinking and learning alongside the students.

As I continue learning about the PYP, I would like to become more intentional in planning around concepts and contexts. Rather than beginning with content alone, I would like to start with the bigger understandings I want students to develop and then design learning experiences that allow them to explore those ideas in meaningful ways. For me, these approaches represent learning that is deeper, more connected and more transferable. Ultimately, they help develop learners who are curious, reflective and able to apply their understanding beyond the classroom, which feels far more meaningful than simply covering content.

In the classroom, conceptual learning looks like an inquiry-driven exploration. For example, instead of defining the big concept of "sustainability," students might explore small ideas like recycling or climate change by investigating how waste moves through classrooms or schools and analyzing how human choices impact natural ecosystems. They would ask questions, collect real data, discuss different perspectives, and understand the concept with their own explanation. Learning becomes visible through discussions, reflective writing, and action proposals to show students could build an agency by linking knowledge to real action. 

Contextual learning is about putting learning in real-world contexts. It means learning is not abstract but connected to students' lives, communities, and global issues. This helps students see how the concepts of learning apply to the real world and makes them feel more relevant and meaningful. The transdisciplinary approach in PYP naturally supports this by breaking down subject silos, allowing students to explore concepts and contexts from multiple disciplinary perspectives. 

As a science in-service teacher, the prospect of adding additional conceptual and contextual learning to my own instruction excites me very much. I see developing inquiry-based modules in which students are allowed to look into a particular issue or question, gather data, and come up with answers using a variety of subjects. For instance, a course on "water scarcity" would require students to investigate the political, social, and scientific facets of this problem before coming up with original solutions. Everyone engaged would find learning far more interesting and significant with this kind of practical, multidisciplinary approach! 

Situated learning uses real-life problems as the classroom's core, replacing dry lectures. The benefit is that students are motivated to explore actively and develop various ATL skills.

PYP transdisciplinary learning breaks down silos between subjects like Chinese and Math. Instead, it integrates learning around six overarching themes, fostering holistic understanding through inquiry.

Implementation in practice: Start with real-life scenarios to pose tasks, guide thinking with conceptual questions, and after activities, collectively distill universal principles. Pair this with formative assessment to ensure children grasp these concepts while solving authentic, small-scale problems.

I value both conceptual and contextual learning, as they work together to help students understand not only what they are learning, but also why it matters. Conceptual learning provides the framework, while contextual learning allows teachers and learners to make sense of it. Starting with a big idea when teaching a topic is important because it encourages us to think about what students will remember years from now. Contextual learning then helps connect students' lives and experiences to that big idea, making the learning more meaningful and memorable. The two approaches are interconnected.

As a teacher, I am always looking to highlight the big idea of a lesson and connect it to a meaningful context. When I present a big idea and begin a discussion, I learn a great deal about students' prior knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Contextual learning helps students connect new learning to their own lives, making the concept more relevant and meaningful. These conversations help me establish a foundation for learning, identify misconceptions, and better understand how I can guide students toward the learning goals. They also allow me to adjust my lessons, build on students' interests, and provide the support or challenges needed to move their learning forward.

Conceptual understanding creates opportunities for learners to make connections, transfer and apply skills, knowledge, and understanding across, between and beyond subjects.As Julie Stern mentioned in the video, conflicts over water resources between Egypt and South Sudan highlight that resource shortages often trigger conflicts. Thus, the concepts of "resource shortage" can cause "conflict" , and this "Causation" can be extended to other conflict scenarios, such as land disputes in Chinese history.

Concept-based learning also can help learners connect factual knowledge and strengthen their memory of factual knowledge. Students may even actively learn factual knowledge to support concepts, effectively enhancing their self-efficacy and achieving knowledge transfer.

Concept-based learning can deepen learners' understanding of disciplines and cultivate their ability to explore complex ideas and viewpoints. Every problem encountered in real life is transdisciplinary and cannot be classified as a simple mathematical problem or a simple scientific problem. By using concepts to coordinate the curriculum and enabling students to engage in transdisciplinary learning, it is easier to cultivate students' ability to solve more complex problems in the real world and help them understand the world better.

In addition，Concept-based learning also helps cultivate learners' critical thinking. Concept-based learning can help learners understand that knowledge is not fixed and unchanging, but is constructed on the basis of society and context, and therefore can be influenced by different perspectives, eras, and backgrounds. To some extent, conceptual learning provides students with a path to a more objective perspective.

My understanding of contextual learning is that it is learning in a specific context, environment, or around a specific case, and is closely related to reality. Contextual learning can effectively combine concepts with reality. Conceptual learning is generally conducted in specific context, as concepts are relatively abstract and hidden within the discipline. And contextual learning helps us externalize, visualize, and understand concepts.

There are many advantages to contextual learning, which allows learners to connect the content they are learning with the real world, making it more attractive to students and thus improving their learning efficiency. Contextual learning can also enrich the learning process by conducting different exploration activities, games, etc. through different contexts. Finally, contextual learning can make conceptual learning easier, especially for younger learners who may have difficulty understanding abstract concepts. Situational teaching can make concepts more concrete and easier to understand.

Transdisciplinary learning in the PYP refers to learning that is not confined within the boundaries of traditional subjects but is supported and enriched by a combination of them. So ，schools develop exploration plans based on transdisciplinary themes, rather than teachers conducting exploration plans based solely on the subject. In transdisciplinary learning, learners need to acquire fundamental subject understanding and skills to support the integration of knowledge. So, teachers need to take a macro perspective and use concepts to consider the connections between various disciplines, as well as the connections between subject knowledge and interdisciplinary themes. Then, they need to organically integrate subject knowledge into interdisciplinary exploration units in specific and real contexts. In this way, learners move from what they know through personal experience and prior knowledge into ways of seeing, knowing, and doing that may be new or unfamiliar to them. 

In addition, in transdisciplinary projects, the teaching plan is planned on one level, but dynamic on another level. Teachers and learners adjust the exploration plan in a timely manner to respond to new and unexpected ideas and directions encountered by learners during exploration. Learners become co-investigators in dialogue with teachers, and they are jointly responsible for the process of teacher-student instruction and learning. Students engage in interdisciplinary learning through actions that are real, meaningful, and relevant to the real world. Students develop their self-efficacy through learning, spontaneously exploring and applying knowledge. In transdisciplinary learning, learners explore clues or various activities that focus on persistent and unchanging interdisciplinary concepts. During the exploration process, the results are not single or fixed, and teachers recognize that there are multiple realities/answers/solutions and encourage learners to identify, explore, and share them.

I am a primary school Chinese teacher. Conceptual and contextual learning reminds me of an article we learned about the Xisha Islands this semester. The article describes the marine life, sea water and geography of the the Xisha Islands. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would timely extract the concepts of "connection" and "perspective" when teaching articles. For example, the relationship between the survival of marine life and the environment, and the different feelings of different people about the the Xisha Islands. By connecting with the reality of children's lives, design exploration activities such as observing the living environment of plants on campus and at the school zoo (our school has a mini zoo that houses animals such as alpacas, rabbits, monkeys, ducks, swans, ostriches, etc.), analyzing how these animals and plants adapt to the environment in Wuhan, and even writing observation diaries. You can also interview different ages and professions (parents, students, teachers, and staff) about their views and feelings towards the same zoo, and even conduct research on "how to make school zoos better". Students could speak with the members of staff that are responsible solely for caring for the diverse plants and animals on campus to gain a better perspective of how the zoo is maintained. Students could then write a reflection which asks them to consider the importance of connection between the humanity and nature in order to once again link a particular context to the broader concepts.

For me, concept-based learning is learning "big ideas" (Good Thinking! - Conceptual Change: How New Ideas Take Root) like "change, perspective, and systems," as opposed to a list of facts to memorize. It’s like seeing the whole forest, not just individual trees. A concept is a big idea that stays important over time and space. As an example, instead of just learning about a specific historical war, students learn about the concepts of "conflict" or "power" and how those concepts are illustrated in different situations.

The main advantage of this method is that it makes students better thinkers. By relating new facts to these universal ideas, students have a "greater retention of factual knowledge" (MYP: from principles to practice, p:16). That’s because they think deeper and understand the ‘why’ of what they learn. It also helps them apply their knowledge to new situations and to make connections between different subjects. According to Julie Stern, "students learn abstract conceptual ideas through these fact-rich contexts" (What is Conceptual Understanding? Julie Stern). Facts and concepts work together in this way to make learning more meaningful and easier to remember.

What is Contextual Learning?

Contextual learning is the process of linking students’ learning to their lives and to real-world situations. It’s based on the idea that learning is best when students can make meaning from their own experiences. In the classroom, instead of just learning facts from a textbook, students explore topics in ways that feel relevant to them. When students see a lesson that helps them understand a real problem such as a local water crisis or a global problem, they don’t ask "Why are we learning this?" Students are more motivated and engaged when they believe that what they are learning is real and relevant to their lives. As an example, instead of simply reading about the heart and lungs, students can take their own pulse rates before and after exercise to learn how the body works. This makes science come alive!

In brief, contextual learning is teaching in a way that "students can construct meaning based on their own experiences" (Understanding the Importance of Contextual Learning for Students, October 15, 2023).

Understanding Interdisciplinary Learning (MYP)

The interdisciplinary approach (MYP) tries to get rid of the separation between school subjects. It brings subjects together, and students learn through big ideas related to real life, not just one subject.

As an example, when students learn about water, they can explore the topic in various ways. They learn about the water cycle in science. In social studies, they learn how people get, use, and share water. Then, they can write stories in language and draw or paint scenes of water in art. This helps students see that real life is not divided into math, science, and language boxes, but all aspects are connected.

My practical understanding and what it looks like in my classroom

In my future classroom, I would like to use both conceptual and contextual learning. I could begin with a big question like, "Why do people move from place to place?" (concept) and then connect the question to the students’ own experiences (context). For example, they can interview family members about their migration stories, then explore immigration patterns, and then make a project to share what they learned. This makes learning more real and interesting.  In this way, students explore and discover, and I’m there to guide them.

I also want to use concept-based learning to help students connect different subjects. For example, when we learn about "systems", we can study ecosystems in science, government systems in social studies, and systems in math like number patterns. It helps students to make connections and to think more deeply. We will also use approaches to learning skills such as thinking skills, communication skills, and self-management skills to help students learn more independently.

At the end, I want my students to not just remember facts, but to better understand the world and enjoy learning. As the IB mission reminds us, conceptual understanding "enables students to conceive multiple solutions to a problem" and "imagine multiple perspectives on issues" (The Enhancing the MYP BETA trial explained, Concepts and conceptual understanding).

Concept-based learning is really about digging deeper into the fundamental principles and ideas behind a subject, not just memorizing facts and figures. Students look at how different concepts connect and interact with each other, exploring things from different angles and perspectives. This is what pushes them to think critically and use what they already know to make sense of new situations. For me, the biggest advantage is that it builds a holistic understanding — it’s like separate puzzle pieces that slowly come together into one solid picture, giving children a foundation that goes beyond the classroom and actually sticks with them long-term.

Contextual learning, on the other hand, is grounded in the real-life situations, cultural background, and immediate environment around young learners. It matters because it connects what they’re learning to things that are familiar and relevant to their everyday lives, which makes the learning feel meaningful and engaging. Therefore, I see its strength as more immediate and situational, while concept-based learning builds something deeper and more lasting. Contextual learning makes things click in the moment, but concept-based learning is what gives students the deeper structure they need to carry that understanding into different contexts over time.

Transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning for me, a transdisciplinary approach is about how we teach, not avoiding subjects altogether. I’m not teaching math and science as dry, isolated knowledge — instead, I’m explaining and connecting things through daily life and real experiences, and then supporting that with the facts that stand behind everything. The facts don’t change, but when kids connect those facts to real things happening around them, that’s when it becomes meaningful and authentic. Teachers create those bridges between disciplines by grounding learning in what’s real and genuine in kids’ worlds, and the foundational knowledge supports and strengthens that connection.

Conceptual and contextual learning at a practical level in my ten-plus years of teaching, I’ve realized it’s not really one or the other — it’s actually a fifty-fifty balance. I build concept-based materials throughout the year to create that lasting foundation, but contextual learning happens constantly and honestly teaches kids just as much, sometimes more. When parents come in to share their professions, when we have artistic performances, cultural days specific to Poland that only my students experience — that’s real, immediate learning that engages them in ways theory alone can’t. These contextual moments aren’t just side activities; they’re equally valuable because kids are learning from authentic experiences with real people doing real things. Both approaches work together in my classroom.

​

Contextual learning inspires engagement by grounding abstract concepts in real-life scenarios. By allowing students to bridge abstract concepts with their real-life, it empowers them to tackle challenges using their acquired concept knowledge and skills Contextual learning approach cultivates critical and creative thinking by exposing students to multiple cultural perspectives and conflicting value systems. This approach transforms students into autonomous, strategic learners who are self-motivated to transfer their knowledge to real-world environments.

As my understand, conceptual and contextual learning are deeply complementary: context provides the "how" for applying abstract concepts, while concepts provide the intellectual framework (“what”) to navigate and synthesize reality.

In my view, transdisciplinary (PYP) approach transcends subject boundaries by using real-world themes to organize learning. It respects students' natural curiosity and questions that making education more relevant and engaging. By shifting the focus from individual subjects to holistic inquiry, it empowers students to synthesize knowledge and apply it to solve significant, real-life problems.

As a language teacher, when teaching a unit on advertising, I begin by introducing the learning content through a contextual immersion. I select 3 to 5 advertisements featuring diverse products and media formats, and guide students to experience, analyze, and deconstruct the rhetorical devices, writing techniques, and expressive strategies employed.

Following this experiential phase, I shift the focus to conceptual learning, where we examine the common linguistic patterns, persuasive vocabulary, and structural conventions that characterize advertising language. Finally, by synthesizing these conceptual insights with their critical reflections, students are tasked with creating an original advertisement of their own.

As this pedagogical progression, moving from direct experience to concept presentation, then to analytical exploration, and ultimately to authentic creation, which enables students to effectively transfer their understanding to a practical, real-world writing task.

Concept-based learning is an approach that encourage students to engage in idea-centred learning, students develop their understanding, knowledge and skills by exploring transferrable concepts that they can be applied across subjects borders and also use those concepts in real-world contexts.

Concept-based learning helps students to develop deeper understanding other than just memorising facts and answers. It also encourages critical thinking that students can analyse and evaluate ideas.

Furthermore, it helps students to make connections between subjects and transfer their knowledge and skills to different disciplines. Moreover, students are able to develop inquiry skills and make connections to the real-world contexts.

2. How do you define contextual learning, and what are the advantages of this approach?

Contextual learning is an approach that avoiding simple memorisation but connecting textbook knowledge with real life. Students can link what they have learned to everyday events, personal experiences, and even major world events, students naturally understand "what's the use of learning this?"

The benefits of this approach are twofold: first, it promotes students’ learning movitations because they feel it's relevant to them and not boring; second, what they learn is applicable, it’s not just for exams, but truly applicable to solving real-world problems, leading to deeper understanding and make meaningful connections between classroom learning and the real world.

3. Briefly synthesize your understanding of a interdisciplinary (MYP) approach to teaching and learning.

Interdisciplinary teaching, means not treating subjects as “isolated islands," but rather finding a large, real-world problem or theme and bringing two or more disciplines together to work on it.

For example, before becoming a teacher, I was an urban planner. Now, I have students explore research the topic of "urban planning" in different subjects. In science classes we explore environmentally friendly materials; in math classes we calculate cost budgets; in humanities classes I would like students to analyse community needs, and in English classes, students can write proposals. Each discipline contributes a unique piece, but together they form a cohesive picture.

The purpose of this approach is not to make things easier for teachers, but to help students understand that real-world problems can never be solved by a single discipline. What you learn is interconnected and can be applied to the real world. The MYP particularly values this approach because it helps students develop critical-thinking skills, transfer their knowledge across disciplines, and apply their learning to solve complex real-world problems, rather than simply succeeding in isolated subject areas.

4. How do you see/understand conceptual and contextual learning at a practical level, either in things you are currently doing as an in-service teacher, or things you hope to do as a pre-service teacher? What does/could this look like?

In my Chinese language acquisition classes, I try to combine conceptual learning with contextualized learning.

For example, in a unit about "family," conceptual learning focuses on the concept of "identity." Students explore how family relationships, values, and cultural background influence who we are. Through discussion and reflection, they gradually understand that our identity is shaped by the people and culture around us.

Contextualized learning, on the other hand, places this learning within meaningful and authentic contexts. For instance, students can create a family introduction video, interview family members, compare family structures in different cultures, or discuss their own family traditions and holiday celebrations. In my current teaching context in Malaysia, for example, students come from the country’s three major ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Such diversity provides rich opportunities for intercultural learning and discussion. These real-life scenarios allow students to use Chinese to complete meaningful tasks while connecting classroom learning with their own personal experiences.

In this way, students learn not only family-related vocabulary and grammar but also explore the concept of "identity" in real-world contexts, making learning relevant, meaningful, and transferable beyond the classroom.

How do you define contextual learning, and what are the advantages of this approach? Conceptual learning can only be truly powerful when it is paired with contextual learning. As the "Good Thinking!" video reminds us, students are never blank slates; they bring their own sticky misconceptions rooted in their daily lives. To guide them toward genuine conceptual change, we must anchor our lessons in real-world contexts. When students find the learning to be intelligible, plausible, and fruitful within their own lives, they naturally discover the purpose of the lesson and become intrinsically motivated without asking, "Why do we have to learn this?"

How do you see/understand conceptual and contextual learning at a practical level? As a homeroom teacher, I practically implement this by guiding students to derive universal concepts from various examples and data, and then encouraging them to apply those concepts to their own familiar contexts, such as their school, home, or personal experiences. A recent integrated project I designed serves as a great example. First, students investigated various national cultural heritages in Korea and derived the conceptual understanding that "cultural heritage reflects the mindset and lifestyle of the people of that era." Afterward, I brought this concept into the immediate context of 'our school.' Students participated in a project where they designed and created 'our school’s own cultural heritage' that captures the current mindset and unique lifestyle of our school community. Instead of just memorizing historical facts, this approach allowed students to extract a core concept and apply it directly to their own lives.

Concept-Based Learning

I define concept-based learning as an approach that focuses on transferable ideas and deeper understanding rather than isolated facts. Instead of asking students simply to remember information, concept-based learning encourages them to explore enduring concepts such as identity, change, perspective, relationships, and responsibility.

One of the key advantages of this approach is that it promotes deeper thinking and helps students make connections across different subjects and contexts. Students are more likely to transfer their learning to new situations because they understand the underlying concepts rather than memorising content. For teachers, concept-based learning provides a clear purpose for inquiry and encourages meaningful learning experiences.

Contextual Learning

I define contextual learning as learning that is connected to authentic situations, real-life experiences, and meaningful contexts. Learning becomes more relevant when students can see how knowledge relates to their everyday lives, communities, cultures, and global issues.

The advantages of contextual learning include increased engagement, motivation, and understanding. When students can connect learning to their own experiences, they are more likely to participate actively and develop a stronger sense of ownership over their learning. Context also helps students understand why learning matters beyond the classroom.

Transdisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Learning

My understanding of a transdisciplinary approach in the PYP is that learning extends beyond individual subject boundaries and is organised around meaningful concepts, issues, and inquiries. Students explore real-world ideas through multiple perspectives and disciplines.

Similarly, an interdisciplinary approach in the MYP encourages students to integrate knowledge and skills from different subject areas in order to develop deeper understanding and solve complex problems. Both approaches help students see learning as interconnected rather than fragmented.

My Practice and Future Aspirations

In my own teaching practice, conceptual and contextual learning are closely connected. As both a Chinese language and visual arts educator, I often design learning experiences that connect language, culture, creativity, and real-life experiences.

For example, when teaching a Chinese cultural festival, students do not simply learn vocabulary or facts about the celebration. Instead, they explore broader concepts such as identity, tradition, community, and change. They may investigate how traditions are preserved across generations, compare cultural practices, create visual artworks, and reflect on their own cultural experiences.

In visual arts, students are encouraged to move beyond technical skills and explore concepts such as perspective, communication, and expression. They use art to investigate ideas, share viewpoints, and make connections to issues that matter to them.

Looking ahead, I hope to continue integrating inquiry-based learning, multimodal approaches, and emerging technologies such as generative AI into my teaching. I believe conceptual and contextual learning can empower students to become curious thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and internationally minded learners who are able to make meaningful connections between what they learn and the world they live in.

1. How do you define concept‑based learning, and what are the advantages of this approach?

I define concept‑based learning as focuses on big transferable ideas rather than isolated facts. Its advantages include deeper understanding, stronger critical thinking, and the ability for students to apply learning across different contexts and subjects.

2. What is conceptual teaching and learning, what does it look like in the classroom, and why is it beneficial?

Conceptual teaching and learning means, for me, guiding students to explore patterns, relationships, and “why” questions. In the classroom, it looks like inquiry, discussions, provocations, and tasks that connect ideas across subjects. It benefits students by building meaning and agency, and it benefits teachers by creating coherence and reducing the pressure to “cover content.”. I am doing it now, and I can see the good results.

3. How do you define contextual learning, and what are the advantages of this approach?

Contextual learning connects ideas to real‑world situations that matter to students. Its advantages include higher engagement, stronger motivation, and better transfer of learning because students understand the purpose behind what they are learning. It is for life.

4. Briefly synthesize your understanding of a transdisciplinary PYP.

A transdisciplinary PYP, as I could understand, uses shared concepts and authentic inquiries to connect learning across subjects. Instead of teaching disciplines separately, students investigate real‑world issues that naturally integrate language, math, science, social studies, and the arts, all in one class.

5. How do you see conceptual and contextual learning at a practical level in your teaching?

In practice, I see conceptual and contextual learning through inquiry‑rich play, conversations, provocations, and experiences that connect to children’s lives. As a RECE in Ontario, I use HDLH’s view of children as capable to support meaning‑making. At Maple Bear, in Brazil, bilingual learning also supports conceptual transfer, children use ideas across languages, routines, and stories. In a PYP setting, this could look like learning centres tied to a central idea, documentation that highlights conceptual growth, and projects where children explore real‑world problems through multiple lenses.

My personal short reflection:

When I think about concept‑based learning, I see it as an approach that helps me guide children toward big transferable ideas rather than isolated facts. It pushes me to focus on patterns, relationships, and deeper understanding. In my classroom in the after‑school care program, this looks like children exploring, questioning, and making connections across experiences.

Context-based learning is just as vital, and it works by placing textbook knowledge inside real, relatable, culturally meaningful situations. Knowledge only feels relevant to students when they get to apply it to real-life issues, after all. When we wrap abstract theories around personal stories, real case studies, or hands-on field work, confusing abstract ideas become tangible and easy to grasp. This approach also carries distinct strengths: it boosts students’ internal drive to learn because they immediately see how what they’re studying matters in daily life; it softens the intimidation factor of tough abstract topics by letting kids learn through direct experience and observation; and it teaches them to think contextually—they learn that every piece of knowledge is shaped by social, cultural and environmental circumstances, so they won’t rigidly apply ideas without considering surrounding context.

When we look at IB’s PYP and MYP frameworks, the difference between their cross-subject approaches stands out clearly. PYP’s transdisciplinary model breaks down subject walls entirely, building whole learning units around big real-world themes such as “Who we are” or “Sharing the planet.” Students pull in knowledge from every subject naturally as they work through large, complicated real-life questions. MYP interdisciplinary learning blends two or more subject areas, combining their unique ways of thinking and research methods to tackle problems one single subject can’t solve alone—like pairing math data modeling with lab science to investigate climate change. To me, both frameworks rely equally on solid conceptual understanding and grounded real-world context. Broad concepts tie separate subject knowledge together, while real-life contexts keep learning from feeling hollow and disconnected from reality. Combined, they shift the whole point of schooling away from learning facts for school’s sake, and turn it into an ongoing process for understanding life and making positive change around us.

I’ve already started putting this mix of conceptual and context-driven learning into practice with a thematic inquiry unit I designed called Urban Wetland Ecological Restoration, which fits perfectly for upper PYP or MYP learners. On the conceptual side, I anchor all activities around two core big ideas: systems and change, alongside related ideas of balance and adaptation. Every lesson leads back to one main takeaway: a natural ecosystem stays stable only through balanced interactions between all its parts, and any human action inside that system creates chain reactions across the whole environment. Instead of making students just memorize ecology vocabulary, I give them this conceptual lens to break down real wetland restoration projects we study. For context, we move class out of the classroom and into a local damaged wetland park. Students take on the role of environmental consultants with a three-week deadline to create a practical restoration plan that balances ecological protection and local people’s needs. The inquiry splits into three simple stages. We kick things off with an on-site field trip: students collect water samples, record local wildlife, and wrestle with our core driving question—why random tree planting or dredging won’t fix the wetland’s damage. During the main inquiry phase, biology lessons break down food webs, but we always circle back to what happens to the whole system if a key species disappears, leaning into the “systems” concept. Math and geography work lets students map water flow shifts and calculate pollution levels, yet our discussions always dig past raw numbers to explore the root causes behind those changes, reinforcing ideas around change and cause and effect. For humanities work, students interview nearby residents to trace how the wetland has shifted over time, and unpack the competing priorities and responsibilities of all community stakeholders to build out the concept of responsibility. To wrap up, small groups build multi-part restoration proposals with scientific data, budget breakdowns and design sketches, then present their work in a mock community public hearing.

Moving forward, I don’t want to only stand at the front and pass knowledge along to students. My goal is to build meaningful real-world contexts for learning and guide students to unpack big concepts alongside me. I hope to watch them tackle messy, unscripted real-world problems without stopping to label the task as math or science first—instead, just focusing on how to solve the issue in front of them. The best moment I can imagine is when a student connects a new challenge back to a conceptual idea we covered earlier unprompted; that’s when I know concept and context-based learning has truly stuck for them. This fluid, boundary-free way of running class is exactly the teaching style I want to keep building toward.

In my classroom, the difference is between asking "What is the Chinese word for family?" and asking "How does the concept of family differ across cultures, and what can language tell us about those differences?" The first question has one answer. The second opens up real thinking, and students start using their Chinese to actually say something worth saying.

What I find most beneficial is that conceptual teaching gives learning a reason. Students stop asking "why are we learning this?" because the context answers that for them. For me as a teacher, it forces me to think about what I want students to understand long after they forget the specific vocabulary.

The challenge I am still working on is getting students past quick, safe, black and white answers. Sitting with a complex idea and exploring it from different angles takes time and trust, but that is exactly where real learning happens.

Concept-based learning moves away from traditional, linear curricula that rely on rote memorization, facts and isolated skills that are “locked in space and time” (Conceptual Understanding in the PYP). Instead, it introduces conceptual understanding. In this model, a concept is a "big idea", an abstract mental construct that is timeless, universal, and transferable across subject areas. Rather than just memorising what something is, students use concepts to explore how and why things work, helping them discover underlying patterns in an interconnected world, and link new ideas and concepts to their existing knowledge.

Children naturally think and learn conceptually rather than in a compartmentalised way. From the moment they learn to speak, their questions lean toward why and how rather than just what: "Why is the sky blue?" "Why is the caterpillar so ugly but the butterfly so pretty?" "Why do I have to do that?" “Why can’t I do that?” When we answer children at their level of understanding, we nurture their innate critical-thinking skills. Guided by open-ended conceptual questions, this approach shifts the classroom from teacher-centered to learner-centered, encouraging students to pursue inquiries driven by their natural curiosity.

Concept-based learning has several advantages over traditional learning, including that of knowledge transfer. Because concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,  perspective and responsibility) are universal, understandings built in one context easily transfer to unfamiliar situations. This trains students to become adaptable, flexible thinkers. It promotes higher-order thinking by challenging students to engage in for example, analyzing contradictions and identifying deep patterns. Ultimately, it encourages lifelong learning. "Learning how to learn" through a conceptual lens builds cognitive resilience and adaptability in thought and action.

To put it simplistically, this approach represents the difference between a koala, who cannot recognize eucalyptus leaves if they are served on a plate rather than attached to a tree, and a corvid, who can problem-solve, strategize, use tools, and leverage community to navigate an ever-changing environment.

How do you define contextual learning, and what are the advantages of this approach ? 

Contextual learning is an educational approach that links abstract concepts directly to real-world situations, personal experiences, and practical activities. It is built on the understanding that the human brain naturally processes information more effectively when it is presented within a meaningful frame of reference or a familiar "context”, it makes the intangible, tangible and builds practical knowledge.

Contextual learning has several advantages, including enhancing long-term retention. When students understand the meaning and relevance behind new information, it transforms into deep, permanent understanding. It bridges the gap between mere theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. By training students to solve real, often complex problems, it trains them for how knowledge is actually applied in adulthood and careers. By connecting academic topics to students’ personal lives, future career interests, or current and future global events creates immediate intrinsic interest and boosts student engagement. This method of learning requires students to analyse complex, real-world situations such as poverty and climate change. This develops their ability to think critically and find creative solutions for issues that require multi-pronged solutions rather than just one "right answer." Many contextual frameworks such as PBLs (Project-based learning) require students to work in teams, helping students develop essential social and interpersonal skills such as sharing perspectives, negotiating ideas, and co-creating solutions.

A perfect example of this occurred in my Global Perspectives lesson. After spending a term studying various housing solutions around the world (examining both their strengths and flaws), students were asked to confront real-world scenarios driven by climate change and extreme weather. Tasked to work in teams, they had to design and build models of homes capable of either withstanding extreme conditions such as flooding, intense heat, and multiple earthquakes, or being easily relocated during forced migrations. The students were incredibly engaged and creative, constructing their solutions using sustainable materials and ideas. By anchoring the curriculum in an urgent, real-world context, the lessons were transformed into an impactful, hands-on engineering and humanitarian challenge. To culminate the project, the teams presented their architectural solutions to the class for a formal peer-review process. This final stage added a rich layer of communication and collaboration skills, as students had to clearly articulate their design choices, defend their material selections, and constructively critique one another's work.

Briefly synthesize your understanding of a transdisciplinary (PYP) approach to teaching and learning.

The core pillars of the transdisciplinary (PYP) approach to teaching and learning is the idea of integrating subject knowledge that transcends traditional subject boundaries by using the six transdisciplinary themes to allow for learning “Between, Across, and Beyond Subjects”. These six transdisciplinary themes (Who We Are, Where We Are in Place and Time, How We Express Ourselves, How the World Works, How We Organise Ourselves, Sharing the Planet) are universal, meaning they have relevance to all children regardless of their cultural or geographical background. Teachers use them to build broad Units of Inquiry which have the central idea (consisting of one of the six themes), concepts and lines of inquiry to define the “potential scope of inquiry”. It is collaborative, with the whole school building a long-term plan that that supports the learning within these six themes both horizontally (across each year) and vertically (across the years to deepen the inquiry into each theme). It is concept-driven and inquiry based, guided by exploratory open-ended questions to allow students active engagement with the lessons and develop the five critical Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills (thinking, research, communication, social, self-management) and their corresponding sub-skills. In the final year of PYP, there is the PYP exhibition, which is a “learner-led inquiry into an issue or opportunity of interest to them” (Celebrating and demonstrating transdisciplinary learning through the exhibition) . This approach to learning fosters student agency, enabling students to develop a sense of voice, choice, and ownership over their education.

How do you see/understand conceptual and contextual learning at a practical level, either in things you are currently doing as an in-service teacher, or things you hope to do as a pre-service teacher? What does/could this look like?

At a practical level, I see conceptual and contextual learning not as separate strategies, but connected: context serves as the familiar core or root, while concepts act as the vehicle for deep, transferable understanding. In my current practice  as a  P4C (Philosophy for Children) and Global Perspectives teacher, this is how my lessons operate.

What This Looks Like Currently

Abstract ideas (such as freedom and equal rights) can be hard to grasp for young learners, so I anchor them in immediate, relatable scenarios. In a recent P4C inquiry, I challenged students with a micro-context they have a personal stake in: "Is it fair for a teacher to treat everyone in a class equally in every situation?" Because the classroom dynamic is intimately familiar, they could immediately engage with this inquiry. Through guided critical inquiry, students looked past the surface details of the classroom to find the core, universal concept. They independently arrived at a profound realisation: equality does not equate to fairness in all situations. They successfully transitioned from discussing classroom dynamics to mastering the abstract concepts of equity versus equality. Once students solidified this core concept, it became incredibly easy to push the idea outward into unfamiliar, complex macro-contexts. We transferred their understanding of equity into Global Perspectives inquiries surrounding social justice (e.g., systemic resource distribution) and environmentalism (e.g., whether developing nations should bear equal responsibility for shifting their energy consumption from non-renewable, carbon-based fossil fuels to renewable energy sources with developed nations who have better infrastructure and economies to support the shift).

What This Could Look Like

To evolve this practice from a guided classroom discussion into a student-driven transdisciplinary framework, it could expand in the following ways: 1. Student-Led Advocacy: Instead of just analysing global carbon-reduction burdens theoretically, students could audit our school's own ecological footprint or resource distribution, and pitch sustainable solutions directly to the school administration. 2. Tangible, Real-World Action: We can move from analyzing real-world scenarios to participating in them. Students could connect digitally with peers in a developing nation to co-design community solutions, or partner with local environmental organizations.

Concept-based learning, in my views, is an approach where learning is organized around big and transferable concepts. These concepts connect to real life and are explored through systematic inquiry. We use knowledge and skills from different subject areas to support students’ understanding of these concepts.

The biggest advantage of concept-based learning is that it helps students see that knowledge is not isolated into separate subjects. Instead, students learn how ideas are connected across different areas. Because concepts are universal, students can apply their understanding to different subjects, different contexts and real-world situations. This way, learning becomes meaningful and transferable.

Take the concept of change as an example. Around this core concept, students carry out systematic inquiry: they first explore how plants grow and change; then learn about human growth; later, they further explore how communities and cities change over time. Students realize the concept of change runs across different topics and subjects.

2. How do you define contextual learning, and what are the advantages of this approach?

Contextual learning means providing authentic, real-life situations for students to explore these concepts. It connects knowledge to the real-world, allowing students to experience and make sense of what they are learning. Through these meaningful experiences, students gain deeper insights and understanding.

For example, to help students better understand the concept of change, we create real-life situations: for plant growth, students grow plants in the classroom or at home, then observe, take photos and keep records; to see human growth clearly, families use a height ruler to measure their height every two weeks; for city changes, teachers and parents share photos of a city from ten years ago and today. These authentic experiences help students truly grasp the meaning of change. Also, they learn to apply this concept to many other areas in life.

3. Briefly synthesize your understanding of a transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning?

In the PYP transdisciplinary approach, learning is organized by transdisciplinary themes. Every theme contains core concepts and the central ideas states the core focus of the inquiry. During the learning process, contextual teaching and learning create real-life experiences helping students fully comprehend these concepts.

The resources that I have read have deepened my understanding of this teaching model. When designing inquiry activities, I focus on more than just basic knowledge. For example, apart from the process of plant growth, I guided the students to explore one shared concept through various scenarios, including human growth and urban changes.  

Additionally, it occurred to me that we need to connect learning across different age groups. Based on the concepts and themes explored in earlier grades, we plan follow-up inquiry units. This spiral design enriches learning content and takes students’ understanding to a deeper level year by year.

4. How do you see/understand conceptual and contextual learning at a practical level, either in things you are currently doing as an in-service teacher, or things you hope to do as a pre-service teacher? What does/could this look like?

As an in-service early years teacher, I have been using contextual learning in my practice. I design authentic real-life experiences and link classroom inquiry to the world around students. This helps them engage deeply and gain first-hand understanding during activities.

However, I notice there is room for improvement. Right now, I focus more on activities and facts and do not fully highlight the core concepts behind the inquiry. Moving forward, I plan to guide students to explore concepts more intentionally. I will help them learn that these ideas are transferable. They are not limited to on single activity or topic, but can be understood and used across many different scenarios.

In an early years classroom, this looks less like a lesson and more like an invitation. I place something in the environment, an object, a question, a material  and step back. What children notice and ask tells me far more than any planned input could. The concept is not on the board; it is already in the room.

What I find most powerful about this approach is that it naturally dissolves the boundaries between subjects. A child exploring the concept of change is doing science, language, and social understanding all at once, not because I planned it that way, but because real ideas do not respect subject lines. This is the benefit for students: understanding that transfers. And for teachers, planning around concepts rather than content lists gives the curriculum both flexibility and coherence, you know what you are building toward, even when the path changes.

In my opinion, concept-based learning is like understanding and delving into a big, central idea(tree) with many branches that are connected with each other. Students can grasp how those branches are intertwined and can influence each other by learning each and every branch. By learning and linking each branch with each other, they can better understand how the central idea is composed of, and ultimately grasp how the world makes sense. 

Contextual learning, and its advantages

I define contextual learning as authentic learning that connects what students learn from school to their prior knowledge, experience, and exposure. Students can benefit from bridging their personal experience to school contexts, so they can easily follow along. As well, they can broaden their perspectives by sharing ideas, experiences with their peers. 

My understanding of a transdisciplinary (PYP) approach to teaching and learning.

My understanding of a transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning is to help students understand everything in the world is connected to each other. Although there are various subjects at school, they all have common grounds as to why they should be taught at school. If we trace back to the very root of each subject, we could possibly find universal problems and reasons. By the same token, our students need to understand the connections between subjects and solutions to the core problems in the upcoming unknown world.   

I think concept-based learning helps students understand a big idea in depth so that they can apply it across different areas of their lives.

Contextual learning

Contextual learning is about connecting the knowledge and skills they have learned to real-life situations.

Practical Example

For example, when we teach a unit on the topic of "taste":

• Knowledge & skill: The knowledge students need to acquire is the vocabulary: salty, sweet, spicy, bitter, and sour.

• The skill is that they can use those words accurately to describe different foods they eat.

• Contextual learning: This occurs when students taste salty, sweet, spicy, bitter, and sour things in class. They connect their real-life sensory experience directly with the vocabulary. The advantage of this approach is that students can connect their previous life experiences with the new words, so they understand the meaning rather than simply memorizing the vocabulary.

• Concept-based learning: In this scenario, when students taste a spicy food, some might think it is fine, while others cannot handle it at all. We can guide them to understand that due to different cultural backgrounds and personal habits, everyone has a different perspective and tolerance towards the same thing. The advantage of the concept-based learning approach is that through exploring this "big idea" of perspective, they learn the lesson that it's important to respect other people's cultures and feelings.

  (Imagine generated by Gemini based on my understanding and example.)

Transdisciplinary approach

Students explore meaningful, real-life problems that matter to them, rather than problems divided into isolated subjects. This approach empowers students to inquire into broader concepts.

Traditionally, English education in Japan has been anchored to the “Yakudoku” a heavy method of memorization of intricate grammar rules, vocabulary keywords, and common phrases - required to pass rigorous university entrance exams, “Juken”. Hence, such an environment cultivates a two-dimensional learning structure that has just been focused strictly on facts and perfunctory procedural execution, but has always left students unable to apply the English language dynamically, even in simple, day-to-day, and usual conversations. 

Last week, we had a discussion topic about ‘Gardening as a hobby’ among my 3rd-year Junior High School classes. The goal was to elicit a stand point wether they agree or disagree, and be able to give a few reasons supporting their opinion. To achieve this, some heavy Contextual teaching has to be done first, like intruducing garden-related vocabulary, context about different hobbies and why people do it, or presenting some real-world scenarios; as well as loads of scaffolding, carrying out the structure and sentence patterns. Upon eliciting their thoughts and ideas, we tried to look at the Conceptually and gather more facts, Why and How people do it, what could be its advantages or disadvantages, and more so, digging deeply to its relevance and effects from people’s lives to the world we’re living in. Conceptual learning gave a wider and deeper perspective on this simple topic, wherein students can see themselves not just giving out an opinion for the sake of passing my English classes, but as active and powerful citizens of the world who can bring about great change.

And as for me, my role here is to act as an intentional fluid navigator that effectively recognizes the distinct line while honoring the interplay between perspectives. To recognize the juxtaposition and yet be flexible to efficiently facilitate learning.

in their daily lives. 

On the other hand, contextual-based learning is when children learn through real-life experiences that are connected to their everyday lives. In here, children can connect what they are learning with what they are experiencing and/or with their prior experiences. When children can connect more, they understand better and participate more actively. Some learning experiences that we have here in Singapore are learning journeys/field trips, centre/community celebrations, exploration of the different places 

in our neighbourhood, and role-playing as part of play. These activities have been giving children fun learning experiences which stays with them longer. 

Transdisciplinary approach in IB PYP goes beyond integrating subjects/learning domains but rather 

subjects/learning domains are integrated into one inquiry. In IB PYP, learning is organised around six 

themes that connect all learning experiences. In Singapore preschool setting, local schools follow the Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Framework. The schools use thematic-based approach where learning domains/experiences are connected. This approach gives children opportunities to learn and explore real-life issues that promotes holistic development. 

In my preschool practice, I can say that conceptual and contextual-based learning 

happen naturally in our daily activities. Our curriculum (thematic) and the learning 

environment are planned and set to help children develop holistically. Children explore big ideas and gain a deeper understanding of these through different learning opportunities. Through play and exploration in the classroom, children learn more as they make connections to their what they already know and their past experiences. Activities outside the classroom such as field trips and neighbourhood walks are also good opportunities for children to learn and understand concepts better through real-life situations. In one of our neighbourhood walks, children learned about the places in their neighbourhood. They observed and identified the different vehicles in the car park and on the road. And as they walked, they met with the different people in the neighbourhood including the community helpers. Through this learning experience, the children learnt how one is connected to everyone else, and how these connections affect/influence them. 

After learning about conceptual teaching and learning, I began to rethink this approach. I now realize that planning can start with concepts rather than simply focusing on content or language objectives. Through meaningful concepts explored within a transdisciplinary theme, students can make connections between different learning experiences and develop a deeper understanding that can be transferred to new contexts.

I also realized why conceptual learning and transdisciplinary learning are so closely connected. Young children are naturally curious about the world. They come to school with their own experiences and existing understanding of the world. They do not naturally see the world as divided into separate subjects. Instead, they learn best when they can connect new knowledge with their previous experiences and meaningful real-world contexts. In the classroom, this means students are encouraged to ask questions, make connections across subjects, and use what they have learned to investigate authentic issues rather than simply memorizing knowledge. Therefore, instead of teaching each subject in isolation, different subjects can work together to help students build a richer and more connected understanding of the same concepts. In this way, subjects are not the goal of learning but tools that help students develop conceptual understanding and take meaningful action.

As a Chinese teacher, this module has made me rethink my own classroom practice. In the past, I often focused on teaching vocabulary and sentence patterns. For example, in a weather unit, my main goal would have been for students to remember weather words and use simple sentence structures correctly. Now, I hope to design learning around the key concept of Change. Instead of only learning the names of different types of weather, students could investigate how weather changes influence people's daily lives. They could discuss what people should wear in different weather conditions, what activities are suitable, and how weather affects their community. Chinese would become a tool for communication and inquiry rather than just a subject for learning vocabulary. Although I am still at the beginning of this journey, I hope to gradually design learning experiences in which language supports inquiry, conceptual understanding, and meaningful action.

Contextual learning makes these concepts more meaningful by connecting learning to authentic situations. In my English and PLS classes, I often use topics such as food, health, and daily choices. Instead of only teaching vocabulary or facts, students can discuss why people make different food choices, how these choices affect their health, and what responsibility they have for their own well-being.

A transdisciplinary approach allows students to explore the same idea through different subject areas. For example, a unit about healthy living could include reading and speaking in English, learning about nutrition in PLS, interpreting simple data in Mathematics, and designing a balanced meal in Art.

This approach is beneficial because students develop deeper understanding and are more likely to transfer their learning to new situations. It also helps teachers plan learning around meaningful ideas rather than disconnected activities.

— Melody Ngai

One of the biggest advantages, in my opinion, is the way it changes how teachers see students. Instead of viewing them as blank slates waiting to receive information, teachers recognize that every student comes to the classroom with prior knowledge, personal experiences, and different perspectives. Those experiences become part of the learning process, helping students connect new concepts to the real world.

For me, a transdisciplinary approach means that concepts go beyond individual disciplines. Instead of learning subjects separately, students explore big ideas that connect different areas of knowledge and the real world.

For example, the concept of systems can be explored from different perspectives. In Science, students might study ecosystems or the human body. In Social Studies, they may learn about governments or communities. In Mathematics, they can identify patterns and relationships within number systems, while in Physical Education they can understand how body systems work together during movement. Each discipline contributes a different perspective, helping students develop a deeper understanding of the same concept.