International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme - All You Need To Know

by Sibhi Shivakumar

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." - John F. Kennedy

The term 'Global Village' is a metaphoric reference to the shrinking of the world into a village through the use of electronic media and other aids. Rapid advancements in technology and free trade have led to improved transportation facilities and high mobility across global destinations thus blurring the national boundaries. With the advent of globalisation, people across the world have started to identify themselves as "global citizens" with a global perspective. This rapid expansion in boundaries (or removal of pre-existent boundaries) has paved way for global education as well. An international education at the school level essentially aims to inculcate in students a global outlook, and training them in the skills necessary to survive in a dynamic environ. There are various organisations offering international curriculum across countries and the International Baccalaureate is one of them.

The International Baccalaureate is an educational organisation started in Geneva by 10 existing Member Schools of the International Schools Association in the year 1968. The working parties to the International Baccalaureate include both University and secondary teachers who are tasked with the formulation of Syllabi and conducting Examinations worldwide. Since the initial years, the promotion of IB has been facilitated by the rigorous curriculum that IB offers and the quality of preparation exhibited by IB graduates after they entered post-secondary education.

The following Programmes are offered by the IB at various levels:

1.The Primary Years Programme (PYP) (Kindergarten to Class 5).
2.The Middle Years Programme (MYP) (Class 6 to Class 10).
3.The Diploma Programme (IBDP) (Class 11 to Class 12).

IB Middle Years Programme (Class 6 to Class 10).

The International Baccalaureate Middle Years programme is meant for the students between the ages of 11 years and 16 years. IT encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world. Generally, the MYP is a 5-year programme that follows the IB PYP Programme, some schools also implement it in a shorter 4 of three-year variation. The primary objective here is to prepare the student for the IB Diploma programme.

The MYP began as an initiative of the International Schools Association (ISA). Aspiring to meet the needs of middle-level learners in international schools, ISA led the development of a flexible curriculum that promoted the fundamental concepts of intercultural understanding, communication and holistic learning.

The MYP programme as mentioned earlier is meant for students in the age group 11yrs - 16yrs and there are 100s of school across the world that offer this programme. The programme aims at providing a wide variety in disciplines for the education of adolescents in order to build a broad knowledge base in the students that would enable them to identify their capabilities and choose wisely for their higher education.

Since being introduced as part of the IB continuum, the MYP has retained the spirit of collaboration encouraged by the dedicated educators by whom it was conceived. After twenty years of rapid growth and development, the programme was fully reviewed and then re-launched in 2014—ready to meet the needs of a new generation of students, teachers and school communities.

MYP aims to develop the following traits in a student:

1.Active Learners - The programme is vast and covers various disciplines and the unique approach to education instils a thirst for knowledge in students.

  1. International outlook - The programme curriculum is set at universally accepted standards, drawing from the innovations in education from across the world and providing students with the most advanced and updated syllabi.

  2. Empathise with others - IB World Schools usually have students drawn from various cultural backgrounds thereby achieving a cultural heterogeneity among the pupils. Thus students are exposed to a variety of cultures and are sensitised to accept and appreciate differences among them and at the same time learn from each other.

  3. Have the intellect and skills to pursue lives of purpose and meaning - Students are adequately trained in skills required to survive and thrive in the dynamic world.

Other areas of focus:

  • Approaches to learning (ATL), helping students learn how to learn by developing skills for research, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-management
  • Key and related concepts, helping students explore big ideas that matter
  • Global contexts, helping students understand the relevance and importance of their study for understanding their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.

The programme empowers students to inquire into a wide range of issues and ideas of significance locally, nationally and globally. The result is young people who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers.

Curriculum:

IB Middle Years Programme organizes teaching and learning through eight subject groups. The programme promotes an interdisciplinary study that helps students make important connections between academic subjects.

The eight subject groups are as follows:

  1. Language Acquisition.
  2. Language and literature.
  3. Individuals and societies.
  4. Sciences.
  5. Mathematics.
  6. Arts.
  7. Physical and health education.
  8. Design.

The MYP programmes mandate 50 hours of classes for each subject group, in the 4th and 5th years the students are allowed to pick 6 subject groups out of the given 8 to provide greater flexibility in meeting local requirements and individual student needs.

The IB believes students learn best when their learning experiences have context and are connected to their lives and their experience of the world that they have experienced. Thus much importance is given in understanding the practical applicability of all learning.

Assessment:

Since the end of 2017 eAssessment for MYP programmes examination has been made mandatory. It has been noted that an assessment helps in negating human error in the process of evaluation and thus produces better results for students.

The evaluation of students is carried out based on three aspects:

  1. The Onscreen Examination is taken by students.
  2. Student portfolio.
  3. Personal project - This is an original work that the students have to compulsorily do, and it is marked internally by the school. (Students who complete the MYP in Year 3 or Year 4 complete the community project.)

MYP is one of the most advanced Middle years programmes and it aims to train the student to take the IB Diploma or any other Higher level programme.

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