IBO MYP Personal Project

lINTERNATIONALBACCALAUREATEORGANISATIONMIDDLEYEARSPROGRAMMEPERSONALPROJECTMiddleYearsProgrammeHumanitiesFirstpublishedasMiddleYearsProgrammeHumanities,BookOne,June1998RepublishedinthesecoversSeptember2000MiddleYearsProgrammePersonalProjectFirstpublishedasMiddleYearsProgrammePersonalProject,BookOne,June1998ReprintedwithminorcorrectionsJuly1999RepublishedinthesecoversOctober2000©InternationalBaccalaureateOrganisation1998,2000InternationalBaccalaureateOrganisationRoutedesMorillons151218Grand-SaconnexGeneva,SWITZERLANDContentsTheMiddleYearsProgrammeIntroductiontotheMYP2CurriculumModel4AimsandObjectivesoftheMYP5ThePersonalProjectIntroductiontothePersonalProject8AddressingtheAreasofInteraction10AimsandObjectives13OrganizingthePersonalProject15SupervisingthePersonalProject21GuidelinesforStudents24AssessmentIntroductiontoAssessment30PersonalProjectAssessmentCriteria35GeneralGradeDescriptors44GlossaryofMYPTerms48TheMiddleYearsProgrammeIntroductiontotheMYPTheMiddleYearsProgramme(MYP)oftheInternationalBaccalaureateOrganisation(IBO)isacourseofstudydesignedtomeettheeducationalrequirementsofstudentsagedbetween11and16years.Theflexibilityofthecurriculumallowsthedemandsofnational,regionalorlocallegislationtobemetwhilestillofferingthepossibilityofbeingtaughtasanentityinitself.TheeightsubjectgroupsoftheMYPprovideabroad,traditionalfoundationofknowledge,whilethepedagogicaldevicesusedtoimpartsuchknowledgeshouldincreasethestudents’awarenessoftherelationshipsbetweensubjects.Studentsareencouragedtoquestionandevaluateinformationcritically,toseekoutandexplorethelinksbetweensubjects,andtodevelopanawarenessoftheirplaceintheworld.FundamentalConceptsYoungadolescentsareconfrontedwithavastandoftenbewilderingarrayofchoices;theMYPisdesignedtoprovidethemwiththevaluesandopportunitiesthatwillenablethemtodevelopsoundjudgementandtochoosewisely.Learninghowtolearnandhowtoevaluateinformationcriticallyisasimportantasthecontentofthedisciplinesthemselves.Whileinsistingonthethoroughstudyofthevariousacademicsubjects,theMYPaccentuatestheirinterrelatednessandadvancesaholisticviewofknowledge.AsapartoftheInternationalBaccalaureateOrganisation’scurriculum,theprogrammefostersinterculturalawareness,promotingbetterunderstandingof,andrespectfor,otherculturesaswellasconcernforinternationalissues.TheMYPalsostressestheimportanceofcommunication,throughgoodcommandofone’sownlanguage,foreignlanguageacquisition,andtheappreciationofdifferentmodesofthinkingandexpression.AreasofInteractionAdditionally,studentsarerequiredtoexploreandexperiencethefiveareasofinteraction.Theseare:yapproachestolearning(ATL)ycommunityserviceyhealthandsocialeducationyenvironmentyhomofaber.Theareasofinteractionshouldbetaughtthroughthemediumofthesubjects,therebyfulfillingtheirintegrativefunction;howeversomeaspectsmayalsobetaughtasseparatecoursesandprojectsthroughouttheMYPwherelocalcircumstancesdictate.However,theareasofinteractionshouldcertainlynotbetaughtasdiscreteextrasubjectswhichwouldincreasethestudent’soverallworkload.Studentparticipationintheareasofinteractionculminatesinthepersonalproject.2MYPPersonalProject2000AimsandObjectivesTheMYPoffersacurricularframeworkwithinwhichschool-specificrequirementscanbemet,whilemaintainingthemissionandphilosophyoftheIBO.Toachievethisgoal,theIBOprescribestheaimsandobjectivesofallsubjectgroupsandthepersonalproject.Theobjectivesofeachsubjectgroupareskills-basedandbroadenoughtoallowforavarietyofteachingandlearningapproaches.ThechoiceandorganizationofprecisecontentislefttoschoolsinordertopreservetheflexibilitywhichtheMYPoffers.InsomesubjectsthecontentisnotspecifiedwhileinothersaframeworkofconceptsortopicsisprescribedforallMYPstudentsoverthefiveyears.Suchprescriptioniskepttoaminimumandschoolsareaskedtoexpandtheirscopeoftopicsanddepthoftreatmentaccordingtotheirindividualneedsandpreferences.Sampleprogrammesofstudyforallthesubjectgroupshavebeenwrittenbypractisingteachersassomesuggestedmeansofenablingstudentstoachievetheprescribedobjectives.Usersoftheguidesmaychoosetoadopttheexamplesoffered,amendthemtosuittheirownrequirements,orwriteanalternativeprogrammeofstudy.Whateveroptionischosen,teachersareremindedthattheobjectivesareprescribed.ProgrammeEvaluationandStudentAssessmentProgrammeevaluationatregularintervalsismandatoryforallschools;itsaimistoensurequalityofprogrammesinIBschools,atthesametimeassistingschoolsintheirownself-evaluationprocessesandcurriculumdevelopmentprocedures.Theinternalassessmentofindividualstudentsbytheteacherusescriteriabasedontheobjectivespublishedinthisguide.Validationofgradesachievedthroughinternalassessment,andMYPcertificationforindividualstudentsbytheIBO,whichisoptional,requiresexternalmoderation.AcknowledgmentsThisguidehasbeenwrittenbypractisingteachersfromauthorizedMYPschoolsinmanyregionsandtheMYPcurriculumteamatIBCA.Thanksareduetoallwhocontributedtoitscompletion.IntroductiontotheMYPMYPPersonalProject20003CurriculumModelThisdiagramrepresentsthecurriculummodeloftheMiddleYearsProgrammeoftheInternationalBaccalaureateOrganisation.Inthismodel,thefiv