IB Education

The International Baccalaureate Continuum

The programs from the International Baccalaureate build toward a deeper understanding of subjects and concepts. The IB has 4 programs, the Primary Years Programme (PYP) from 3 years-old through 5th grade, the Middle Years Programme (MYP) from 6th grade through 9th grade, and the Diploma Programme (DP) and the Career-related Programme (CP) for the last two years prior to graduation. (Due to the flexibility of the IB programme, the ages provided are examples only.)

The Primary Years Programme (PYP)

The PYP is developed around a transdisciplinary system, utilizing young learners' natural learning strategies to tie concepts to learning in multiple subjects. Each Unit of Inquiry (UOI) will incorporate multiple subject areas, such as language, arts, and social studies, or language, mathematics, and science. This is appropriate considering how younger children learn. As learners make sense of the world around them, they don’t naturally separate their learning into different boxes related to subject areas, or textbooks, or what class they think it might relate to. When they learn about 3-D shapes for instance, they are learning vocabulary related to shapes, scientific reasoning by comparing shapes and making predictions, as well as the obvious mathematical concepts. The PYP takes advantage of this to ensure that children make deep, long-lasting connections between basic concepts and ideas.

The Middle Years Programme (MYP)

The MYP is an interdisciplinary program. As students get older, they are ready to examine subjects more deeply and distinctly. For instance, one subject group in the MYP is Individuals and Societies. While they learned about social studies knowledge and concepts in the PYP in relation to other subjects, in the MYP they are ready to focus on more distinct social studies concepts and to study more specific information more thoroughly. The MYP recognizes that learners are transitioning out of transdisciplinary learning and are still motivated by universal concepts and connections between the subjects. Unlike the PYP which requires each lesson to intentionally address multiple subjects, the MYP requires at least one unit of interdisciplinary learning in each year of the MYP. This allows students to continue to make broad connections across subjects as they move towards more subject-specific learning.

The Diploma Programme (DP) and the Career-related Programme (CP)

The DP and CP are multidisciplinary programs, with each subject being taught in isolation, but being connected naturally through the program cores. For instance, the DP core consists of Theory of Knowledge, Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS), and the Extended Essay. All of these provide students with the opportunity to extend their learning and make connections across disciplines. As the subjects are taught in isolation, this allows students to not only delve deeper into the subjects, but customize their learning by selecting specific areas of challenge (Higher Level courses) as well as subject content (i.e. choosing to study Biology or Chemistry).

This continuum of programs ensures that students learn appropriately for their developmental stage, as well as preparing them for future challenges, in university and beyond.

Units of Inquiry (UOI)

One of the founding missions of CGK has been to help our students develop a spirit of inquiry. That’s one of the reasons that becoming an IB PYP (Primary Years Programme) World School is so important to us. Learning in the PYP is structured differently than most curriculums. Rather than separating learning into monthly themes or categories, learning is focused around deep concepts and organized into "Units of Inquiry".

A Unit of Inquiry (UOI) in the PYP relates to an overall transdisciplinary theme, such as “Sharing the Planet.” Within that theme, each UOI has a central idea that we want students to understand by the end of the unit. For instance, “Living things go through a process of change.” This central idea guides the inquiry of the students, and builds upon previous learning as well as setting a foundation for future learning.

Within each UOI there are lines of inquiry. These are areas of inquiry that support understanding of the central idea. One example of a line of inquiry is “living vs. non-living.” This is not the teacher telling the students what is living and what is not, but rather an inquiry into the differences which is led by the teacher and responsive to the students. As students become older and more adept at leading their own inquiries, they take over leadership of the inquiry, and the teacher simply acts as a guide to ensure deeper learning, how to use resources, and how to develop skills such as critical thinking.

Each UOI ends with a summative assessment task that allows students to demonstrate their learning. These tasks can take many forms. For instance, in a project-based assessment, students might build something that demonstrates their understanding of materials. In a performance-based assessment students may put on a play to demonstrate their understanding of creating as a community. In a portfolio-based assessment students may demonstrate their understanding of different forms of poetry.

The programs in the IB build on each other to create a continuum of learning that sets its students up for success in school and beyond. The PYP does this by structuring learning in a way that takes full advantage of how students learn and byhelping them develop a spirit of inquiry that will last their whole lives.