This week, our Secondary faculty attended a full-day workshop on an introduction to the International Baccalaureate® Middle Years Programme (MYP). This is a mandatory session that provides our faculty with a solid foundational knowledge base about the MYP and is a concise and coherent starting point to further develop and implement the MYP for Grades 6 through 10 at AISG.

Over the course of four sessions during the day, our faculty worked on understanding the importance of the IB Learner Profile attributes, how the MYP uses a conceptual curriculum with contextual relevance, and developed their assessments and rubrics based on the MYP curriculum.

The full-day workshop is the outcome of AISG being chosen as a Candidate School* for the MYP. This selection brings us one step closer to becoming an IB Continuum School that offers three core IB programs. AISG already offers two core IB programs, the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) for Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5, and the IB Diploma Programme (DP) for Grades 11 and 12. These two programs are well-established since they were authorized in 2004.

Our MYP Coordinator, Mr. Ralph Emmerink, says, “The MYP will allow us to better serve our students as it is a more natural continuation for students exiting the PYP and students moving towards our DP Programme. It provides consistency in assessment and grading practices, allows us to provide an even more holistic approach to education, and provides a common language throughout all three programmes. Ultimately, we sincerely believe it better fits our students and AISG's philosophy on education.”

Implementing the MYP is mission and vision driven. With the attributes of IB Learner Profiles, the MYP framework empowers all learners and forges a globally connected community, providing great pathways for helping students become responsible members of local, national, and global communities. Click here for our article that further explains the decision to implement the MYP.

AISG has been introducing the MYP to students over the past year, so they are getting accustomed to how the MYP develops both subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. For instance, last May, Grade 8 had their first Interdisciplinary Week. Students had to choose from five different interdisciplinary experiences, which combined learning from two different subjects, and explore the connections between the two. Click here for our article for more details about this great week of interconnected learning.

The full-day MYP workshop was a great success for our Secondary School educators and is a testament that we are moving forward with alignment and clarity. There are still steps to take to gain authorization, but we are confident that this journey will further enhance our high quality, challenging, and international education for our students.

*AISG is a Candidate School for the MYP and pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that AISG believes is important for our students.

*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org

The International Baccalaureate develops lifelong learners who thrive and make a difference. Click here to learn more about learning at AISG.