KIS Launches MYP: New Chapter

Launching the MYP: Next Chapter

At KIS International School in Bangkok and over 1,000 other MYP schools around the globe, we transitioned to a newly developed version of the MYP curriculum. These curriculum updates have been planned for the past several years and KIS had been involved in piloting these updates for the International Baccalaureate over the past two years in the subject areas of Humanities, Visual Arts and Physical Education.

Here is a summary of the changes affecting the MYP Curriculum:

Subject names

The subject names for most MYP courses have been updated to align more closely with the DP and to reflect the content focus of each area. Language A becomes Language & Literature, since it focuses on literature and the art of language. Language B becomes Language Acquisition since it focuses on the skills needed to acquire and master a new language. PE includes an additional focus on Health so it becomes Physical & Health Education. Humanities becomes Individuals & Societies, while IT becomes Design.

Simplification of Assessment Criteria

Now all MYP subjects will have only 4 assessment criteria, each out of 8 points. Previously each MYP subject had a different number of criteria and different point totals. This time each subject will be out of 32 points. Some criteria are now similar; for instance, if there was a Knowledge and Understanding criteria, it will always be criterion A.

Concept-based curriculum

The MYP has always been a concept-based curriculum but now this is made more explicit. Concepts are big, abstract, transferable ideas that can connect different subjects, such as Change or Systems, or bring depth to a specific subject, such as Equivalence (Math), Composition (Arts), or Movement (PHE). Each subject has a specific list of concepts that they need to cover throughout the 5 years of the MYP, ensuring a greater consistency of curriculum coverage among all MYP schools across the world. Concept-based curriculum has been at the forefront of educational theory for the past decade and is now an explicit and integral part of MYP philosophy.

Global Contexts

These 6 contexts replace the Areas of Interaction, and are a direct evolution of the trans-disciplinary themes in the PYP. These are broad “themes” that give relevance to a unit of study by answering the question “Why are we learning this?”. These contexts, such as “Globalization & Sustainability” or “Personal & Cultural Expression” connect what students are learning to real-life experiences.

Approaches to Learning

These are 10 meta-cognitive skills that allow students to become better life-long learners by focusing on the skills they need to succeed in the real world. These are skills such as “Collaboration”, “Communication”, “Media Literacy”, “Affective” and are not specific to any particular subject. They are relevant to all MYP subjects and will soon become a part of the PYP and the DP as well.

Action and Service

The MYP has always had a Community and Service focus. This re-defined aspect simply opens up the opportunities for students to provide service within their own peer group or school, beyond the typical Community Fundraising activities.

By Darryl Anderson, MYP Coordinator at KIS International School Bangkok, Thailand.