What is the Middle Years Programme?
It is a programme of international education designed to help students develop the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills necessary to participate actively and responsibly in a changing world.
The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) is designed for students aged 11 to 16.
This period, encompassing early puberty and mid-adolescence, is a particularly critical phase of personal and intellectual development and requires a programme that helps students participate actively and responsibly in a changing and increasingly interrelated world. Learning how to learn and how to evaluate information critically is as important as learning facts.
Curriculum documents are published in English, French, Spanish and Chinese but schools may offer the programme in other languages.
The Middle Years Programme (MYP) is one of three programmes offered by the IB.
What does the curriculum contain?
The curriculum contains eight subject groups together with a core made up of five areas of interaction.
This is illustrated by means of an octagon with the five areas of interaction at its centre.
Students study subjects from each of the eight subject groups through the five areas of interaction: approaches to learning, community and service, human ingenuity, environment, and health and social education.
What are the five areas of interaction?
The five areas of interaction are:
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approaches to learning
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community and service
Approaches to learning (ATL)
Through ATL teachers provide students with the tools to enable them to take responsibility for their own learning, thereby developing an awareness of how they learn best, of thought processes and of learning strategies.
Community and service
This component requires students to take an active part in the communities in which they live, thereby encouraging responsible citizenship.
Human ingenuity
Students explore in multiple ways the processes and products of human creativity, thus learning to appreciate and develop in themselves the human capacity to influence, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life.
Environments
This area aims to develop students’ awareness of their interdependence with the environment so that they understand and accept their responsibilities.
Health and social education
This area deals with physical, social and emotional health and intelligence—key aspects of development leading to complete and healthy lives.
How are students assessed?
Teachers organize continuous assessment over the course of the programme taking account of specified criteria that correspond to the objectives for each subject.
The MYP offers a criterion-related model of assessment. This means that students' results are determined by performance against set standards, not by each student's position in the overall rank order.
Teachers are responsible for structuring varied and valid assessment tasks that allow students to demonstrate achievement according to the required objectives within each subject group. These may include:
- open-ended, problem-solving activities and investigations
- organized debates
- hands-on experimentation
- analysis
- reflection.
Assessment strategies, both quantitative and qualitative, provide feedback on the thinking processes as well as the finished piece of work. There is also an emphasis on self-assessment and peer-assessment within the programme.
Schools may request final grades to be validated by the International Baccalaureate (IB).
Where can I find additional information?
Additional information can be found at www.ibo.org.
Resources
"Middle Years Programme at a glance." International Baccalaureate. Ed. International Baccalaureate Organization. 2005. 19 Mar. 2009 <www.ibo.org>.