Creating a Statement of Inquiry
Conceptual Understanding in IB
From IBO:
Key and Related Concepts & Conceptual Understanding
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From IB's From Principles Into Practice:
Concepts are integral to the inquiry process and one of the essential elements of the IB
A concept-driven curriculum promotes meaning and understanding and challenges students to engage authentically with significant ideas
A concept-driven curriculum challenges the memorization of isolated facts and the mastery of skills out of context
The exploration and re-exploration of concepts lead students towards an appreciation of ideas that transcend disciplinary boundaries as well as towards the essence of each subject area
In addition to the key concepts, each discipline has powerful related concepts that also support inquiry
The IB documents are written as conceptual understandings to provide a platform for knowledge and skills development – concepts before content
Concept-based teaching and learning offers a solution to the ‘crowded curriculum’ by linking students’ interests to essential understandings that are transferable across disciplines
The concepts are explicit at all stages of curriculum planning, in the statement of inquiry, the lines of inquiry, and provocations to inquire and assessment
IB samples from MYP guides
Click on the links below for subject-specific examples. These are excerpts from your IB MYP guides.
Arts: Learning through Inquiry
Design: Learning through Inquiry
Individuals & Societies: Learning through Inquiry
Language Acquisition:Learning through Inquiry
Language & Literature: Learning through Inquiry
Mathematics:Learning through Inquiry
Key Concepts
Key concepts are the big ideas, which form the basis of teaching and learning in MYP. Key concepts engage students in higher order thinking, helping them to connect facts and topics with more complex conceptual understanding.
There are sixteen (16) key concepts that can be explored across all disciplines. For each unit, you should select ONE key concept.
Key concepts are derived from the subject matter groups. Each key concept derived from your subject group should be focused on at least one time per year.
Language and Literature: Communication, Connections, Creativity, Perspective
Language Acquisition: Communication, Connections, Creativity, Culture
Individuals and Societies: Change, Global Interactions, Time, Place and Space, Systems
Sciences: Change Relationships, Systems
Mathematics: Form, Logic, Relationships
Arts: Aesthetics, Change, Communication, Identity
Physical and Health Education: Change, Communication, Development, Relationships
Design: Communication, Communities, Development, Systems
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Related Concepts
Related concepts are subject-specific concepts defined by MYP that allow students to extend learning, deepen understanding, or offer a new perspective.
Each subject area has twelve (12) related concepts, but your team can add to this list to meet our local, state, or national requirements. Your MYP subject guides contain definitions for related concepts as well as examples of how they are used to develop MYP units.
For each unit, select at least one related concept (2-3 recommended) for each unit.
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Global Contexts
From IBO: Global Contexts and Explorations
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n the MYP, learning contexts should be (or should model) authentic world settings, events, and circumstances. Contexts for learning are chosen from global contexts to encourage international mindedness and global engagement.
Teachers should select the global context that best suits the unit’s content with the goal to include as many different global contexts within the semester/year. Over the course of the program, students will encounter all six global contexts.
Teaching and learning in the MYP involves understanding concepts in context. When teachers select a global context for learning, they are answering the questions:
Why are we engaged in this inquiry? Why are these concepts important?
Why is it important for me (or my students) to understand? Why do people care about this topic?
How does this concept and topic related to the real world?
For each unit, select one (1) global context to serve as a lens through which students will explore the content.
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Statement of Inquiry
From IBO: Statement of Inquiry
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The statement of inquiry should anchor the entire unit of inquiry, and students must demonstrate their understanding of this statement of inquiry in the summative assessment.
The statement of inquiry:
represents a contextualized, conceptual understanding that is worthy of inquiry
explains clearly what students should understand and why that understanding is meaningful
For each unit, write a statement that combines the key concept, related concepts, and global context to make a meaningful statement that serves as the overarching understanding of the entire unit.
The statement of inquiry should:
Use active present tense verbs
Avoid proper and personal nouns
Transcend the disciplines
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