IB Middle Years Programme
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) is a challenging and engaging curriculum for students aged 11 to 16. It is offered by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and is designed to provide a holistic and internationally-minded education. The MYP is a five-year program (6th - 10th grades) that focuses on the development of the whole student: academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.
ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES 9 AND 10 AT DECATUR HIGH SCHOOL ARE IB MYP STUDENTS
The MYP curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, inquiry-based learning, and intercultural understanding. It also encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning and to develop the skills and attitudes necessary to become lifelong learners.
The MYP aims to develop active learners and internationally minded young people who can empathize with others and pursue lives of purpose and meaning. The program empowers students to inquire into a wide range of issues and ideas of significance locally, nationally, and globally. The result is young people who are creative, critical, and reflective thinkers. The MYP helps students develop both subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. The MYP addresses students’ intellectual, social, emotional, and physical well-being, enables students to understand and manage the complexities of our world, and provides them with the skills and attitudes they need in order to take responsible action for the future, ensures breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding through the study of eight subject areas (Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, Physical and Health Education, and Design), requires the study of at least two languages to support students’ understanding of their own culture and of others, and provides the opportunity for students to undertake an independent project in an area of personal interest.
The MYP Curriculum Framework
Includes:
Approaches to learning (ATL), helping students learn how to learn by developing skills for research, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-management
Key and related concepts, helping students explore big ideas that matter
Global contexts, helping students understand the relevance and importance of their study for understanding their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.
Students learn best when their learning experiences have context and are connected to their lives and their experience of the world that they have experienced. Using global contexts, MYP students develop an understanding of their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet through developmentally appropriate explorations of:
identities and relationships
personal and cultural identity
orientations in space and time
scientific and technical innovation
fairness and development
globalization and sustainability.
The MYP culminates in an in-depth, self-directed, independent learning project, the personal project. Students complete a significant piece of work over an extended period of time, encouraging them to consolidate their learning and reflect on the outcomes of their work.
Research shows that students participating in the MYP:
build confidence in managing their own learning
learn by doing, connecting the classroom to the larger world
outperform non-IB students in critical academic skills [647KB]
consistently have greater success in IB Diploma Programme examinations
thrive in positive school cultures where they are engaged and motivated to excel [3.2MB]
develop an understanding of global challenges and a commitment to act as responsible citizens.
10 Reasons Why
*Also located on the Personal Project page on this site.