Learning in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) provides many formal and informal opportunities for students to demonstrate how they have developed and applied their knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and learner profile attributes through the inquiries they undertake. The PYP exhibition is a notable example of these opportunities.
In the PYP exhibition, students demonstrate their understanding of an issue or opportunity they have chosen to explore. They undertake their investigation both individually and with their peers, together with the guidance of a mentor.
Through the exhibition, students demonstrate their ability to take responsibility for their learning—and their capacity to take action—as they are actively engaged in planning, presenting and assessing learning.
The exhibition is a powerful demonstration of student agency, as well as the agency of the community that has nurtured them through their years in the PYP.
The purposes of the PYP exhibition
The key purposes of the exhibition are:
• for students to engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry
• to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate agency and responsibility for their learning
• to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate the attributes of the learner profile in authentic contexts
• to provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives
• to provide an authentic process for students to monitor, document and present their learning
• to provide students with an opportunity to synthesize and apply their learning
• for students to take action as a result of their learning
• to unite the students, teachers and other members of the learning community in a collaborative experience
• to provide an authentic context for students to reflect on their PYP education
• to support the well-being of students by celebrating their transition to the next stages of their education
• to provide an authentic task for the community to evaluate its implementation of the PYP
• to provide students with an opportunity to engage with the broader learning community and celebrate their achievements.