Introduction

The MYP provides a curriculum which allows students to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills they need to participate effectively in life in the twenty-first century. The concept of balance is fundamental to the programme in a number of ways.

• The programme provides learning in a broad base of disciplines to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare for the future.
• The course objectives include skills and processes as well as a framework of concepts.
• The MYP promotes the principle of simultaneous learning. As the students mature and develop their thinking skills, they explore the disciplines with increasing depth and realize how they are linked to each other and to the global issues.
• The programme encourages the use of variety of teaching and learning methods to produce an atmosphere where students discover how they learn best in different contexts.
• The programme also encourages a balance between formative and summative assessment.

Curriculum Model

The student is at the centre of the MYP curriculum model. At this age, students are making the transition from early puberty to mid – adolescence, a crucial period of personal, social and intellectual development of uncertainty and questioning . The MYP is designed to guide the students in their search for a sense of place in the natural and social environment

In the curriculum model, the five areas of interaction are common interactive themes embedded in the subject groups and developed naturally through them. Each subject group occupies a point around the edge of the octagonal model, reflecting the importance of the traditional disciplines taught to this age group and the skills, knowledge and understandings specific to each. All the subject groups around the edge of the octagon are of equal importance, although each one does not necessarily require the same amount of teaching time, however, they must all be addressed seriously and must be clearly identifiable in the curriculum.

Areas of Interaction

The students’ intellectual and social development is the focus of the Middle Years Programme. Five ideas known as the areas of interactions are embedded within and across all academic subjects. The five areas are:

• Approaches to Learning
• Community Service
• Health and Social Education
• Environment
• Homo Faber (Man the Creator)

Approaches to learning are concerned with developing the strategies, attitudes and skills that students need to become more effective learners. Central to this is the idea that students must become master of their own learning.

Students will:

Learn effective working methods Develop independent thinking Increase their sense of individual and collective responsibility Develop their own critical judgement of various ways of thinking Develop their capacity for problem-solving and decision-making

Community & service

Community & Service extends beyond the classroom, requiring students to participate in the communities in which they live. The emphasis is on developing community awareness and concern, a sense of responsibility, and the skills needed to make an effective contribution to society.

Encourages responsible citizenship Enables students to increase their awareness of the world around them Students grow emotionally and socially as they widen their horizons Fosters an altruistic attitude Increases the students’ sense of responsibility and self-esteem Gives insight into different social patterns and ways of life

Health and social education

Health and social education includes the medical, psychological, sociological, economic and legal aspects of health. It aims to educate the whole person and should prepare students for a physically and mentally healthy life, aware of potential hazards and able to make informed choices.
It should also develop in students a sense of responsibility for their own well – being and for the physical and social environment.

Students will:

Understand their body, how to keep healthy and to prevent diseases Speak intelligently about healthy needs and problems Accept responsibility for themselves, their family, their community and the environment as a whole Distinguish needs from wants Make informed decisions Understand the consequences of substance abuse Analyse values, attitudes, positive and negative influences Gain self-esteem and self-confidence

Enviroments

Environments develop insight into environmental concerns and into possible ways of investigating problems and finding solutions. It aims to develop students’ awareness of their interdependence with the environment so they accept responsibility for maintaining an environment fit for the future. Students also face environmental situations at home and at school which require decision – making.

Student will develop:

An understanding of conservation An awareness of their own and other people’s interdependence with the environment An acceptance of responsibility to maintain an environment fit for present and future generations

Human Ingenuity

Human ingenuityis concerned with the products of the creative genius of people and their impact on society and on the human mind. Students learn to appreciate the human capacity to influence, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. This area of interaction therefore encourages students to see the relationships between science, aesthetics, technology and ethics.

Students will show awareness and appreciation of:

The development of scientific and mathematical thought through time The ethical development of people through time The changing perspectives of aesthetic judgements The human ability to create change and to respond to the consequences of such change

Students will:

• Learn about the creative genius of particular individuals from the past and the present
• Create work pieces for themselves
• Students should have an opinion on how a certain genius and/or an invention or philosophy has or could have an impact on individuals, society and the environment.