International Baccalaureate

Introduction

The Middle Years Program MYP is a framework that delivers a middle school curriculum for students aged between 11 to 16 years. The MYP is interdisciplinary, which means students make connections between the major subjects like Language & Literature, Language Acquisition, Design, The Arts, Sciences, Math, Individuals & Societies, and Physical & Health Education. The difference between the Primary Years Program (PYP) and Middle Years Program (MYP) is that PYP students learn in a transdisciplinary approach and the units are focussed on central ideas and concepts. The subjects taught in the PYP program to students aged 3 to 12 years are Maths; Science; Social Studies; Language; Personal, Physical, and Social Education; and The Arts (Silicon Valley International School, 2018).

The summative assessment for PYP culminates in the PYP exhibition. This exhibition involves a substantial effort of planning for teachers and constitutes a notable event in a student’s life. The exhibition brings together the vital elements of the PYP curriculum through students’ sharing with the whole school community (Medwell, Cooker, Bailey, & Winchip, n.d.).

The summative assessment for the MYP culminates in a community project where students take what they learned and show their growth and understanding by giving back to their community. MYP students graduate with a better sense of global identity through assimilating cultural differences, collaboration with multiple perspectives, and the ability to transfer skills from one discipline to another (Wade, Wolanin, & McGaughey, 2015).

This sharing examines two educational strengths and two potential weaknesses of the PYP and MYP IB programs, respectively, with examples to illustrate the instructional design's educational value and ascertain the potential shortcomings in achieving students’ learning outcomes (IBO, 2022).

Educational Strengths and Potential Weaknesses of the PYP Program

One of the educational strengths is the International Recognition of the IB program for PYP and MYP. It is well accepted and proven curriculum with 7,500 programs in 159 countries across 5,500 schools worldwide, offering the IB programs in May 2022 (IBO, 2022). The PYP program offers topics with different degrees of inquiry, critical thinking, and international mindedness. The chosen topics by schools with IB curriculum help students to promote greater engagement and integration with the common core like Maths; Science; Social Studies; Language; Personal, Physical, and Social Education; and The Arts (Silicon Valley International School, 2018).

The other educational strength of the PYP program is students’ profiles narrated with examples exhibiting strengths like Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, and Reflective are attributes essential for the 21st-century learner and beyond (Wade, Wolanin, & McGaughey, 2015).

One of the potential weaknesses of the PYP program is management and timing of the PYP exhibition in different regions or countries were affected by the local curricula, local high stakes assessments, and the alignment of the local school’s academic calendar. Therefore, the PYP exhibition preparation could take considerable time and stress (Singh, 2019).

The other potential weaknesses of the PYP program are information about the PYP exhibition was not shared between schools across the transfer. This could be a policy issue between schools, and the need to validate the reliability of the exhibition process could be considered among schools across the transfer. This policy must also involve all stakeholders like the parents, teachers, students, administrators, and mentors for the assessment to be well-coordinated, planned, and implemented (Medwell, Cooker, Bailey, & Winchip, n.d.).

Educational Strengths and Potential Weaknesses of the MYP Program

One of the educational strengths of the MYP program is Community Action Service (CAS) projects. Students can complete 150 hours of community and service activities. Students can take ownership of completing the required 150 hours with their team by thinking beyond their school or college applications. Students will need to author their reflective reports on what they have learned and attained from these CAS projects. The objective of the CAS project is to cultivate a practice of voluntary community social services to demonstrate social responsibility and obtain valuable experience in implementing and executing feasible community projects (Singh, 2019).

The other educational strength of the MYP program is the academic rigor based on projects and papers. The internal assessments are projects where students choose a topic, conduct experiments, and research the topic well. MYP students must do a group project for science, where they examine a specific scientific phenomenon interest as a group and draft a research report.

Besides the coursework, students must complete an Extended Essay of 4,000 words and a Theory of Knowledge project. The teacher guides students to craft research questions and probable answers needed for their investigation. The Theory of Knowledge covers the foundations of philosophy and teaches students to construct knowledge from a critical perspective. The extended essay requires students to investigate and explore fundamental truths or reality and novel or innovative ways of inquiry. Students are instructed to question pre-existing knowledge and value the process rather than the outcome. This is essential in 21st-century learning, where processes and creativity are part of design thinking (Singh, 2019).

One of the potential weaknesses of the MYP program is the heavy workload administered through internal assessment, extended essays, oral presentations, philosophy writing, 150- hours of Community and Service project, mock exams, and final exams. Students might not be able to space their study time, task activities, and reading assignments. The student will need intrinsic motivation to spur them to complete the rigorous assignments and assessments. Students may feel exhausted to socialize and might isolate themselves. Therefore, a process for students’ feedback is required to check and support students’ need for assistance in advice, emotional support, and wellness (Singh, 2019).

The other potential weakness of the MYP program is the lack of flexibility due to the great depth of subjects required. There are six compulsory subjects in six categories in its curriculum. Students who want a more stream-based or practical education will have difficulty in the program. For example, students who plan to study medicine or engineering can take three higher-level science subjects and/or math as per the requirements. However, the same flexibility is not offered to the more artistically inclined students. Students need to know their learning style and study priorities (TYCHR, 2021)

Although the MYP program is widely recognized, it is not a one-size-fits-all program. There is no guarantee for a student’s admission into the college of their choice during the final two years. The student will need to match their long-term goals and learner profile to stay on course for the MYP before Diploma Program (DP) and Career-related (CP) programs (Wade, Wolanin, & McGaughey, 2015).

Conclusion

This discussion has examined two educational strengths and two potential weaknesses in the IB PYP and MYP programs. Scholarly arguments and examples of student-centered learning and a more holistic curriculum design that better fits the progressive student were discussed, with some suggestions for improvement (TYCHR, 2021).