A reflection on the power of imaginative play in diverse natural learning environments. Imagination, curiosity, wonder, joy… all of this is present in the everyday moments of free play within the nature wonderland that is the small bush garden and play area at my IB PYP school in Canberra, Australia. After two years living and […]
Archive | Approaches to learning
Getting students’ feedback to feed-forward
This article is about the ways a PYP school in Turkey uses students’ feedback to enhance the current school practices related to curriculum, learning and teaching. Feedback to feed-forward – crucial for progress. As educators we keep records of our students’ progress throughout the year and give written and oral feedback in order to identify […]
Yoga – an essential element?
This article explains the relevance of yoga in a child’s education, and how it aligns with PYP philosophy and practice. When practised every day, yoga not only benefits children physically, but also plays an important role in the ongoing development of wellbeing and mental health. Yoga offers a holistic fitness array of […]
Design thinking for school leaders to drive change
This article shares a process of how PYP school administrators and their change team used design thinking to adapt the primary school’s curriculum to stakeholder needs – including students, parents and teachers. The outcome of using this methodology included significant changes to both school culture and curriculum. Driving school change during PYP candidacy is a […]
Activating Parents to Develop Student Agency
Day-to-day life can leave little cognitive space for parents to consider the future-focused and transformational nature of the PYP. As the PYP moves forward in developing agency in the Learners, the potential benefits of bringing our parent communities along with us as informed and active partners cannot be overstated. For those familiar with psychology, the […]
The Mathematics routines that cultivate learner agency
This article shares examples of how classroom routines could be one of the effective tools to foster learners’ agency and raise their voice and choice while learning mathematics. During the last months, the concept of “agency” has dominated the discussion between educators since it is one of new terminologies that appeared in PYP: From principles […]