How to contribute

Want to submit, but need an idea?

All articles are welcome, however we are specifically interested in the following themes:

Submission guidelines

PYP practitioners are known to be dedicated and innovative teachers. Why not share your expertise and help other PYP educators learn from your experience?

The SharingPYP blog is your space to share tips, advice, strategies, experience and reflections for successful learner-centred practices for use inside the classroom and beyond.

We are looking for articles that illustrate both authentic and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Submissions should reflect the global nature and educational philosophy of the IB PYP, and highlight effective practice in the implementation of the PYP curriculum framework.

Please use our template to submit your article (see submission pack below); send it to pyp.curriculum@ibo.org together with your photo, short biography (maximum 50 words) and all required consent forms. In your biography, mention your Twitter handle and/or own blog link, if applicable. We promote all articles via Twitter (@IBPYP) to drive traffic to the blog.

We retain final decision rights over headlines and we do not publish pieces that come across as promotional.

Our goal is to have balanced global representation within our selection process.

At the moment we accept articles written in English only.

Format

Written submissions: 

• should be written as a learning story (quotes allowed, conversation discouraged)
• should reflect the dialogue/thinking around current IB PYP principles and practice;
• should be original and exclusive to the SharingPYP blog (not be published elsewhere); however, a new take on an existing article is a possibility – please provide a link to the original article;
• should be between 500-900 words – longer articles will be directly returned to author for editing;
• must include references in article and bibliography at the end (if applicable)
• may include supporting high resolution images/video clips*;
• will be edited by our quality assurance team and, therefore, should be submitted in a Word format (not PDF); Note: you may be asked to do multiple rounds of revisions, as we have a thorough editorial process;
• should avoid reference to Making the PYP happen.

Video* submissions:

• should be high quality;
• preferably no more than 8 minutes;
• should include a written summary of about 50 words.

* Our PYP community loves to see students and educators in action. However, note that for all students featured in the photo and video submissions, parents will need to sign a consent form (forms are available below).  We understand that schools already ask parents to sign a consent form on the use of student images/videos; however, we require a separate consent form specifically for use on the SharingPYP blog.

Tips to consider

• Reflect personal experiences or school stories, including pivotal moments in understanding the PYP framework.
• Illustrate both effective and innovative approaches to learning and approaches to teaching.
• Share evidence-based practice.
• Describe what did not work so well as well as what worked well to support learner outcomes.
• Describe what you would do differently next time (lessons learned).
• Describe how your school investigated certain aspects of the PYP – and what you will apply from these experiences.
• Refrain from using acronyms such as POI, UOI, TD, EAL, CCSS, etc.
• Reference a central idea, if applicable.

Samples

Below are sample submission forms completed by PYP teachers:

Sample written article submission
Sample video submission

Submission pack

Template for article submission (submit your article in this format)
Check list
Copyright permission form (this form is required)
Video & image consent form (only when submitting videos and/or photos/images of minors or adults)

 Submission process

1. Manuscript submission (author)
2. Quality assurance review (PYP development team)
3. Initial edits (PYP development team); return to author for further work if needed
4. Review & sign off (author)
5. Final copyediting & proofreading (PYP development team)
6. Obtain copyright permission (author)
7. Publish on SharingPYP blog (PYP development team)