PYP Parents Programme

As an IB PYP (International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme) World School, we view “partnerships with parents and legal guardians as benefitting the students and value the perspectives they bring to the learning community. The partnerships between home and school provide the foundation to support students’ learning, growth, health and well-being and agency”.

To that end, we are organizing monthly meetings to further involve you in your child’s education. Each month, we focus on one aspect of the PYP.

On 7 February Tuesday, our focus was ‘‘Inquiry based learning: being actively involved in and taking responsibility for own learning”. d

From an IBPYP perspective,

• “Play, problem-based learning, collaboration, experimentation, and explicit teaching all have a place within well-considered inquiry-based learning experiences.

• Inquiry is purposeful and authentic.

• The inquiry process builds capacity through student agency where voice, choice and ownership feature strongly.

Inquiry, as the leading pedagogical approach of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) recognizes students as being actively involved in their own learning and as taking responsibility for that learning. PYP learning is approached with a spirit of inquiry. Drawing from the transdisciplinary themes and students’ interests, inquiry is an authentic way for students to relate to, explore and understand the world around them.

…The IB believes that this is the way in which students learn best.

As part of the learner profile, students are supported in becoming “inquirers”. Inquiry nurtures curiosity and promotes enthusiasm for life-long learning. Effective inquiry encourages students to think, challenge and extend their ideas; it prompts students to reflect and take action. Through the inquiry process, students develop and demonstrate/practice the approaches to learning and attributes of the learner profile.”

Inquiry in the PYP, Teaching and Learning, PYP From Principles into Practice

During the parent workshop, we reflected on the roles of teachers and parents in supporting children’s inquiry to help build ‘capacity through student agency where voice, choice and ownership feature strongly.’

We considered adults’ role in children’s inquiry and shared our reflections on these questions:

• What support and guidance is available to your child at home? From whom?

• Does your child need more or less structure, control and guidance?

• How can you know if you are giving the right support?

• What is your role in making student agency happen?