History and Growth

The Learner

The first pillar—the learner—addresses learning from the student perspective, including the outcomes students should seek for themselves (IBO, n.d.c). The important focus is on students taking action and having agency, which form the backbone of the learning-progressive element, giving students the opportunity to take ownership of their own learning (Stuart, Heckmann, Mattos, & Buffum, 2018).

Learning and Teaching

The second pillar—learning and teaching—focuses on articulating the process of learning and teaching within the PYP, including ideas of transdisciplinary learning (a curriculum-organizing approach that extends beyond the limits of individual subjects) and methods for learning skills, making inquiries, and solidifying conceptual understanding (IBO, n.d.c). This aspect of the program clearly lays out the foundations of a guaranteed and viable curriculum (what all students will learn in the allotted time; Marzano, Norford, Finn, & Finn, 2017) to ensure the work done in schools has clear outcomes that support students’ futures.

The Learning Community

The third pillar—the learning community—covers aspects related to international mindedness, which is an overarching construct related to intercultural understanding, global engagement, and multilingualism (Hacking et al., 2017). The learning community pillar of the PYP further emphasizes collaboration, technology, and the social outcomes of learning and how school communities can support these outcomes (IBO, n.d.c).

These three interrelated pillars culminate in students having agency to take action in their learning through choice, voice, and ownership—the ultimate representation of effective student agency. By taking individual and collective action, students come to understand the responsibilities associated with being internationally minded and appreciate the benefits of working with others for a shared purpose (IBO, n.d.c).

History and Growth

The IB PYP was introduced in 1997 following the introduction of the Middle Years Programme in 1994 and the Diploma Programme in 1968. The former International Schools Curriculum Project (ISCP), a consortium of international

schools, developed the PYP and sustained it for over ten years through its collective vision and effort with the goal of producing “a common curriculum framework, for students in the 3–12 age range, which would provide continuity of learning within each school and support the development of international-mindedness on the part of learners” (IBO, n.d.b).

Each of the IB programs includes four foundational and interrelated elements: (1) international mindedness; (2) the IB learner profile; (3) a broad, balanced, conceptual, and connected curriculum; and (4) approaches to teaching and learning (IBO, n.d.b). While the curriculum models for the middle years and diploma programs are interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, the IB PYP is transdisciplinary. It recognizes how primary-age students learn and “moves learning across, between, and beyond disciplines” (IBO, n.d.b).

Since its introduction, the IB PYP has evolved to become more future-focused in response to the challenges and opportunities within the rapidly changing, complex world, and in line with movements in global education to develop lifelong learners (IBO, n.d.b). The IB PYP curriculum framework emphasizes the central principle of agency that is threaded throughout the three pillars of the curriculum. Through this evolution, the IB PYP provides a framework that is transformational and continues to meet the initial aims of developing internationally minded people who recognize their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet (IBO, n.d.b). Research finds the following benefits of the IB PYP. • Standardized test analysis shows that achievement within PYP schools generally exceeds achievement among schools with similar student populations (Gough, Sharpley, Vander Pal, & Griffiths, 2014; Kushner, Cochise, Courtney, Sinnema, & Brown, 2016). • Research shows positive impacts of the PYP to school climate (Boal & Nakamoto, 2020; Dix & Sniedze-Gregory, 2020). • PYP students demonstrate consistently higher levels of well-being compared with similar non-PYP students, and PYP schools with strong implementation show higher levels of teacher engagement and student participation (Dix & Sniedze-Gregory, 2020).

Many kinds of schools (state, private, and international) in over 109 countries offer the PYP. As of 2019, a total of 1,782 schools worldwide offered the PYP. Any school educating students ages three to twelve years can apply to implement the PYP and become an IB World School (IBO, n.d.c).