C19: Framing of the PYP

by Lu Gerlach

About a year and a half ago while co-presenting a workshop, I had an Aha moment while comparing the PYP to a house.  You’d think I would have presented this framework at the beginning of this podcast series.  I had initially intended for it to be that way, but there was so much panic in the world on how to engage with students in a virtual learning environment.  As such, I adapted my plan to focus on how to make inquiry accessible in a virtual space. Then, I ventured into agency and action, because they have a symbiotic relationship with inquiry.  One cannot exist without the other.

Once all of the initial thoughts were captured, I decided to go back to the beginning.  So let’s try to frame our thinking of the PYP by looking at it as a house. 

The Foundation

As we know, the foundation is the most important part of a house.  It provides a level surface for the rest to build upon. The foundation takes the pressure from the rest of the structure when outside forces push upon it and shake it to the core.  As such, the foundational layers need to be items that are deep rooted in the IB philosophy and reinforce school culture. 

The first layer of the foundation consists of the learner profile attributes.  The learner profile attributes are more than terms we use to describe an internationally minded student, they are a disposition of how we look at the world.  They are one of the only elements of the IB program that follow a learner from kindergarten to graduation.  Why is the learner profile so important?  They lay the foundation of school culture through shared language.  With the diverse backgrounds of our educators and learners, the learner profile unifies our purpose and provides a common language that can be used throughout the program continuum. 

The second layer of the foundation is international mindedness.  We strive to become internationally minded, because it's the embodiment of the IB mission statement in our school and community.  It allows us to look beyond our perspective of the world and examine how others do things differently.  As such, international mindedness is at the heart of building relationships that can withstand obstacles. ​

Framing the House

As we set the foundation, we want to build a strong floor that can withstand a lot of wear and tear.  This floor will span the entire house and every nook and cranny.  Our flooring takes shape with the transdisciplinary themes.  As we create our strong mindset, we move forward with building a curriculum that is laid in the frame of the PYP six transdisciplinary themes.  These themes center our thinking conceptually and connect all of our content areas together. 

The studs and beams truly hold up a structure.  They are what create the rooms and floors in a home.  Concepts hold up the house structure vertically.  These are universal ideas that are timeless, universal, and abstract.  They connect all of the ideas in our various content areas and bring them together as a cohesive unit. Without concepts, our units would be thematic, departmentalized, and unrelated. They truly are the anchor to everything we do and help students make generalizations about the world around them. 

Designing the House

Our house has been designed to have two floors. The main floor has been designed to showcase the approaches to learning or ATLs.  The ATLs are skills that are explicitly taught, so learners can become independent thinkers.  Their aim is to ensure that students understand, can explain, and are able to replicate processes to new situations.  This is learning transfer. 

On the second floor, you will find the approaches to teaching or ATTs.  These are various teaching and assessment strategies that teachers employ to ensure that big ideas are understood while delivering content-driven objectives.  They include: inquiry, concepts, collaboration, local and global contexts, differentiation, and assessment. 

Holding it All Together

​The attic and roof hold everything intact, so there is no damage to the home.  This ensures that habitants can freely roam with little fear of being exposed to the outside elements.  Agency and action act as our shields in holding the program together. They anchor to each component of the structure to keep everything balanced and secure.   Agency and action come about naturally when there is a strong foundation of school culture and relationships through the learner profile and international mindedness. 

All of the elements of the PYP house work together to stand tall.  It’s not easy, because there will always be maintenance to ensure no calamity befalls the house. There will be major overhauls over time to be able to stay abreast of current trends and improvements.  

You can easily differentiate between PYP houses.  There are some that were crafted over time with care.  The people devoted a lot of themselves into making it the best edifice on the block.  Meanwhile down the road, others did a quick construction job to get something up with little thought of long-term durability.  This is our reality. 

Which type of house do you currently live in?  What repairs need to be made so your structure can stand tall?