The Middle Years (MYP) Program
Boca Prep is an IB World School for the Middle Years Program of the International Baccalaureate Organization. The curriculum for this division is designed to encourage the making of connections between the various disciplines and to relate the material to our world today. In general, the curriculum is outcome based and the various components in each discipline involve projects designed with a given rubric. Our small class size fosters individualization of the curriculum and strong teacher-pupil relationships.
Middle Years Program
Students in grades 6-10 are at a critical stage of development. They are undergoing dramatic physical, personal, social and intellectual changes. They are also becoming more aware of the wider world around them. It’s a time of questioning and challenging, which can be exciting, confusing and a bit frightening all at the same time. The Middle Years Program aims to help students through this crucial time by fostering a sense of belonging and a positive attitude to learning. The program is inquiry based, encourages international-mindedness, makes connections between the different subjects to each other and real-life, supports the development of communication skills in both mother-tongue and additional languages, is holistic and focuses on the development of the whole child (physical, personal, social and intellectual).
Curriculum
The MYP does not prescribe a particular curriculum. Rather, it is a framework or means of delivering and assessing the curriculum already in place. There are eight different subject groups and connections are made between the subject groups through the Areas of Interaction (AOI).
The Subject Groups
• Language A (English)
• Language B (Spanish)
• Humanities
• Mathematics
• Sciences
• Physical Education
• Technology
• Arts (music, art, drama, dance)
Areas of Interaction (AOI)
The five areas are: The five areas of interaction give the MYP its distinctive core. They are taught in a coherent and creative way over the five years of the program primarily through the subjects and through interdisciplinary teaching.
Approaches to learning
How do I learn best? How do I know? How do I communicate?
Approaches to learning is concerned with developing the intellectual discipline, attitudes, strategies and skills that will result in critical, coherent and independent thought and the capacity for problem-solving and decision-making. Central to this is ‘learning how to learn’ and developing an awareness of thought processes and their strategic use.
Community and Service
How do we live in relation to each other? How can I contribute to the community? How can I help? Community and service extends beyond the classroom, requiring students to participate in the communities in which they live. The emphasis is on developing community awareness and concern, a sense of responsibility, and the skills needed to make an effective contribution to society.
Health and Social Education
How do I think and act? How am I changing? How can I look after myself and others? Health and social education aims to educate the whole person and should prepare students for a physically and mentally healthy life, aware of potential hazards and able to make informed choices. It should also develop in students a sense of responsibility for their own well-being and for the physical and social environment.
Environments
Where do we live? What resources do we have or need? What are my responsibilities? Environments aims to develop students’ awareness of their interdependence with the environment so that they accept responsibility for maintaining an environment fit for the future: each day students are confronted with global environmental issues both political and economic, which require balanced understanding.
Human Ingenuity
Why and how do we create? What are the consequences?
Human Ingenuity is concerned with the products of the creative genius of people and their impact on society and on the human mind. Students learn to appreciate the human capacity to influence, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. This area of interaction therefore encourages students to see the relationships between science, aesthetics, technology and ethics.
The Personal Project
The personal project is a significant body of work produced by each student over an extended period in the last year of the Middle Years Program. It is an important aspect of the MYP as it is seen as a product of the student’s own initiative and creativity. The Project must reflect a personal appreciation of the areas of interaction and the application of skills acquired through approaches to learning. The personal project offers students a great deal of flexibility and many opportunities for differentiation of learning and expression according to their individual needs. It is a rich opportunity for students to complete an extended piece of work that challenges their own creativity and thinking about issues of concern to themselves.
The personal project may take many forms, for example:
• an original work of art (visual, dramatic, or performance)
• a written piece of work on a special topic (literary, social, psychological, or
anthropological)
• a piece of literary fiction (that is, creative writing)
• an original science experiment
• an invention or specially designed object or system
• the presentation of a developed business, management, or organizational plan (that
is, for an entrepreneurial business or project), a special event, or the development of a
new student or community organization.
MYP Grading System
Assessment in the MYP is criterion referenced, which means that teachers measure student attainment against specified subject criteria rather than against other individuals in the class. For each criterion there is a range of points awarded, based on student performance at the time of assessment. Each criterion has a descriptor that explains as clearly as possible what each student has been able to achieve. When the points for each criterion are added up, the student’s overall score falls within a point range, which equates to an IB grade equivalent/academic grade that may range from 1 to 7.
More information from IBO.org