IB Asia Pacific Newsletter

Quarter Three, 2007

Primary Years Programme

New Staff and Roles

The new PYP team commenced work in the Singapore office on 1 August 2007. The two new associate managers are Mario Gauci and Bill Fenton (Check their biographies in this section!). Tania Lattanzio adds to her current role the additional responsibility of Professional Development. Mignon Weckert has taken over the role of Regional Manager from Andrea Muller.

It is important to acknowledge the significant contribution that Andrea made to this region during her time as Regional Manager. She has devoted many important structures and systems have been implemented to support schools and ensure the quality of the programme implementation and delivery is maintained and further developed. She has provided immeasurable and invaluable advice and support to schools in our region.

New Documents

There are two new important documents which are now on the OCC which we would encourage schools to access.

• PYP coordinator’s handbook 2007- 2008  and
• Making the PYP happen: Pedagogical leadership in a PYP school

The PYP Coordinator’s Handbook provides vital information with regard to programme implementation and General conditions, for example:

• “A PYP school is to implement the programme in an inclusive manner, so that all students in all the grades/year levels in the school, or in the primary division of a school (3–12 years), are engaged with the PYP to the fullest extent possible.” p. 21

• “The PYP is a transdisciplinary curriculum for learners in the 3–12 age range. To support the transdisciplinary nature of the programme, it is important that the classroom teacher, that is, the teacher with whom the students spend most of their time, takes responsibility for mathematics, language(s) of instruction, social studies and science. Single-subject teaching of these areas is not consistent with the PYP model of transdisciplinary learning—learning that transcends the confines of the subject areas, but is supported by them. Personal and social education is the responsibility of all PYP teachers.” p. 21

• “Prior to the authorization  (and evaluation) visit, and in most cases prior to the submission of PYP application form part B, all teaching staff and other pedagogical leaders working with students in the PYP section of the school must have been trained by the IB to deliver the programme. A PYP school must designate funding to enable all teachers and other pedagogical leaders to participate in ongoing professional development to support the philosophy and implementation of the programme. To ensure the continuity and development of the programme, a combination of in-school and regional workshops should be planned for.” p. 22

• “The revised planner was published in January 2007 as part of Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education (2007). Schools must start using the revised planner from 1 August 2007 so that by 1 August 2008 all schools will have six new unit planners per grade level (with the exception of only four new unit planners per grade level in the 3–5 year range).” P. 32

We encourage all PYP coordinators to access this document and share it with others in the school as a way to further enhance the implementation of the PYP.

Leadership in PYP

In visiting schools and, particularly, in the authorization process, it is becoming increasingly clear that a deeper understanding of core leadership of PYP needs further exploration in many settings. In the IB publications: Standards and Practices, the PYP Coordinator Handbook and now the new document Making the PYP happen: Pedagogical leadership in a PYP School, there are succinct statements which reflect the role of the leadership of PYP.

Examples of these statements from Making the PYP happen: Pedagogical leadership in a PYP school include:

What constitutes effective leadership?

“In any organization, the fundamental function of leadership is to define and clarify the “primary task”, and to support the efforts of others towards addressing that task. The “primary task” in a school setting is to enhance the learning of all students. In an IB World School, the “primary task” is encapsulated in the mission statement of the school that needs, in turn, to be aligned with the mission statement of the IBO. Effective school leaders must therefore see themselves, first and foremost, as pedagogical leaders.” P2

“A marked awareness of the value of professional collaboration is part of the ethos of a PYP school, and evidence of this belief will be seen in practices within the school.” P3

Models of shared pedagogical leadership

“The model of shared pedagogical leadership that a school decides upon needs to be communicated throughout the school community. This will help the leadership team to establish objectives, delineate individual responsibilities, and articulate the responsibilities within the team. This transparency will alleviate misunderstandings, clarify channels of communication, prevent redundancy of effort, and save time. More importantly, it will project and promote a common understanding of the standards and practices of the PYP, and of their impact on the culture of the school. Thus, the pedagogical leadership team is pivotal in shaping and strengthening the school community, particularly important in a time of significant change.” P5

The PYP coordinator

“All PYP schools must appoint a coordinator. Normally, the coordinator is recruited from  the teaching staff. This person should have proven teaching ability and be able to act as a pedagogical leader of the programme in the school. A commitment to collaborative planning is central to the philosophy of the PYP. The PYP coordinator has a pivotal role in this process and has to ensure that the standards for implementation are understood, and that the programme is planned, taught and assessed collaboratively.” P7

To ensure effective leadership in PYP, we would encourage school teams to read and discuss the contents of Making the PYP happen: Pedagogical leadership in a PYP School,  as well as revisit the IB Standards and Practices particularly Standard B.

Regional Workshops – New criteria:

1. Limit to 3 per workshop:

With the growth and demand on professional development, the PYP team, have strategically planned for a significant increase in regional workshops to be offered in 2008. However, it was paramount that we address the access for schools to regional workshops across all programmes and the following has been decided:

No more than 3 participants from any one school be registered for any one workshop. With the maximum number of 35 in most of the PYP workshops, the current limit of 5 was limiting access for many schools.

Attendance at regional workshops should be connected to curriculum focus in schools. It is critical that those teachers attending such workshops have a forum in the school for sharing their knowledge. It is not relevant or indeed, constructive to have all teachers attend all regional workshops.

If the school is focusing on developing assessment philosophy and practice, a core group of teachers could attend Assessment in the PYP. It would be then useful for this to be followed up with a variety of options: an IB in-school workshop: focus assessment and/or invited experts on assessment to offer professional development. The IB encourages a balanced approach to professional development.

2. New PYP regional workshop, October 2007:

As the professional development ‘package’ for PYP continues to be developed, IBPYP Asia Pacific is ‘piloting’ a new module at the Regional Workshop, October 26-28, Western Academy Beijing. The new module is ‘Action and the PYP’. The potential for this workshop to have relevance across all three programmes is being considered, but essentially, this pilot will focus on PYP.

3. Regional Workshops in Yokohama

Just a reminder that there are still many spaces available for the PYP workshops in Yokohama on 20 Nov  – 2 Dec. The workshops include General Introductory for teachers, Inquiry, Beginning to Make the PYP Happen and Teaching and Learning.

Contacting the PYP Team

We look forward to supporting you and your schools on your journey with the PYP. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or concerns.

Requests for in-school workshops should continue to be directed to Rajeevani and questions related to specific workshops or professional development, including evaluations of workshops to Tania.

Mignon Weckert, PYP Regional Manager

Tania Lattanzio, PYP Associate Regional Manager

Mario Gauci, PYP Associate Regional Manager

Bill Fenton, PYP Associate Regional Manager

Rajeevani Constantine, Personal Assistant

Email: ibappyp@ibo.org