Knowledge

Knowledge: what do we want students to know about? Is it possible to identify a particular body of knowledge for PYP schools? Due to the particular difficulties faced by schools implementing a programme of international education, it is immensely important that the PYP curriculum model includes an outline of a coherent, flexible and interpretive written curriculum that frames a body of knowledge which supports the IB, its mission statement and its learner profile. This decision is driven by the belief that there are areas of knowledge that, while important for any student, are especially significant in schools that aim to promote internationalmindedness on the part of their students.

The importance of the traditional subject areas is acknowledged: language; mathematics; social studies; science; personal, social and physical education; and the arts; and indeed these are specified as components of the PYP curriculum model. The knowledge, concepts and skills that constitute the essence of each of these subject areas, as reflected in the PYP, can be found in the annex at the back of this document. In addition, overall expectations for each subject, within each age range, are specified in detailed scope and sequence documents. These are available to schools as exemplar material. While some schools may adopt these scope and sequences, other PYP schools may choose to use locally or nationally determined subject-based syllabuses. In the PYP, information and communication technology (ICT) is not identified as a particular subject area, but is recognized as a tool that facilitates learning throughout the curriculum.

However, it is also recognized that educating students in a set of isolated subject areas, while necessary, is not sufficient. Of equal importance is the need to acquire skills in context, and to explore content that is relevant to students, and transcends the boundaries of the traditional subjects. “To be truly educated, a student must also make connections across the disciplines, discover ways to integrate the separate subjects, and ultimately relate what they learn to life” (Boyer 1995). Ernest Boyer proposed that students explore a set of themes that represents shared human experiences such as “response to the aesthetic” and “membership in groups”. He referred to these as “core commonalities”.

Boyer’s work has been seminal to the development of the PYP. Debate and discussion, representing multiple perspectives, about this idea of human commonalities has led to the selection of six transdisciplinary themes (see figure 4) that are considered essential in the context of a programme of international education. These themes:


 * have global significance—• for all students in all cultures
 * offer students the opportunity to explore the commonalities of human experience
 * are supported by knowledge, concepts and skills from the traditional subject areas but utilize them in
 * ways that transcend the confines of these subjects, thereby contributing to a transdisciplinary model
 * of teaching and learning
 * will be revisited throughout the students’ years of schooling, so that the end result is immersion in
 * broad-ranging, in-depth, articulated curriculum content
 * contribute to the common ground that unifies the curriculums in all PYP schools

pp. 11-12