The IB Middle Years Program (MYP) philosophy focuses on the learning of all students. Unlike the high school Diploma Program, it is not a “track” program. It is therefore designed to address the needs of all students. Accordingly, since Fall of 2006, all Newton students have been introduced to some units that use this approach to learning, regardless of their grade level or subject area.
Our goal as an IB school is that over time learning will become more...
- Inquiry based...where students ask the questions that guide the learning.
And the fundamental concepts will be central to our way of thinking at Newton. These are...
- Holistic...where learning is clearly connected to multiple subjects and has real world application and meaning.
- Intercultural in nature...where ultimately a global connectedness and understanding as well as increased cultural understanding occurs.
- Effectively communicated...using a wide range of assessments and vehicles for students to share their knowledge and understanding with increasing emphasis on the ability for every student to be able to communicate in two world languages.
In order to accomplish these goals and more, IB uses “lenses” for instruction called
Areas of Interaction (AoI).
Approaches to Learning (ATL)... How do I learn best? How do I know? How do I communicate my understanding?
Community and Service...How do we live in relation to each other? How can I contribute to the community? How can I help others?
Human Ingenuity...Why and how do we create? What are the consequences?
Environments...Where do we live? What resources do we have or need? What are my responsibilities?
Health and Social Education...How do I think and act? How am I changing? How can I look after myself and others?
Over time parents and students will begin to notice changes in instruction and learning. Students will be able to identify the AoI for an IB unit and will be continually asked to examine their unit or guiding question from this perspective. Current and especially world events will be integrated as a part of classroom learning and subjects, especially the AoI should seem more connected. IB units ask students to be reflectiveand to take time to acknowledge the changes that have occurred in their own thinking as a result of their interaction with the curriculum covered in the unit. So parents should be able to ask students about their unit/guiding question and what they think about it.
Newton's growing commitment to community service is another direct result of our implementation of the MYP. A best-case scenario would have classroom students question, learn, think, care, and ultimately act upon their learning. Newton's active pursuit of community service involvement on the part of every student leads us to provide many service learning opportunities available at school in addition to those activities that students may participate in outside of the classroom.