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International Baccalaureate - Middle Years Program (MYP) » Middle Years Program (MYP)

Middle Years Program (MYP)

Meridian School was authorized as an IB World School offering the Middle Years Program in May of 2017.

Below is a brief overview of the foundational components of the Middle Years Program (MYP) at Meridian School. For a more in depth explanation, please visit our Academic Program of Studies or visit IBO’s website. The Middle Years Program at Meridian School is offered in grades 6 through 10.

 

Learner Profile

As in the Primary Years Program, we develop the IB learner profile attributes throughout the MYP. Meridian Lions practice being active, compassionate, lifelong learners, developing the ten attributes of the learner profile throughout their time at the school; the faculty and staff also continuously practice, develop, and model these traits, as well. At Meridian, this happens throughout the five years of the program, from inside the classroom to the hallways, during sports and extracurriculars, and outside the school setting. We focus on specific profile attributes that align with our curriculum throughout the school year, and reflect on these traits in a variety of ways during our units. The IB publishes a "quiz" that asks, "With which of the IB learner profile attributes do you most closely align?" - try it out and see where you land!

 

Service as Action

Action is learning by doing and experiencing, and is a key component to all IB programmes. Through responsible action, tightly connected with sustained inquiry and critical reflection, young people and adults can develop the kinds of attributes described by the learner profile that are essential for success in future academic pursuits and life beyond the classroom. Service, as a subset or particular kind of action, has always been a shared value of the IB community. IB learners strive to be caring members of the community who demonstrate a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

With appropriate guidance and support, MYP students should, through their engagement with service as one of the significant forms of action, meet the learning outcomes to develop the skills and attributes of an IB learner. IB World Schools value service with others as an important way to engage in principled action across a range of overlapping local and global communities.

 

Approaches to Learning

One of the most important facets of the MYP curriculum framework is its clear focus on approaches to learning (ATL), or learning how to learn. This fundamental aspect of the MYP is drawing attention to a developmentally crucial task for 11- to 16- year-olds. ATL now stands near the center of all IB programme models, alongside approaches to teaching. Across the IB continuum, five broad categories of ATL skills represent aligned language and educational through-lines that can inform and structure skills development for all students. The five, broad categories of ATL are: Research, Communication, Social Skills, Thinking Skills, and Self Management Skills.

 

Global Contexts

Students learn best when their learning experiences have context and are connected to their lives and their experience of the world that they have experienced. Meridian teachers plan units together and separately, each using a global context to help frame the unit for students.

Using global contexts, MYP students develop an understanding of their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet through developmentally appropriate explorations of:

  • identities and relationships

  • personal and cultural identity

  • orientations in space and time

  • scientific and technical innovation

  • fairness and development

  • globalization and sustainability

 

Personal Projects

Students complete a Personal Project, the culminating event of the Middle Years Program. Students are able to decide what they want to learn about, identify what they already know, discovering what they will need to know to complete the project, and create a proposal or criteria for completing it. The personal project is a student-driven, inquiry-based project that takes place over an extended period of time. When it is complete, it should represent a significant body of work and should showcase the skills students  have developed over the past several years.

At Meridian, students begin their Personal Projects in the Spring of their 9th grade year. They work together in the Design course with the support of a teacher mentor, and complete their project in the Spring of their 10th grade year. After the Personal Project Presentation, 10th graders who successfully complete the project participate in a celebration that honors their hard work, perseverance, and dedication.

 

Parent Tools

Please see these helpful documents from IBO for more information:

MYP at a Glance

10 Reasons why MYP encourages Critical Thinking, Creativity and Reflection

ManageBac: Meridian uses ManageBac to organize classes and plan units. Students have individual ManageBac accounts to see their classes. Parents may also choose to create an account if they would like to see information and assignments for their student. Please follow this link to create a parent account. If you already have a ManageBac account login here.