Individuals and Societies
In MYP Individuals and Societies students study integrated topics related to History, Geography, Psychology, Politics, Economics, Business Studies and Philosophy. The course aims to prepare learners for end of unit assessments, eAssessment, the Diploma Program and further courses of study. This is done by utilizing ATL skills and Assessment for Learning as a vehicle for delivering content and topics of interest such as; Cities and How they Shape the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability, Early Civilizations and Migration, Societies and Development, Science and Technological Innovations as well as many more topics necessary for 21st century learners.
MYP Individuals and Societies aims to promote service learning and interconnect content and skills through Interdisciplinary units, a range of inquiry-based learning activities and both formative and summative assessment tasks. We encourage students to develop international mindedness and take learning outside of the classroom as much as possible. Students understand that these are important elements for developing as lifelong learners.
Skills
Individuals and Societies recognizes that Approaches to Learning and grade attainment are intrinsically linked. Therefore, we aim to develop these skills both in and outside of the classroom through fieldwork, excursions and outdoor education. Students not only learn and develop skills such as media-literacy, self-management, social and thinking skills, but they also learn how to apply, evaluate and create. This, in turn, promotes both conceptual learning and conceptual understanding. Many of these skills, and the journey students have taken to develop them, are documented in process journals, demonstrated in projects, and taken with students onto further years of study.
Assessment
All subjects in MYP are assessed using four criteria. For Individuals and Societies these are evident when students show.
A: Knowledge and understanding through their use of key terms, and subject-specific content and concepts through descriptions, explanations and examples.
B: Investigation skills including formulating research questions, action plans, research methods and evaluating processes and results of investigations.
C: Communication skills such as expressing information and ideas using an appropriate style and structure information and ideas in a way that is appropriate to the specified format. They must also document sources of information using recognized conventions – a skill which is used and assessed by all subjects.
D: Critical Thinking by discussing concepts, issues, models, visual representation and theories, synthesizing information to make valid arguments, analyzing and evaluating a range of sources/data in terms of origin and purpose, examining value and limitations and interpreting different perspectives and their implications.
Students demonstrate their levels of achievement in each criteria in a range of assessments such as group work, fieldwork, presentations, eAssessment and other multimedia projects. The results are reported twice year on report cards with each criteria being assessed at least twice each semester. We find that students not only enjoy receiving the results, but also the nature of the assessments themselves and taking part in innovative ways of being assessed and demonstrating skills.