Early years education in the primary years programme (PYP): Implementation strategies and programme outcomes : interim report

This is the October 2013 Interim Report as part of the 'Early Years Education in the Primary Years Programme (PYP): Implementation Strategies and Programme Outcomes' Project submitted to the International Baccalaureate Organisation. This project is investigating implementation strategies and outcomes in Early Years Education in the Primary Years Programme of the IB, through a mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative data. It is based on intensive case studies of five Early Years Stage programmes within the IB Primary Years Programme, at three sites in Australia and two sites in Singapore.

Early years education in the primary years programme: implementation strategies and programme outcomes

This mixed-methods study investigated implementation strategies and child learning outcomes in early years education in the Primary Years Programme. Researchers from Deakin University evaluated processes and outcomes in four early years programmes, two in Singapore and two in Melbourne, Australia. Researchers collected qualitative data through classroom observations, drawings and writing produced by children, and interviews with educators, coordinators and parents. Quantitative data was collected through assessments of children’s literacy, developmental school readiness and learning skills. Three of the early years programmes appeared to support the development of learner profile attributes through inquiry-led learning and play-based approaches, while one site in Singapore was still in a developmental stage of implementing the programme. The study suggested that literacy skills at all sites were fairly developed; that children were performing at levels commensurate with or better in terms of school readiness; and that children were developing learning skills at higher rates than a comparative sample.

Learning through modelling in the primary years

Many nations are highlighting the need for a renaissance in the mathematical sciences as essential to the well-being of all citizens (e.g., Australian Academy of Science, 2006; 2010; The National Academies, 2009). Indeed, the first recommendation of The National Academies’ Rising Above the Storm (2007) was to vastly improve K–12 science and mathematics education. The subsequent report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm Two Years Later (2009), highlighted again the need to target mathematics and science from the earliest years of schooling: “It takes years or decades to build the capability to have a society that depends on science and technology . . . You need to generate the scientists and engineers, starting in elementary and middle school” (p. 9). Such pleas reflect the rapidly changing nature of problem solving and reasoning needed in today’s world, beyond the classroom. As The National Academies (2009) reported, “Today the problems are more complex than they were in the 1950s, and more global. They’ll require a new educated workforce, one that is more open, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary” (p. 19). The implications for the problem solving experiences we implement in schools are far-reaching. In this chapter, I consider problem solving and modelling in the primary school, beginning with the need to rethink the experiences we provide in the early years. I argue for a greater awareness of the learning potential of young children and the need to provide stimulating learning environments. I then focus on data modelling as a powerful means of advancing children’s statistical reasoning abilities, which they increasingly need as they navigate their data-drenched world.

Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years: Learning about Language in the Australian Curriculum: English

This new volume, Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years (Exley, Kevin & Mantei, 2014), follows on from Playing with Grammar in the Early Years (Exley & Kervin, 2013). We extend our thanks to the ALEA membership for their take up of the first volume and the vibrant conversations around our first attempt at developing a pedagogy for the teaching of grammar in the early years. Your engagement at locally held ALEA events has motivated us to complete this second volume and reassert our interest in the pursuit of socially-just outcomes in the primary years. As noted in Exley and Kervin (2013), we believe that mastering a range of literacy competences includes not only the technical skills for learning, but also the resources for viewing and constructing the world (Freire and Macdeo, 1987). Rather than seeing knowledge about language as the accumulation of technical skills alone, the viewpoint to which we subscribe treats knowledge about language as a dialectic that evolves from, is situated in, and contributes to active participation within a social arena (Halliday, 1978). We acknowledge that to explore is to engage in processes of discovery as we look closely and examine the opportunities before us. As such, we draw on Janks’ (2000; 2014) critical literacy theory to underpin many of the learning experiences in this text. Janks (2000) argues that effective participation in society requires knowledge about how the power of language promotes views, beliefs and values of certain groups to the exclusion of others. Powerful language users can identify not only how readers are positioned by these views, but also the ways these views are conveyed through the design of the text, that is, the combination of vocabulary, syntax, image, movement and sound. Similarly, powerful designers of texts can make careful modal choices in written and visual design to promote certain perspectives that position readers and viewers in new ways to consider more diverse points of view. As the title of our text suggests, our activities are designed to support learners in exploring the design of texts to achieve certain purposes and to consider the potential for the sharing of their own views through text production. In Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years, we focus on the Year 3 to Year 6 grouping in line with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (hereafter ACARA) advice on the ‘nature of learners’ (ACARA, 2014). Our goal in this publication is to provide a range of highly practical strategies for scaffolding students’ learning through some of the Content Descriptions from the Australian Curriculum: English Version 7.2, hereafter AC:E (ACARA, 2014). We continue to express our belief in the power of using whole texts from a range of authentic sources including high quality children’s literature, the internet, and examples of community-based texts to expose students to the richness of language. Taking time to look at language patterns within actual texts is a pathway to ‘…capture interest, stir the imagination and absorb the [child]’ into the world of language and literacy (Saxby, 1993, p. 55). It is our intention to be more overt this time and send a stronger message that our learning experiences are simply ‘sample’ activities rather than a teachers’ workbook or a program of study to be followed. We’re hoping that teachers and students will continue to explore their bookshelves, the internet and their community for texts that provide powerful opportunities to engage with language-based learning experiences. In the following three sections, we have tried to remain faithful to our interpretation of the AC:E Content Descriptions without giving an exhaustive explanation of the grammatical terms. This recently released curriculum offers a new theoretical approach to building students’ knowledge about language. The AC:E uses selected traditional terms through an approach developed in systemic functional linguistics (see Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) to highlight the dynamic forms and functions of multimodal language in texts. For example, the following statement, taken from the ‘Language: Knowing about the English language’ strand states: English uses standard grammatical terminology within a contextual framework, in which language choices are seen to vary according to the topics at hand, the nature and proximity of the relationships between the language users, and the modalities or channels of communication available (ACARA, 2014). Put simply, traditional grammar terms are used within a functional framework made up of field, tenor, and mode. An understanding of genre is noted with the reference to a ‘contextual framework’. The ‘topics at hand’ concern the field or subject matter of the text. The ‘relationships between the language users’ is a description of tenor. There is reference to ‘modalities’, such as spoken, written or visual text. We posit that this innovative approach is necessary for working with contemporary multimodal and cross-cultural texts (see Exley & Mills, 2012). Other excellent tomes, such as Derewianka (2011), Humphrey, Droga and Feez (2012), and Rossbridge and Rushton (2011) provide more comprehensive explanations of this unique metalanguage, as does the AC:E Glossary. We’ve reproduced some of the AC:E Glossary at the end of this publication. We’ve also kept the same layout for our learning experiences, ensuring that our teacher notes are not only succinct but also prudent in their placement. Each learning experience is connected to a Content Description from the AC:E and contains an experience with an identified purpose, suggested resource text and a possible sequence for the experience that always commences with an orientation to text followed by an examination of a particular grammatical resource. Our plans allow for focused discussion, shared exploration and opportunities to revisit the same text for the purpose of enhancing meaning making. Some learning experiences finish with deconstruction of a stimulus text while others invite students to engage in the design of new texts. We encourage you to look for opportunities in your own classrooms to move from text deconstruction to text design. In this way, students can express not only their emerging grammatical understandings, but also the ways they might position readers or viewers through the creation of their own texts. We expect that each of these learning experiences will vary in the time taken. Some may indeed take a couple if not a few teaching episodes to work through, especially if students are meeting a concept or a pedagogical strategy for the first time. We hope you use as much, or as little, of each experience as is needed for your students. We do not want the teaching of grammar to slip into a crisis of irrelevance or to be seen as a series of worksheet drills with finite answers. We firmly believe that strategies for effective deconstruction and design practice, however, have much portability. We three are very keen to hear from teachers who are adopting and adapting these learning experiences in their classrooms. Please email us on b.exley@qut.edu.au, lkervin@uow.edu.au or jessicam@ouw.edu.au. We’d love to continue the conversation with you over time. Beryl Exley, Lisa Kervin & Jessica Mantei

What does the review of the Australian Curriculum mean for History in the Primary Years?

The recent introduction of the Australian Curriculum: History as a timetabled school subject has enhanced the teaching of history in the primary years. Previously, history was integrated with geography, economics and civics and citizenship; however, in the new curriculum students are introduced to history from their first year at school. The review addresses significant concerns about the scope and content in history in an over-crowded primary curriculum (Donnelly & Wiltshire, 2014; APPA, 2014). However, the history curriculum provides a rare opportunity to explore distinctive content and develop agency by investigating personal, local, national and international contexts. This paper examines the recommendations of the review and the implications for history in the primary years.

IB Middle years programme : global issues . Project organizer 1.

Libro para alumnos del primer curso del Programa de los Años Intermedios (PAI) del Bachillerato Internacional (IB) centrado en el aprendizaje interdisciplinar. Sus contenidos reflejan aspectos clave de la filosofía y el enfoque del programa del BI como la mentalidad internacional y la honestidad académica. Está estructurado en seis lecciones cada una sobre un tema extraído de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio acordados por Naciones Unidas: erradicación de la pobreza, refugiados e inmigrantes, educación universal, salud y enfermedad, comercio mundial y desarrollo, sostenibilidad del medio ambiente. El acercamiento a cada tema se hace desde distintas materias para estructurar y facilitar el estudio interdisciplinario.

IB Middle years programme : global issues . Project organizer 2.

Libro para alumnos del segundo curso del Programa de los Años Intermedios (PAI) del Bachillerato Internacional (IB) centrado en el aprendizaje interdisciplinar del tema de la agricultura. Sus contenidos reflejan aspectos clave de la filosofía y el enfoque del programa del BI como la mentalidad internacional y la honestidad académica. Está estructurado en seis lecciones cada una sobre un tema extraído de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio acordados por Naciones Unidas: la pobreza y el hambre, conflictos y la paz, educación universal, salud y enfermedad, comercio mundial y desarrollo, sostenibilidad del medio ambiente. El acercamiento a cada tema se hace desde distintas materias para estructurar y facilitar el estudio interdisciplinario .

IB Middle years programme : global issues . Project organizer 3.

Libro para alumnos del tercer curso del Programa de los Años Intermedios (PAI) del Bachillerato Internacional (IB) centrado en el aprendizaje interdisciplinar. Sus contenidos reflejan aspectos clave de la filosofía y el enfoque del programa del BI como la mentalidad internacional y la honestidad académica. Está estructurado en seis lecciones cada una sobre un tema extraído de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio acordados por Naciones Unidas (la pobreza y el hambre, conflictos y la paz, educación universal, salud y enfermedad, comercio mundial y desarrollo, sostenibilidad del medio ambiente) en relación con los recursos disponibles en el planeta. El acercamiento a cada tema se hace desde distintas materias para estructurar y facilitar el estudio interdisciplinario.

IB Middle years programme : global issues . Project organizer 4.

Libro para alumnos del cuarto curso del Programa de los Años Intermedios (PAI) del Bachillerato Internacional (IB) centrado en el aprendizaje interdisciplinar. Sus contenidos reflejan aspectos clave de la filosofía y el enfoque del programa del BI como la mentalidad internacional y la honestidad académica. Está estructurado en seis lecciones cada una sobre un tema extraído de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio acordados por Naciones Unidas (la pobreza y el hambre, conflictos y la paz, educación universal, salud y enfermedad, comercio mundial y desarrollo, sostenibilidad del medio ambiente) en relación con el tema de la población mundial y la superpoblación. El acercamiento a cada tema se hace desde distintas materias para estructurar y facilitar el estudio interdisciplinario.

IB Middle years programme : global issues . Project organizer 5.

Libro para alumnos del quinto curso del Programa de los Años Intermedios (PAI) del Bachillerato Internacional (IB) centrado en el aprendizaje interdisciplinar. Sus contenidos reflejan aspectos clave de la filosofía y el enfoque del programa del BI como la mentalidad internacional y la honestidad académica. Está estructurado en seis lecciones cada una sobre un tema extraído de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio acordados por Naciones Unidas (la pobreza y el hambre, conflictos y la paz, educación universal, salud y enfermedad, comercio mundial y desarrollo, sostenibilidad del medio ambiente) en relación con la ética, los derechos y la moral. El acercamiento a cada tema se hace desde distintas materias para estructurar y facilitar el estudio interdisciplinario.

Le développement d’une séquence d’enseignement/apprentissage basée sur l’histoire de la numération pour des élèves du troisième cycle du primaire

Notre contexte pratique — nous enseignons à des élèves doués de cinquième année suivant le programme international — a grandement influencé la présente recherche. En effet, le Programme primaire international (Organisation du Baccalauréat International, 2007) propose un enseignement par thèmes transdisciplinaires, dont un s’intitulant Où nous nous situons dans l’espace et le temps. Aussi, nos élèves sont tenus de suivre le Programme de formation de l’école québécoise (MÉLS Ministère de l'Éducation du Loisir et du Sport, 2001) avec le développement, notamment, de la compétence Résoudre une situation-problème et l’introduction d’une nouveauté : les repères culturels. Après une revue de la littérature, l’histoire des mathématiques nous semble tout indiquée. Toutefois, il existe peu de ressources pédagogiques pour les enseignants du primaire. Nous proposons donc d’en créer, nous appuyant sur l’approche constructiviste, approche prônée par nos deux programmes d’études (OBI et MÉLS). Nous relevons donc les avantages à intégrer l’histoire des mathématiques pour les élèves (intérêt et motivation accrus, changement dans leur façon de percevoir les mathématiques et amélioration de leurs apprentissages et de leur compréhension des mathématiques). Nous soulignons également les difficultés à introduire une approche historique à l’enseignement des mathématiques et proposons diverses façons de le faire. Puis, les concepts mathématiques à l’étude, à savoir l’arithmétique, et la numération, sont définis et nous voyons leur importance dans le programme de mathématiques du primaire. Nous décrivons ensuite les six systèmes de numération retenus (sumérien, égyptien, babylonien, chinois, romain et maya) ainsi que notre système actuel : le système indo-arabe. Enfin, nous abordons les difficultés que certaines pratiques des enseignants ou des manuels scolaires posent aux élèves en numération. Nous situons ensuite notre étude au sein de la recherche en sciences de l’éducation en nous attardant à la recherche appliquée ou dite pédagogique et plus particulièrement aux apports des recherches menées par des praticiens (un rapprochement entre la recherche et la pratique, une amélioration de l’enseignement et/ou de l’apprentissage, une réflexion de l’intérieur sur la pratique enseignante et une meilleure connaissance du milieu). Aussi, nous exposons les risques de biais qu’il est possible de rencontrer dans une recherche pédagogique, et ce, pour mieux les éviter. Nous enchaînons avec une description de nos outils de collecte de données et rappelons les exigences de la rigueur scientifique. Ce n’est qu’ensuite que nous décrivons notre séquence d’enseignement/apprentissage en détaillant chacune des activités. Ces activités consistent notamment à découvrir comment différents systèmes de numération fonctionnent (à l’aide de feuilles de travail et de notations anciennes), puis comment ces mêmes peuples effectuaient leurs additions et leurs soustractions et finalement, comment ils effectuaient les multiplications et les divisions. Enfin, nous analysons nos données à partir de notre journal de bord quotidien bonifié par les enregistrements vidéo, les affiches des élèves, les réponses aux tests de compréhension et au questionnaire d’appréciation. Notre étude nous amène à conclure à la pertinence de cette séquence pour notre milieu : l’intérêt et la motivation suscités, la perception des mathématiques et les apprentissages réalisés. Nous revenons également sur le constructivisme et une dimension non prévue : le développement de la communication mathématique.

Assessment of student development and learning in IB PYP schools

The aim of this study is to examine how International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) schools define the purpose of educational assessment in their assessment policies and practices. Educational assessment in this study is broadly defined to include standardized tests, and formative and summative assessment. This investigation offers a deeper understanding of the assessment cultures of eight PYP schools and provides insights into the current assessment literacy of teachers. The researchers employed a multiple case-study approach, with two phases of data collection: an online survey of teachers and detailed teacher focus groups and coordinator interviews to follow-up on themes identified in the survey. Assessment in the PYP case-study schools was described as holistic and ongoing, and involved a wide range of assessment strategies. Assessment as learning, however, emerged as an approach still in development in the schools. Teachers enthusiastically supported the development of learner profile attributes, although assessing progress in any particular attribute was regarded as challenging. Finally, while teacher feedback and student self-assessment were common practices, teachers were more equivocal about peer assessment. The authors conclude the report with a number of recommendations for further improving PYP assessment practices.