International Baccalaureate Reflective Activity 4
International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) both have similarities within their approaches.
A similarity which is prominent within both PYP and CfE is the education of the whole child. Within CfE this can be seen throughout the four capacities;
- Successful learners
- Effective contributors
- responsible citizens
- confident individuals.
Within these capacities many aspects of social, emotional and academical development can be seen such as; the development of respect for others (including other cultures also) and the learner, enthusiasm and motivation for learning and self-resilience.
PYP also supports the education of the whole child which is highlighted in their six transdisciplinary themes;
- Who we are
- Where we are in place and time
- How we express ourselves
- How the world works
- How we organize ourselves
- Sharing the planet
PYP has used the transdisciplinary subjects heavily when developing these themes as there is ample opportunity for cross-curricular learning to take place. Cross-curricular learning can also be seen in CfE through interdisciplinary learning. As mentioned by practitioners using PYP, showing students connections of subjects and how they fit into the world is crucial as the world is not split into categories and overlapping occurs at every turn, and so It is crucial to embed this idea into students from early stages. This resonates with my approach to learning as I believe social and emotional development is just as important as academical development as this provides students with the skills they need for society today and helps develop young people into well-rounded individuals.
PYP focuses a lot of learning about the world, cultures and how IB fits into that world. this is extremely relevant to IB as the curriculum is planned to be taught across the globe in many different continents and countries and so it is important for every person within that community to respect others within it. CfE does touch on other cultures and the world around us, however, not to the extent IB does as CfE does not consistently link as IB does especially to other cultures.
However, overall there are more similarities between PYP and CfE than there are differences which is positive as they focus on many different aspects of the child and includes the child at the centre of all learning and development.
