The PYP and MYP are transdisciplinary and inquiry-based, which is what distinguishes them significantly from other programs. When schools deliver high quality PYP and MYP programmes, they look dramatically different than typical schools. Students are actively engaged in learning rather than sitting passively at their desks. They are excited and eager to learn. They love school. Teachers are equally thrilled. They love working together collaboratively to plan and teach the curriculum, rather than planning and teaching in isolation. They share resources, come up with extremely creative ideas and projects, help each other out, solve problems and feel ownership of the school.

Imagine your students learning in an environment where teachers are working together enthusiastically and collaboratively across disciplines so that students are studying, for example, the history, art, music, dance, science, math, sports and political systems of the ancient Greeks at the same time. Imagine students and teachers working together to turn your school into a virtual ancient Greek city with students’ art, music, science experiments, math problems, Olympic games, etc. Imagine project-based teaching and learning taking place all over the school. You hear a buzz in the community. People are talking about the fabulous projects, great teachers and amazing kids.

Students are learning a second language and loving it. Some are beginning to speak and understand as though it was their native tongue! People are amazed. They can’t believe that children can learn a second language so well.

Students’ challenging behaviors, that used to consume so much energy, hardly exist anymore. Kids who were marginally or not at all interested in learning are showing a whole different side of themselves. They’re actually smiling and happy, excited about their projects, and doing their work! Some are even becoming leaders.

Teachers are starting to think out of the box, together. Collaborative, out-of-the-box thinking is producing some fascinating results. For the unit of study on peace and conflict, teachers are inviting generals, peace activists and mediators to share their expertise and views with their students. Lively discussions about war and peace are taking place in classrooms, hallways and dining rooms.

Students are having fun. Teachers are having fun. Everyone is learning.

Contact me to implement IB programmes in your school.

Research shows that 85% of the information that testucators spend their time delivering to testuees to prepare for tests is forgotten shortly after the test, and therefore useless to the testuee and, thus, to society. It is no wonder that educators, wherever testing is ubiquitous, are frustrated, burned out and quitting their jobs. Not only are they unable to realize their dreams to educate students, they are reduced to playing the role of a robot delivering useless information to children who are bored out of their minds.

It doesn’t need to be this way. If teachers work collaboratively to educate students through inquiry-based, transdiciplinary teaching and projects, students will excel on tests and, more importantly, as learners. By creating connections across disciplines, teachers provide a context that enables students to understand and remember what they are learning because it fits into and expands what they know. Children love that kind of learning. They are discoverers by nature.

In addition, when teachers collaborate with each other, they experience the joy of working with colleagues and reduce the feelings of isolation that are so prevalent among teachers. Classrooms may be teachers’ castles, but they are more often like silos. In either case, they can be very lonely places. Make no mistake, working collaboratively requires lots of hard work and devotion to being a team player. It’s not for the faint of heart and it’s a thousand times better than being an isolated testucator.

One more thing, it’s virtually impossible for teachers to create an engaging and challenging learning environment without a strong school leader who is equally devoted to education and against testucation. School leaders need to step up to the plate and go to bat for their teachers. They must create the time and conditions for their faculty to plan together, and develop inquiry-based projects and a transdisciplinary curriculum. I can tell you from experience, that when strong leaders build teams of collaborative educators devoted to inquiry- and project-based learning, students excel in every way, teachers feel happy and fulfilled, and parents are ecstatic.

The project-based approach to teaching creates for students the need and desire to learn essential content and skills. Project-based learning begins with a vision for a product that requires learning specific knowledge, skills and concepts, thus creating a context and rationale to study the information and ideas. Learning content across disciplines creates context for students, which results in a much higher level of understanding than that attained through traditional teaching of subject areas in isolation.

Project-based learning necessitates inquiry to discover or construct new knowledge and understanding. Inquiry demands that students explore new ideas, consider options, solve problems and share what they have learned. They must work collaboratively and use critical thinking and problem solving skills. Students need to do much more than remember information—they need to construct knowledge, develop understanding and solve complex problems wile working together in a team. Students must listen to each other, articulate their own ideas and present projects effectively.

One of the many advantages of project-based learning is that students have a voice and choice. Students become skilled at working independently and assume responsibility for their work when they have the opportunity to make choices. Another benefit is the process of feedback and revision, in which students critique each others’ work. In the end, students present their results publicly. The process of preparing and delivering a project presentation in and of itself is a significant learning experience for students.

In summary, projects contain and frame the curriculum. The content of projects typically includes several disciplines and multiple skills. Students gain a deep understanding of the concepts that are central to the project. They develop critical skills in a variety of skill areas according to the nature of the project. Projects also foster and an enduring love for learning. They can encourage students to address global and local issues, explore interests and build on strengths, interact with adults in various professions, use educational technology, and present their work to audiences beyond the classroom. Project-based learning usually motivates all students and almost always has a life-changing impact on students who might otherwise find school boring or meaningless.

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) offer the best approach to inquiry-based education. The PYP, MYP and DP are based upon comprehensive research and extensive, wide-ranging experience – excellent practice derived from a variety of national systems and schools. They provide a framework to guide coherent content instruction from grade to grade, encouraging steady academic, social and intellectual progress as students expand their intellectual and social capacities, knowledge and skills. Teachers plan activities, engage students in learning and asses their progress, and then reformulate the plan according to the results.

The PYP and MYP are curriculum frameworks, whereas the DP is a prescribed curriculum. There are important reasons for this difference. Each programme is designed to meet the developmental needs of students of particular ages and at key stages of identity formation.Schools need room to shape the curriculum according to local requirements and to their cultural realities and priorities. The DP has to provide students with the qualifications to gain entry to universities anywhere in the world, hence the increased level of prescription in the programme.

The PYP and MYP are coherent and comprehensive programmes that allow schools, through collaborative teams of teachers, to develop their own content-content that is relevant to the cultural context of the school. The framework offers some degree of flexibility, allowing schools o incorporate local or national curriculum requirements if necessary. Student learning is assessed internally by teachers and, in the MYP, teachers’ assessment can be externally moderated by the IB in order to meet recognized global standards. The DP is, equally, a coherent and comprehensive programme but the curriculum and assessment procedures are prescribed in more detail in order to meet the requirements for university entrance around the world. Student learning in the DP is assessed largely by external examinations set by the IB.

The PYP and MYP are inclusive programmes with the flexibility to meet the needs of all students. The DP is not exclusive but, because it is aimed at providing students with all they need to be successful in higher education, the full IB Diploma Programme may not be the best fit for all students. The PYP and MYP use different structures and approaches from the DP in order to meet the intellectual and developmental needs of students in the relevant age groups, but they prepare students both intellectually and personally to be successful in the DP. While there is a common, strong philosophy underpinning the three programmes, each programme has distinct characteristics that are appropriate to the age level for which it was designed.

Students learn and remember what they learn when teaching, learning and curricula are inquiry-based and authentic—relevant to the “real” world, and transdisciplinary—integrated and enriched across and by the disciplines or subject areas. Learning must go beyond memorization and skill acquisition to the mastery of content and “higher level” thinking that provides students with the ability to apply what they learn to new situations, solve problems, and create new ideas and knowledge. Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today’s world. Facts change, and information is readily available. Humans of all ages construct understanding of the world though inquiry. Inquiry is not so much about finding the right answer, because often there is none, but rather seeking solutions to problems and understanding of issues.

Although the content of disciplines is important, learning content is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The knowledge within disciplines is constantly expanding and changing. It is impossible to learn everything, but everyone can develop inquiry skills and attitudes. Our arcane high school education system is a massive waste of time and resources. The mandatory feeding by teachers and regurgitation by students are reminiscent of the Roman excesses depicted in Fellini’s Roma.