The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
The IB Diploma Program (DP) was founded in 1968 with the aim of preparing young people to understand, adapt, and improve the world. Nearly three decades later, the MYP with the primary aim of preparing students to be successful in school and to be active, lifelong learners, was introduced.
The MYP is a five-year program designed as a “coherent and comprehensive curriculum framework that provides academic challenge and develops the life skills of students aged between 11 and 16 years” (MYP: From principles into practice, page 3). It provides a framework of learning that encourages students to become creative, critical, and reflective thinkers. The curriculum may be taught as an entity in itself, but it is flexible enough to allow the demands of national, regional or local legislation to be met.
The program is designed to be inclusive and assist all students in their critical stage by providing diverse learning opportunities aimed at developing their potential to explore their own learning preferences, to take appropriate risks, and to reflect on, and develop, a strong sense of personal identity.
The eight subject groups provide a broad, traditional foundation of knowledge, while the pedagogical devices used to transmit this knowledge aim to increase the students’ awareness of the relationships between subjects. Students are encouraged to question and evaluate information critically, to seek out and explore the links between subjects, and to develop an awareness of their own place in the world.
The IB Middle Years Programme (IBO, 2015):
- addresses holistically students’ intellectual, social, emotional, and physical well-being;
- provides students opportunities to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need in order to manage complexity and take responsible action for the future;
- ensures breadth and depth of understanding through study in eight subject groups;
- requires the study of at least two languages to support students in understanding their own cultures and those of others;
- empowers students to participate in service within the community;
helps prepare students for further education, the workplace, and a lifetime of learning.