Primary Years Programme Making the PYP happen - ITARI

Making the PYP happen
Decreased emphasis on:
How are social studies practices changing
Increased emphasis on:
topics chosen by individual teachers, pet
topics, topics that have always been done in
the grade level
teachers planning in isolation
teacher-led learning
single discipline based units
units which focus on western civilisation and
the developed world
a survey approach to topics and knowledge
areas
a reliance on single sources
political and military perspectives
factual information as an end in itself
skills taught and practised in isolation
checklists of hierarchies of discipline-specific
micro skills
a narrow range of teaching and learning
strategies
activities which result in superficial or tangential
social studies learning; activities which are
included because they are fun; activities which
are included because they are hands on
textbooks and worksheets as the predominant
resources
end of unit, end of chapter assessment
traditional forms of teacher-designed
assessment only
written assessment measures
tests or examinations signalling the end of
the unit
teaching about responsibility and the need
for action
a coherent articulated school-wide programme, based on
agreed significant content
teachers planning in cross-grade and cross-school teams
open-ended inquiry and real-life investigations, in which
teachers and students are all part of the community of learners
units of inquiry which lend themselves to intradisciplinary
(across the disciplines of social studies) and transdisciplinary
(across the areas of the curriculum) investigations
units which build in local, multicultural, international
and global dimensions
in-depth coverage of units chosen, with an emphasis on
“less is more”
the use of multiple sources presenting multiple perspectives
social, cultural and gender perspectives
units of inquiry which focus on students constructing
meaning, and expanding and deepening their knowledge of
concepts and their understanding of the social world
skills taught, practised and applied in the context of
inquiry
the development and application of such macro skills as
decision making, problem solving, reflective learning,
communicating, thinking critically and creatively and
researching
teaching and learning strategies chosen from a wide
range of possibilities with an emphasis on inquiry
strategies and the deepening of understanding
rigorous activities directly linked to the driving questions
of the inquiry
using a variety of primary sources and documentation,
people, artifacts, field trips, surveys and interviews as well
as sources such as literature, video tapes, films and
computer resources
assessing student understanding early and often as well
as at the end
a variety of formative and summative assessment
approaches, including performance assessment
a variety of tasks suited to different learning styles
the end of the units being signalled by reflection by
students and teachers
empowering students to be responsible and to take action
Figure 29 PYP practices: social studies
86 © IBO 2000