MYP Projects- Making it Personal

I recently returned from Atlanta, Georgia for an IB workshop at the Atlanta International School (AIS). This was an MYP conference co-hosted by an organization known as CASIE ( http://www.casieonline.org/home), who work in conjunction with IB and the AIS to organize professional development for IB teachers. CASIE also works with the Harvard Graduate School of Education on something known as Project Zero, an initiative to make learning visible and to develop deep understanding. I must say that I was impressed by the work of all of the partners in this enterprise. They coordinated and hosted excellent professional development that benefitted a large number of educators from all over the world. Clearly, all those involved were committed to excellence in education.

The workshop that I was involved with was MYP Projects. It was expertly led by Patricia Villegas, an  educator with a rich knowledge of IB and the role of the personal project within the MYP. The Personal Project is one of the key distinguishing features of the MYP program. It involves the creation of a self-directed personal project by a student in the 5th and final year (grade 10) of the MYP. It is inquiry-driven over a sustained period of time, with students beginning to plan the project up to a year in advance of its completion. The work is student-centered and personal in nature. Students choose whatever topic that personally inspires them to learn more about something that interests them. Personal projects can range from the particular- learning more about the life cycle of certain insects- to something broader such as whether new technological developments in fuel consumption can lead to greater self-sufficiency in the developing world. The point of the exercise is that students will be challenged to examine a topic through a global context that will lead to new insights and deeper understanding.

Of course any student who embarks upon such an ambitious project must be supported along the way.  IB does a thorough job of providing a framework for the completion of the project- milestones for accomplishing certain tasks, information on academic honesty, and guidelines for students and project  supervisors. In short, it provides all of the information required to complete a successful project, provided that the work gets done.

Over the course of the three-day conference, participants were involved in a series of activities that helped educators understand the MYP Personal Project process:

It was a terrific way to meet colleagues from all over the world- many with a great deal of experience in working with Personal Projects, and some, like myself, learning all about the projects for the very first time. It was an exceptionally rewarding experience and personally engaging, enriching, and fun.