![]() ![]() Find information and replay links below.īob Smith has been an active member of the IB community for 17 years. I took part in a recent webinar where I go further into explaining how using global contexts allows for deeper student engagement and how we can use global context explorations to impact learning. Of course, I’m not even scraping the surface here. Helping them understand these areas using global contexts can be very for meaningful for the students, giving them a holistic approach to how to understand what’s important to them, inside and outside the classroom, at a time in life when so many things are changing for them, and when they have so many unanswered questions as they navigate their path. If you’re also a middle school educator, you’ll know students who are driven by social justice issues or environmental issues or they dig into human relationships and the bonds with their friends, these are the things that they start to care about and be concerned with. They start seeking out the things that suit their passions and interests, and start understanding what they don’t like and what they do like.ĭeveloping the skills to contextualize the things they are curious about or thinking can be extremely motivating. Children absorb a lot of things and once they reach adolescence, the brain starts pruning things, pruning away things that they don’t need or what they are not interested in. I now know that by developing greater flexibility of thought, along with problem-solving, social and communication skills, my students are learning the kinds of skills that will be very valuable for their futures.Īdolescence is a time of discovery and “specializing the brain”. Working with students whose futures will be very different from the future that was ahead of me as a student makes me stop, ponder and reflect on what I used to think was important when I used to study a geography or history class. They now more easily see how the contexts are relevant and I can see their understanding of the connections growing as they work through different issues and problems in the classroom. I’ve noticed that they don’t ask so much now. The MYP global contexts are: fairness and development, identities and relationships, orientation in space and time, globalization and sustainability, scientific and technical innovation, personal and cultural expression.Īt first, they would regularly ask “Why is this important?” and “Why are we doing this?”. When I introduced my class to the global contexts in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum, my goal was to quickly establish that what we do in class is connected to the world outside that they are connected to the world and that they are an important part of that world. My 7 th grade students are pretty tech savvy they use smartphones and computers, they interact with a lot of digital and online information about the world-probably more than I would like them to at times. Sharing the planet: an inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things communities and the relationships within and between them access to equal opportunities peace and conflict resolution.To celebrate Middle Level Education Month I’m zooming in on the topic of holistic education and exploring how it can look in a middle years classroom using global contexts. How we organize ourselves: an inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities the structure and function of organizations societal decision-making economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment. How the world works: an inquiry into the natural world and its laws the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies how humans use their understanding of scientific principles the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment. How we express ourselves: an inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity our appreciation of the aesthetic. Where we are in place and time: an inquiry into orientation in place and time personal histories homes and journeys the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind the relationships between, and the interconnectedness of, individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives. Who we are: an inquiry into the nature of the self beliefs and values personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures rights and responsibilities what it means to be human.
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