A Key to Knowledge
Trying to teach in the 21st century without conceptual schema for knowledge is like trying to build a house without a blueprint.
~H. Lynn Erickson
~H. Lynn Erickson
It is essential that our children become thinkers and problem solvers, not just memorizers of facts. They need big ideas that they can take with them through their lives so that they will be able to understand complex interactions and become true innovators. The Moving beyond the Page – “Concept-based curriculum” will help achieve those ends. A concept-based learning uses a conceptual framework to engage learners with significant ideas that are transferable across disciplines. It promotes higher-level thinking and lifelong learning as students explore the concepts and related concepts using a learner-centred approach. Rather than memorizing content, students understand the concepts and their application. There are numerous benefits of using a concept-based curriculum, but the transition takes a great deal of planning and effort to be carried out.
Inquiry in a PYP curriculum is planned around eight concepts allowing students to construct the meaning of their own learning through improved critical thinking and transfer of knowledge. As students explore a range of broad concepts, they gain deep understanding of significant ideas within each discipline and across subject areas at the same time. Learners acquire PYP essential elements, knowledge, skills, action and attitudes and apply learning in authentic context created by the concepts driving the curriculum
The learning experiences are planned in advance by identifying the desired conceptual understandings and carefully considering what evidence will indicate that our learners have achieved them. Then, a few provocations help learners engage in the big ideas to see where the learning takes us. Keeping an eye on the conceptual understandings allows us to add further targeted provocations as the inquiry unfolds. Learners, as a result, reach new and real understandings as they uncover the conceptual understandings embedded in the curriculum. These concepts help learners consider new ways of thinking and act as provocations or investigation tools as learners approach their inquiries. A Concept-Based curriculum enables students to transfer their understandings across learning areas and make connections to their own experiences and the wider world both now and when looking to the future.
Inquiry in a PYP curriculum is planned around eight concepts allowing students to construct the meaning of their own learning through improved critical thinking and transfer of knowledge. As students explore a range of broad concepts, they gain deep understanding of significant ideas within each discipline and across subject areas at the same time. Learners acquire PYP essential elements, knowledge, skills, action and attitudes and apply learning in authentic context created by the concepts driving the curriculum
The learning experiences are planned in advance by identifying the desired conceptual understandings and carefully considering what evidence will indicate that our learners have achieved them. Then, a few provocations help learners engage in the big ideas to see where the learning takes us. Keeping an eye on the conceptual understandings allows us to add further targeted provocations as the inquiry unfolds. Learners, as a result, reach new and real understandings as they uncover the conceptual understandings embedded in the curriculum. These concepts help learners consider new ways of thinking and act as provocations or investigation tools as learners approach their inquiries. A Concept-Based curriculum enables students to transfer their understandings across learning areas and make connections to their own experiences and the wider world both now and when looking to the future.