Is Your Online PYP Classroom Really Transdisciplinary?

 This piece was written for EDU653 at Central Michigan University as Project 2. It is written through the lens of a teacher with 11 years PYP teaching experience working at a fully accredited IB school. The stance in this post is my personal opinion based on experiences with both in-person and online teaching because of Covid-19. It is aimed to be written particularly towards other PYP teachers, but could be valued by other readers as well.

Let's Imagine...

Think about your classroom in 2019 (or earlier). ​

I imagine my Primary Years Program (PYP) classroom with students collaborating, writing, speaking, editing, researching, thinking, and solving problems all at the same time. I can see the large display of our weekly plans - full of specialists, inquiry groups, and daily "must" time where students can work on their goals at their own pace

Now think about your classroom when you switched to online learning. 100% home-based. What did your student's days look like?

What I now imagine is a structured document with 4 specific learning outcomes for lessons on reading, writing, math, and Unit of Inquiry all separate. Little room for integrating reading, writing, or math into our UOI intentionally (though we do sometimes make it work).

Studio 4 learning at school

Studio 4 home-based learning

Maybe your plans looked something like this too, or maybe they didn't. When this happened, I could not help but feel my heart break knowing that the transdisciplinarity of what we were doing was being taken away. The essence of the PYP, gone. The reason? (So we were told), parents want standards. Parents want division of subjects. Parents want uniformity. 

Of course, these statements are over generalizing parent desires as well. In the beginning (before things were too formalized) I actually had one parent email me with the realization of how the PYP works now - it is all connected!!! Yes!!! Why could I not harness that energy? That realization? That lightbulb moment from a parent new to the PYP framework? Why would I not take this opportunity to show more parents what we are all about? Instead, I was told to separate the subjects and plan for the parents that wanted it the way they recognized. Single subjects. Single outcomes. Stand-alone lessons.

My Position

To be clear, what I want is for students to learn in the best way that works for them... not their parents. Tansdisciplinary learning is at the heart of what we do in the pyp, with an inquiry-based approach. What I want is to have that same approach to learning when our schools make the necessary shift to home-based/online learning. Why would we change who we are just because of the format our lessons have to take place?

The Framework: What is Transdisciplinary Learning?

Before I continue, I would like to share this video from Charlotte Dayus about Transdisciplinary learning in the PYP. She does a great job explaining all of the essential elements and the way our students learn while we are at school (in the building).

So, to summarize Dayus:

• Learning is not separated into a rigid structure
• New knowledge is understood with visible connections across all subjects
• Development of skills (thinking, research, self-management, social, and communication) are developed in every learner across all learning
• Transdisciplinary themes (Who We Are, Where We Are in Place and Time, How the World Works, How We Organize Ourselves, How We Express Ourselves, and Sharing the Planet) are meaningful, relevant, and constructive
• Teachers design opportunities for learners to develop their skills in many different disciplines
• Through each inquiry, skills are covered in a broad and interconnected way
• In the PYP, engagement with learning should be an open and explorative process, which crosses subject boundaries

So my big question is, why can't this happen while we are online?

Strategies and Implementation  for Transdisciplinary Learning Online

The concept of this is both easy and difficult for me. It is easy because it seems like common sense. This is how we teach in a PYP school, so this should be how a PYP school teaches online. It is difficult because I think a lot of schools and teachers do want to easily outline learning in a way that parents understand.

Basically, the strategy I would suggest is to keep everything as consistent and transdisciplinary as possible. Get rid of the columns of learning outcomes and show parents (and students) that most of the unit is connected to each other.

Below is a screenshot of a document that the IB sent out in June 2020 in response to school closures from Covid-19. In it, they outline the importance of a transdisciplinary unit of inquiry. This concept does not just disappear because we are now online.

https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/programme-information/03-pyp-requirement-flexibility-plan-en.pdf

When our online learning first began, we did many of these things. We took a unit (Where We Are in Place and Time) that we thought could fit online learning a little easier and moved it from the end of the year to start NEXT WEEK. Being new to teaching online courses, this was a good decision.

The unit was focused on learning about history with a strong literacy link. This helped increase the student's comprehension skills by making different types of connections to historical fiction texts. You can read more about it here, where I posted about it for a COETAIL project. We wanted to keep it as transdisciplinary as possible. Math was a stand alone subject at this time.

However, this was not simple because of the way we needed to show outcomes to parents. Our natural instinct as experienced PYP teachers was to merge the columns of reading, writing, and UOI together. This would be transdisciplinary, right? But we couldn't. So we worked around it by using the multiple columns and trying to state which activities they needed to do first. For example, complete the UOI lesson before you do the writing or reading lesson, etc. 

It was hard. It was complicated. But it was transdisciplinary.
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We are still teaching this unit this year, again online, much the way we taught it last year. If we did not have to show learning outcomes in specific columns I do believe that it would be a much simpler process for students to follow.

Assessment

Assessment in the PYP should look like the following image from the IBO.

Source: From Principles Into Practice - ibo.org - PYP Resources (need password).

While we are learning online, a lot of this can be done through Seesaw, Toddle, or other eportfolio platforms. Sticking to a transdisciplinary unit of inquiry should not affect the ability to assess for skills (or content knowledge) in any subject area. I do believe that the "documenting learning" would probably be a little larger when we are learning online, but I think it merges in with the "monitoring learning," making it easier for teachers to access and provide feedback (and in turn, measure and report).

Perspectives and Solutions

Student Perspective

image by dDara

• PYP students are used to learning in a transdisciplinary environment. Sure, they know that they do reading, writing, math, etc. but in most schools they are used to doing these things integrated into their UOI. Keeping this consistent online is important.
  • We can address this by: Showcasing the transdisciplinary of our units to students and parents in the home based learning documents. Not everything in the world is separated into rigid boxes.

• Transdisciplinary units in PYP schools have a focus on Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, and this should be no different when they are learning from home. Most schools plan to focus on at least one of these areas in a unit. Thinking skills, research skills, social skills, communication skills, and/or self-management skills.​
  • We can address this by: Creating reflection activities for students to identify and expand on the ATL skills they are using (and developing) while learning from home. Goal setting could also be a big piece of this. Edward Lawless expands on this for all IB programs. Resilience is an ATL skill that students today are experiencing and continue to grow in.
• ​Social presence in any online unit is important. Keeping in mind that the PYP transdisciplinary units are building global citizens should be considered. The skills students are using online to collaborate are important for their futures. 
  • We can address this by: Ensuring students are having positive social interaction while learning online. Garcia-Oneill states that  teachers should "encourage learners to incorporate their feelings, experiences, examples, and ideas in works completion" and also to "provide messages that are respectful, positive, encouraging, timely, and frequent." These experiences show the person behind the computer that is interacting with the class. These can be spotlighted by emphasizing ATL skills throughout the transdisciplinary units.

Parent Perspective

image by Freepik

• Some parents are bringing a different set of education beliefs to the table. 
  • We can address this by: using the opportunity to inform them of your school's beliefs. Stand up for the foundation on which your school was built, and turn this stressful time into a learning opportunity. Hold parent information nights virtually or create short pedagogical videos so the parents understand that while it is different to what they grew up with, we know that it is a great way for their children to learn. If nights like this were already held in person at the beginning of the year, hold them again virtually. They may be stressed and need confirmation that the school is doing the right thing.

• Some parents already have a decent understanding of the nature of the PYP
  • ​​We can address this by: Use these parents to your advantage. Ask them to create a short video that you use in marketing, ask them for quotes about their current understanding. Use their voice to help you say what you need to say.

Teacher Perspective

image by monkik

• Among other things, the designer strand in ISTE's Standards for Educators states that we should be "exploring and applying instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments that support learning" (5c). ​
  • We can address this by: rethinking how we are approaching lessons with our students. "Supporting learning" should not look fundamentally different to what we are doing in the classroom.

• The IBO's website states that "transdisciplinary learning in the PYP conveys learning that has relevance between, across, and beyond subjects and transcends borders connecting what is real in the world."
  • ​​​​We can address this by: ensuring that our teachers are setting units of work that are still connecting what is real in the world. Set learning intentions for the week that are connected, real, and inspiring for the students. Showcase their abilities to think critically when given challenges that are relevant and cross subject areas.

Call to Action

Does your school have great examples of sticking true to the transdisciplinary nature of the PYP while teaching online? I would love to see it! Comment with a link below, or contact me on Twitter at @innovative_inq

Resources from EDU 653

"Outside" Resources

1. ISTE Standards for Educators 
2. Social Presence In Online Learning: 7 Things Instructional Designers Can Do To Improve It by Edgar Garcia-Oneill 
3. The Power of Social Presence for Learning by Aimee Whiteside, Amy Dikkers, and Somer Lewis
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

1. Video: Making the PYP Happen: Transdisciplinary Learning by Charlotte Dayus 
2. Learning and Teaching in the PYP by International Baccalaureate Organization
3. PYP & Transdisciplinary Learning by P. Ketko
4. PYPResources.com by P. Ketko
5. PYP: Meeting requirements in challenging circumstances - June 2020 by IBO.
6. Course 1 Week 5: From Theory to Practice by Cindy Kaardal
7. Implementing IB Approaches to Teaching and Learning in a Virtual Environment by Edward Lawless

Sources added after original posting - worth the look!

1. Covid-19, Inequity and 5 ways Project-Based Learning Can Close the Gap by Kyle Wagner
2. PBL Case Study #11: 'Planet Podcast' Early Years Project (online) by Kyle Wagner

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