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Why is it important for students to take action?<\/h2>\n
Within the IB PYP, action plays an integral role in the learning process and students are encouraged to take action based on their learning and understanding of real-world issues.<\/p>\n
Action, according to the PYP, should always be authentic, meaningful and mindful. It can take many forms for students, such as making changes in their own lives, taking action within the school or local community, or advocating for larger societal issues. By taking action, students demonstrate their understanding and apply their learning to create positive change.<\/p>\n
Empowering students to take action in the PYP offers both short-term and long-term benefits such as:<\/p>\n
\u25cf An ability to effectively use agency, including voice, choice and ownership. <\/strong>Students who express their choices and are able to personalise their learning experience will enjoy a deeper understanding of concepts and make meaningful connections between theory and practice. \u25cf An ability to engage in a global environment.<\/strong> Students are often encouraged to take action in order to benefit others, which can give them an understanding of the world around them that they might not otherwise have. \u25cf Intercultural understanding<\/strong>. These same actions often allow students to connect with people of different backgrounds. When action is prioritised in a multicultural environment, students become more culturally aware and responsible. \u25cf A sense of international mindedness. <\/strong>Action builds a sense of empathy with others, which encourages students to think beyond their community and consider the world at large.<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n At Global Indian International School,<\/a> students in the Primary Years Programme take action and use their agency every day at school. While there are multiple examples of students taking action in their communities, here is a recent example.<\/p>\n The Grade 3 students at GIIS were doing a unit on communities. The Central Idea of the unit was \u2018People accept roles and responsibilities in communities to demonstrate belonging\u2019. Students explored their role in their community and looked at other community roles around them.<\/p>\n One of the Grade 3 students, who observed cleaners outside her apartment working outdoors in both hot and wet weather conditions, believed that she could play a role in community upliftment.\u00a0 Gathering a few friends, she proposed an idea to do something that the cleaning staff would appreciate.<\/p>\n Apart from organising a fund-raising drive to buy small gifts for the cleaning staff, the GIIS student along with her friends took the initiative of writing thank-you notes, getting home-cooked meals and gift bags packed, and distributed to the community workers at her apartment.<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n All PYP students in Grade 5 have a culminating learning experience in the form of their year-end PYP exhibition. Through the exhibition, students are expected to show their understanding of all elements of the PYP.<\/p>\n Students at GIIS prepare for almost the entire year to design an inquiry process that draws on their passions and strengths or that stems from their concerns.<\/p>\n The Grade 5 students then present their exhibition in any form that they find suitable: poetry, display boards, drama or turning the exhibition space into a mock airport, fashion boutique or a concert arena. Informing others and getting attention to their specific interest or cause is again a way of taking action in the PYP.<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n In 2023, some of the interesting PYP exhibits at GIIS, SMART Campus included the perils of Fast fashion, where the student quizzed attendees on the differences between fast fashion and sustainable fashion brands, while suggesting alternative fashion options. Another exhibit talked about the impact of cellular towers on birds, quoting stats and data from actual studies done.<\/p>\n Examples of cyber bullying with displays of online do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, was another exhibit that catered to the many primary students attending. What was clear from these exhibits was the passion of the students who picked their interests or causes and advocated for them through the exhibition.<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nStudent taking action in the PYP at GIIS<\/h3>\n
Showcasing learning and taking action through the PYP Exhibition<\/h3>\n
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