MYP: Connecting to Individuals and Societies
YEAR 7
Statement of Inquiry: Human interconnections and innovation have influenced our societal structures.
Students have spent the year in Individuals and Societies exploring 10 fascinating units covering 13.8 billion years of human history. This term, the focus has been on the final three units: Expansion & Interconnection, Acceleration and The future.
These units allow students to make links between the past and the present, to make predictions about the future, and to gain a deeper understanding of how history is not fixed. With a focus here on human history, we cover how civilisations came to be and how they came to fall, how the modern revolution impacts the way we live, and how humans move around the planet.
While exploring these topics, students have been developing their essay writing skills. In Term 3 students learnt how to structure an essay paragraph and this term they will complete an essay introduction and paragraph on a topic chosen from our remaining units. They may write about the Columbian Exchange, The Silk Road or Marco Polo. While doing this they also develop their APA referencing skills, which they were introduced to in Term 1 and which will become increasingly important over their IB education.
Toward the end of the year we reach our last unit and explore The Future; this part of the course is very hands-on and allows for lots of self-guided inquiry.
YEAR 8
Statement of Inquiry: Logical reasoning can be utilised to examine perspective when deciding how to act and live.
Choosing Decisions: Philosophy and Ethics
This term, our Year 8s are exploring the discipline of philosophy and ethical decision-making. So far we have learnt about the lives and works of Plato, Socrates and Kant. We have also loved testing our own ethical frameworks.
Last week we conducted a live experiment of the Trolley problem (sorry to Karoline's dog, Gypsy!), a renowned thought experiment created by philosopher, Philippa Foot, in which an onlooker has the choice to save five people in danger of being hit by a trolley, by diverting the trolley to kill just one. We asked students to (theoretically) choose to kill five of their friends, or poor Gypsy! A true dilemma! It really provoked students to reflect on their own ethical decision-making process. We are looking forward to getting to know more philosophers over the coming weeks and to reflect on how we apply ethics and philosophy in the real world.
YEAR 9
Statement of Inquiry: Revolutions can bring about significant local and global changes resulting in increased justice and fairness in society.
The final unit of study for this year is "Revolutions and Rebellions" which examines two major historical events - the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution. Students have explored the elements of cause and effect and the impact of leadership on governance. Our final assessment for the year is an historical investigation task, where students select their own revolution, rebellion, uprising or coup to research in detail after developing their own inquiry question. This task allows them to develop their knowledge of key concepts in history such as cause and effect, consequences, perspectives and significance.
YEAR 10
Statement of Inquiry: Conceptions of the good life reflect the perspectives and values of different cultures and contexts.
This term, students have explored philosophical views of "The Good Life" and compared these to their own understandings. What does it mean to live a good life? Is money the key to happiness? Does a good life necessarily involve suffering? Do I need to be a good person in order to live a good life? These questions have been central to philosophical inquiry throughout the centuries and remain just as relevant today. Students engaged with film, fiction and philosophical texts to reflect on these important questions and develop their philosophical questioning and analytical skills.
Kat Girbau, Veronica Fong, Simone Braid
and Anthony Cavagna
teachers of MYP Individuals and Societies
katherine.girbau@preshil.vic.edu.au
veronica.fong@preshil.vic.edu.au