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Acknowledgements

Laura – to her hardworking and remarkable colleagues at Good Shepherd Lutheran College.

Angela – to Adrian, Ella, Freya and Oskar.

The authors would like to acknowledge Good Shepherd Lutheran College and Southbank International School for some of the student resources used.

Bibliography

International Baccalaureate Organization, IB Middle Years Programme Projects guide, 2014, Geneva, Switzerland, International Baccalaureate Organization

International Baccalaureate Organization, IB Middle Years Programme Further guidance for MYP projects, 2016, Geneva, Switzerland, International Baccalaureate Organization

Brand, W. 2017, Visual Thinking, Amsterdam, Netherlands, BIS Publishers

Hoang, P and Taylor, C. 2017, Extended essay for the IB Diploma, London, UK, Hodder Education

Kleon, A. 2014, Show Your Work, New York, USA, Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

Ritchhart, R, Church, M and Morrison K. 2011, Making Thinking Visible, San Francisco, USA, Jossey-Bass

England, L. 2019, www.misslauraengland.blog/

Although every effort has been made to ensure that website addresses are correct at time of going to press, Hodder Education cannot be held responsible for the content of any website mentioned in this book.

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Introduction

How to use this book

Welcome to the community project for the IB MYP: Skills for Success.

This guide will help you prepare for your community project in an efficient and logical way.

Each chapter of the book looks at a different aspect of the project in detail, while practice exercises are also included to help you check your understanding, and put the guidance into practice.

To ensure you demonstrate your best work in the community project, this guide:

•  includes an opening infographic in each chapter

•  builds skills for success through a range of strategies and detailed expert advice, such as planning the best format for your presentation

•  covers all the IB requirements with clear and concise explanations, such as the assessment criteria and rules on academic honesty

•  demonstrates what is required to demonstrate your best work

•  adds reference to the IB learner profile.

Key features of this guide include:

ATL skills

ATL skills covered are highlighted at the start of Chapters 2–10 and within each Activity. It is important to note that this is where you often have opportunities to demonstrate these skills, but they are not limited to these situations; any ATL skills can be demonstrated at any point.

LEARNER PROFILE ATTRIBUTES

Learner profile attributes are also highlighted at the start of Chapters 2–10.

EXPERT TIP

These tips appear throughout the book and provide guidance on steps you can take and key things you should consider in order to help you achieve your best.

ACTIVITY

Activities appear throughout the book, and provide you with the chance to put the skills and strategies into practice, to help you think about how to best approach your community project.

Supervisor check-in

Chapters 3–6 and 8 end with a checklist for your next supervisor meeting.

CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY POINTS

At the end of Chapters 1–8 and 10, key knowledge is distilled into a short checklist to help you review everything you have learned over the previous pages.

About the authors

Laura England is a Language & Literature and Design teacher at Good Shepherd Lutheran College in Darwin, Australia and is also a member of the Building Quality Curriculum reviewer team. Previously she was the MYP Coordinator and MYP Projects Coordinator for five years and during this time also served the Good Shepherd community of learners as Head of Design and Head of Language Acquisition. Prior to teaching Laura worked in advertising and co-owned and operated a photography business.

Angela Stancar Johnson is Head of English at Southbank International School in London, where she was previously the MYP Projects Coordinator. She has taught MYP Language & Literature, and DP English Literature and Language & Literature for the past nine years. Angela has in the past served as a moderator for the personal project and as an examiner for DP English and currently examines the MYP Interdisciplinary eAssessment. She also has experience in teaching high school journalism in the USA and has worked internationally in the scholastic publishing industry.

Laura and Angela co-authored Personal Project for the IB MYP 4 & 5: Skills for Success (Hodder Education, 2018).

CHAPTER 1 Understanding the Community Project objectives

What is the Community Project?

Welcome to the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Community Project. The community project can form part of the core of your International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and can be a significant milestone in your journey as an IB learner.

The community project is a unique opportunity to use your strengths and skills to serve a community of your choosing. The community project is an exciting opportunity for you to develop awareness of needs in various communities and address those needs through service as action.

The community project allows you to apply your approaches to learning skills and apply how you learn best for the benefit of others. You will be given the opportunity to strengthen your approaches to learning skills, transfer prior learning and subject-specific knowledge into a new and perhaps unfamiliar situation, and implement service as action in a community of your choosing. If approached with the right mindset and a caring attitude, the community project can be a rewarding experience where you learn to exercise your privilege and responsibility to implement service as action in a community.

The community project consists of three parts:

•  the process journal

•  your participation in service as action

•  the final presentation.

How to approach each of these parts will be covered in detail in the following chapters.

EXPERT TIP

It is important to note that the community project must not be linked to the curriculum or assessment of any of your subjects. However, the work you do in your subjects may support you in the development of your community project.

Community Project aims

Aims are general statements which relate to an overall goal or intended outcome. The community project aims state what you may expect to experience and learn through the process of service as action.

The aims of the MYP projects are to encourage and enable you to:

•  participate in a sustained, self-directed inquiry within a global context

•  generate creative new insights and develop deeper understandings through in-depth investigation

•  demonstrate the skills, attitudes and knowledge required to complete a project over an extended period of time

•  communicate effectively in a variety of situations

•  demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result of, learning

•  appreciate the process of learning and take pride in your accomplishments.

Community Project objectives

Objectives are specific steps along the journey towards the end goal. The community project objectives define what you will be able to accomplish as a result of your engagement. There are four main objectives, each of which align with the assessment criteria:

•  Investigating

•  Planning

•  Taking action

•  Reflecting.

Each objective is broken down further into three separate strands which relate to the overall objective.

Understanding the assessment criteria

The assessment criteria directly align with the community project objectives. Each criterion is worth a maximum of 8 levels. It is worth noting that a majority of the levels are awarded based on the process; only part of Criterion C directly assesses your participation in service as action. The tables below are taken from the community project assessment criteria.

The following information is taken directly from the IBO Projects guide. We recommend that as you read, replace the word ‘student’ with the personal pronouns of ‘I’ or ‘we’. This will help you internalize and understand just what it is you can be aiming for in your community project.

Criterion A

Investigating (8 levels)

This is the starting point of your project. You start by investigating, but you may end up following the inquiry cycle (inquiry, action, reflection) more than once in order to strengthen, extend or refine your inquiry.

Criterion A assesses your ability to:

i   define a goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests

ii  identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the project

iii demonstrate research skills.

Achievement level
Level descriptor

0

Students do not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below.

1–2

Students:

i   state a goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests, but this may be limited in depth or accessibility

ii  identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge, but this may be limited in occurrence or relevance

iii demonstrate limited research skills.

3–4

Students:

i   outline an adequate goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests

ii  identify basic prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to some areas of the project

iii demonstrate adequate research skills.

5–6

Students:

i   define a clear and challenging goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests

ii  identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge generally relevant to the project

iii demonstrate substantial research skills.

7–8

Students:

i   define a clear and highly challenging goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests

ii  identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge that is consistently highly relevant to the project

iii demonstrate excellent research skills.

Criterion B

Planning (8 levels)

This includes all the work you will do to plan and organize your project towards participating in service as action.

Criterion B assesses your ability to:

i   develop a proposal for action to serve the need in the community

ii  plan and record the development process of the project

iii demonstrate self-management skills.

Achievement level
Level descriptor

0

Students do not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below.

1–2

Students:

i   develop a limited proposal for action to serve the need in the community

ii  present a limited or partial plan and record of the development process of the project

iii demonstrate limited self-management skills.

3–4

Students:

i   develop an adequate proposal for action to serve the need in the community

ii  present an adequate plan and record of the development process of the project

iii demonstrate adequate self-management skills.

5–6

Students:

i   develop a suitable proposal for action to serve the need in the community

ii  present a substantial plan and record of the development process of the project

iii demonstrate substantial self-management skills.

7–8

Students:

i   develop a detailed, appropriate and thoughtful proposal for action to serve the need in the community

ii  present a detailed and accurate plan and record of the development process of the project

iii demonstrate excellent self-management skills.

Criterion C

Taking action (8 levels)

This is the main ‘doing’ part of your project – the action part of the inquiry cycle – where you implement or participate in service as action.

Criterion C assesses your ability to:

i   demonstrate service as action as a result of the project

ii  demonstrate thinking skills

iii demonstrate communication and social skills.

Achievement level
Level descriptor

0

Students do not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below.

1–2

Students:

i   demonstrate limited service as action as a result of the project

ii  demonstrate limited thinking skills

iii demonstrate limited communication and social skills.

3–4

Students:

i   demonstrate adequate service as action as a result of the project

ii  demonstrate adequate thinking skills

iii demonstrate adequate communication and social skills.

5–6

Students:

i   demonstrate substantial service as action as a result of the project

ii  demonstrate substantial thinking skills

iii demonstrate substantial communication and social skills.

7–8

Students:

i   demonstrate excellent service as action as a result of the project

ii  demonstrate excellent thinking skills

iii demonstrate excellent communication and social skills.

Criterion D

Reflecting (8 levels)

This is the point when you look back over the project and evaluate your development. You will have continuously reflected during the process of the community project and you can refer to this here too.

Criterion D assesses your ability to:

i   evaluate the quality of the service as action against the proposal

ii  reflect on how completing the project has extended your knowledge and understanding of service learning

iii reflect on your development of ATL skills.

Achievement level
Level descriptor

0

Students do not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below.

1–2

Students:

i   present a limited evaluation of the quality of the service as action against the proposal

ii  present limited reflections on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and understanding of service learning

iii present limited reflections on their development of ATL skills.

3–4

Students:

i   present an adequate evaluation of the quality of the service as action against the proposal

ii  present adequate reflections on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and understanding of service learning

iii present adequate reflections on their development of ATL skills.

5–6

Students:

i   present a substantial evaluation of the quality of the service as action against the proposal

ii  present substantial reflections on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and understanding of service learning

iii present substantial reflections on their development of ATL skills.

7–8

Students:

i   present an excellent evaluation of the quality of the service as action against the proposal

ii  present excellent reflections on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and understanding of service learning

iii present detailed and accurate reflections on their development of ATL skills.

© International Baccalaureate Organization, 2014

CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY POINTS

•  The community project is an opportunity to use your strengths and approaches to learning skills to participate in service as action by meeting the needs of a community of your choice.

•  The community project is a self-managed project that is not to be linked to any subject-specific curriculum or assessment.

•  The community project consists of three parts:

    •  the process journal

    •  participation in service as action

    •  the final presentation.

•  You will be assessed on four criteria, each worth a maximum of 8 levels.

•  The criteria you will be assessed on are:

    •  Investigating

    •  Planning

    •  Taking action

    •  Reflecting.

•  Only Criterion C directly assesses your participation in service as action.