Building an MYP curriculum from scratch is a
gargantuan task. I sympathise with anyone who is trying to get their professional practice to fit with the MYP, given that it is a framework more than a curriculum itself and given the beautiful openness, but frustrating vagueness, that this can entail. The application of the Phases and their
criteria is a constant topic in an MYP school, given that …
- A school may inherit students from the PYP from three different language levels. There is an argument to be very conservative with placement in Grade 6 if the MYP curriculum of your school is built around a grammar-based scope and sequence. Many Grade 6 students are studying grammar in ways that are new to them if they came from the PYP, and they have a weaker systematic knowledge of the language as a set of rules and patterns than their language level would initially indicate. You could start your most advanced new Grade 6 students in an “Advanced Phase 2” class, even though there is an argument to be made for starting them in Phase 4 or 5, even.
- The advantages of a conservative use of the Phases – e.g. using the Phase 3 criteria for two years of study, not just one – are that:
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students’ marks are higher and you can still apply the criteria
strictly.
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You can also flag students whose grammar needs major investment
through their scores in Criterion D, whilst still rewarding them for some of
their successes elsewhere.
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One challenge with the MYP criteria is that they grow in intellectual
depth across the Phases, seemingly more than they grow in linguistic depth. The
intention of this is clear – the MYP wants to tie foreign language learning
with the development of critical thinking. However, there exists a disparity
between younger students with advanced language skills and their ability to do
some of the cognitive heavy lifting of the upper Phases, such as analysis and
drawing conclusions.
- The alternative, a more generous/sequential use of the Phases – e.g. viewing one year as one Phase, with some Grade 10 students in a Phase 5 class – comes itself with problems that are not to be overlooked:
