Learning and Teaching for Conceptual Understanding – Category 2

RECOMMENDED FOR:  PYP educators, coordinators, librarians/media specialists and specialist teachers, who wish to learn more about designing and teaching for conceptual understanding in a transdisciplinary and inquiry-based learning environment.

How might we intentionally design and teach for conceptual understanding within a transdisciplinary and inquiry-based context?  Developing conceptual understanding enables learners to access many kinds of knowledge and develop understanding from multiple sources and diverse perspectives.

In this workshop, participants will explore how:

• Conceptual understanding is central to the aims of an IB education.
• Conceptual understanding is developed through the pedagogical approaches to teaching to support transdisciplinary learning within, across and beyond subjects.
• The programme of inquiry and the PYP collaborative planning process frame opportunities that enable designing and teaching for conceptual understanding that connects meaningfully to the learner and the learning community.
• Concepts play a critical role in organizing, designing and planning curriculum and learning.
• Together, this creates opportunities for learners to make connections, transfer and apply skills, knowledge, and understandings to new and different contexts in creative, generative, agentic and dynamic ways.

This workshop provides tools and strategies that enhance conceptual understanding leading to depth and rigour in thinking within, between and across subjects both inside and outside the programme of inquiry.