IB Asia Pacific Newsletter

April - June 2006

Middle Years Programme

IB Asia-Pacific MYP Schools Update

There are currently sixty-six authorized MYP programmes in the Asia Pacific region. Interest in the programme continues to grow steadily. Since 31 March this year eight schools from across the region (India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong) have completed their MYP pre-authorization/consultation visits and are looking forward to their authorization visits in the upcoming academic year.

Sri Lanka MYP Workshop Leader Training

In conjunction with the IB Asia-Pacific MYP regional workshops hosted by The Overseas School of Colombo, MYP workshop leader training was conducted from 25 to 27 April. Eleven experienced MYP practitioners attended the training. This group of practitioners reflected the diversity that characterizes the IB Asia Pacific region. Over the three-day training and the following three-day workshops, they delved into the theory and practice of leading workshops, and applied their skills and knowledge to the sessions they conducted during the workshops in a mentored situation. This model of workshop leader training is very well received. The participants’ hard work and commitments are very much appreciated. We sincerely thank Adrian Watts (New International School of Thailand, Thailand) who conducted the workshop leader training with Li Bi. We also thank the three subject workshop leaders – Barbara Wrightson (The International School of Tianjin, China), Brigitte Parr (Woodcroft College, Australia) and Michael Izzard (Chinese International School, Hong Kong) for their generous help. They acted as mentors for the newly trained workshop leaders in an authentic workshop situation.

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The MYP Community and Service - A new chapter

Recent discussions between the IB Asia-Pacific and the Sampoerna Foundation - Indonesia on 29 – 30 May centred on the foundations School Quality Improvement Project (SQIP). Twelve volunteer teachers from Indonesian authorized and candidate MYP schools met in Jakarta to break new ground. These teachers will be trained as teacher trainers and will begin to develop materials to advance the pedagogical skills of their compatriots who teach in Indonesian national schools. These teachers are to be commended for stepping forward to volunteer their time to not only support important Schools to Schools connections and training programmes in Aceh but also for their exemplary commitment to enhance the quality of teaching and learning for their fellow Indonesian teachers.

Professional Development

Since the last quarterly newsletter MYP subject specific workshops have been conducted in Japan, Australia, Sri Lanka and China* (in Mandarin). Over two hundred teachers attended these workshops.

*Please refer to the China and Mongolia page for more details.

The MYP was well represented at the first IB Asia-Pacific Languages Convention in Singapore 8 – 10 April. It was clear from participants that it was a valuable first step in the evolution of our understandings of the research and the realities of Second language acquisition and Mother-tongue development.

Registrations for the new Level 3 Workshop “Intercultural Awareness” to be held in Queensland have been positive. “Making Connections” is on offer again this year from 30 September - 2 October in Singapore. MYP Practitioners may note on the new Workshop Calendar for 2007 that a further MYP Level 3 Workshop focusing on “Assessment” is being developed for 2007.

Li Bin, MYP Regional Manager

Patrick Ritter, MYP Associate Regional Manager

Deirdre Chang, Personal Assistant

Email: ibapmyp@ibo.org