The Personal Project is the culmination of a Grade 10 student’s time in the Middle Years Programme (MYP). It is similar to a passion project – students can select any topic that interests them to pursue. Students create a learning goal and a product goal for themselves linked to their topic of choice and then spend the months of September to March working towards them.
The Personal Project is an integral part of the curriculum because it gives students an opportunity to put into practice all of the important skills they have learned throughout their time in the MYP, such as communication skills, organizational skills, and time management skills. These skills are called “Approaches to Learning” (AtLs) in the MYP. Approaches to Learning skills also include research skills and critical thinking skills.
After selecting their learning goal (What do I want to learn?) and a product goal (What do I want to create/produce?), students begin by creating a plan to achieve their goals to demonstrate their ability to organize their time and think ahead. Most of the students’ plans begin with a research phase, to achieve their learning goal and to gather the information necessary to achieve their product goal. Next, students begin working on their product. As the product can be anything from a working go-kart to a podcast to an event they organized, this phase of the Personal Project looks different for all students. The important thing is that students are actively practicing a variety of the ‘Approaches to Learning’ skills as they work towards their goals.
At the end of the process, students get an opportunity to share their products at the Personal Project Exhibition. This is a valuable chance for students to not only show off their hard work, but also for them to get feedback about their products. Some students may need to check the effectiveness of their product – does the blog really raise awareness for their cause? Are their t-shirts really attractive to their target audience? Does their short story really capture an audience?
The students write about all of these experiences in a graded report. It is an excellent opportunity for students to follow their passions with extra motivation and support from their supervisors! We are looking forward to seeing them grow in independence and learn about themselves through this process.
Karin Lee
MYP Personal Project Coordinator
