Have you ever imagined you could choose to create your own cookbook as part of your course requirement? MYP Personal Project makes such ideas possible…
This year, we have had students pursuing a wide variety of interests, such as designing fashion, building go-karts or dog kennels, raising awareness or funds for a good cause, or working to create sustainable products or spaces.
What is the MYP Personal Project?
The Personal Project is a capstone project for the MYP. Students can choose a topic that is meaningful to them, and then undertake a long-term project aimed at building specific skills, called “Approaches to Learning”. These include:
- Thinking skills; critical thinking
- Communication skills
- Social skills
- Self-management skills; organization
- Research skills; information literacy; media literacy
By engaging in research, working with others, creating and following through with a plan, managing their time, and reflecting on their experiences, students can become independent learners.
One could argue that these are the most important skills they will learn in their whole school career – the skills that help them to be successful in any situation or workplace. In the immediate future, these skills set students up to work more independently and manage themselves more successfully in the IB Diploma Programme in Grades 11 and 12.
What do the students think about the exercise?
Here are some student reflections on their learning:
“I learned that even one small action can have a big response or impact… It also taught me that we should do these small actions to make a difference.”
“I learned a lot about how I interact with language. I realized that I couldn’t have done this project in my mother tongue – English helped spark my creativity even though I’ve only been speaking English for 4 years. I was really surprised to discover this about myself!
“I learned how to write a story, with different sections and chapters. A big challenge for me was learning how to write following a continuous train of thought, and not to go off in other directions.”
“I got better at organization and time management. I got injured in the middle of the project and had to change my plan in order to compensate for the time lost with my injury. I will definitely be able to use this skill in Grade 11.”
“I learned how to use a lot of new programs and equipment related to graphic design. I have been considering graphic design as a career so this project gave me an opportunity to look more closely at what the job would be like and will help me make a decision later on about what job I want to have in the future.”
Karin Lee
Music Teacher | MYP Personal Project Coordinator
