IPC examples and Extracts literature review updating

IPC (International Primary Curriculum) is a project based curriculum that brings together many of the foundation subjects, it provides cross-curricular learning and applies core subjects. Many schools teach it, including my current school.

Introduction This is a unit of the International Primary Curriculum  The IPC has been developed to provide support to teachers so that four main aims can be achieved. They are: • To help children learn the subject knowledge, skills and understandings they need to become aware of the world around them • To help children develop the personal skills they need to take an active part in the world throughout their lives • To help children develop an international mindset alongside their awareness of their own nationality  • To do each of these in ways which take into account up-to-date research into how children learn and how they can be encouraged to be life-long learners  The IPC has a simple but comprehensive structure  Everything is based on clearly defined learning goals which lay out the subject, personal and international knowledge, skills and understandings children need at different stages of their primary school life:  ✓Learning Goal A specific statement of what children should ‘know’, ‘be able to do’ or develop an ‘understanding’ of at different mileposts. The IPC contains learning goals for each subject of the curriculum, for personal development and for ‘international mindedness’.  See Section 6 of the teaching and implementation file for a full list of all the learning goals.  ✓Learning Target An IPC learning target is a refined learning goal specifically related, where appropriate, to the content of each unit of work.  ✓A Process of Learning The units of work provide practical activities which teachers can use in the classroom plus a wealth of other supportive information. Each unit is structured to make sure that children’s learning experiences are as stimulating as possible.  All the units follow the same process of learning as described below ✓Entry Point The entry point is an activity for children that begins each unit of work and provides an exciting introduction to the work that is to follow. Entry points can last from one hour to a week, depending on the age of the children and the appropriateness of the activity.  ✓Knowledge Harvest The knowledge harvest takes place in the early stages of each unit and provides an opportunity for children to reveal what they already know about the themes they are studying. This bank of knowledge can then be added to, developed and even challenged by the teacher, throughout the course of the unit.  ✓Explain The Theme This activity involves the teacher helping the children to see the ‘big idea’ of the unit of work before embarking on the subject learning.  ✓Big Picture The big picture provides teachers with subject-based background information to the issues contained within the unit.  ✓Research Activity Each IPC unit has a research activity and a recording activity. Research activities always precede the recording activities. During research activities, children use a variety of methods and work in different group sizes to find out a range of information.  ✓Recording Activity During the recording activities, children interpret the learning they have researched and have the opportunity to explain it in ways which feature their multiple intelligences.  ✓Exit Point The exit point has two main purposes. First, to help children pull together their learning from the unit and second, to celebrate the learning that has taken place All timings are flexible depending on your circumstances. Links to other IPC subject ICT and Music learning goals are included in the different subjects Language Arts and Mathematics links Suggestions of possible links to Language Arts and Mathematics are provided where appropriate.

Below are extracts of a project topic 'Young Entrepreneurs' (Money and Trade) aimed at ages 7 to 9, (lower KS2.) The topic was taught last term in year 4 at my current school. Timings This unit of work is intended to last about 6-7 weeks.  The following suggested timings are approximate guides and are dependent on each school’s individual context.     Approx no. of hours   Approx no. of weeks   Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, Explain the Theme   4   ½ Geography 8 1 History 8 1 Society 8 1 Technology 12 1½ International 4 ½ Exit Point 4 ½

Another project extract for ages 7 to 9 Paintings, Pictures and photographs Timings This unit of work is intended to last about 8 weeks. The following suggested timings are approximate guides and are dependent on each school’s individual context       Approx no. of hours   Approx no. of weeks   Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, Explain the Theme   4   ½ Art 12 1½ Geography 8 1 History 8 1 ICT 4 ½ Music 8 1 Science 12 1½ Society and International 4 ½ Exit Point 4 ½

Another project extract for ages 9 to 11 What price progress (invention and development) Timings This unit of work is intended to last about 8-9 weeks. The following suggested timings are approximate guides and are dependent on each school’s individual context.     Approx no. of hours   Approx no. of weeks   Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, Explain the Theme   4   ½ Technology 16 2 History 10 1¼ Science 8 1 Music 8 1 Society 6 ¾ Art 4 ½ International 4 ½ Exit Point 4 ½

International Primary Curriculum, further information is available at  tp://www.greatlearning.com/ipc/  However extracts above have been taken from the projects, which can only accessed if your school is a member. However there maybe other examples, plus there is video footage from a Head Teacher, if you want to find out more.

IPC often has a depth knowledge base in terms of the history, at times this can be dragged out to long and can become repetitive at times. In addition it doesn’t always develop the practical learning as I have seen when Design & Technology or Art & Design has been taught as an individual subject in previous schools. This could come down to individual teaching and planning though.

The structure of IPC does give a teacher a guide to which to plan from. It also focuses on lifelong learning, cross-curricular learning and applying literacy and maths.   I think the new curriculum will develop the teaching of IPC further, allowing for flexibility and creativity within the program of study

 

Literature review - Thinking Hats and Thinking Schools updating soon

 

Extracts taken from

Edward de Bono (2009) Six Thinking Hats. Great Britain: Penguin Books

 http://www.thinkingschool.co.uk/resources/thinkers-toolbox/six_thinking_hats
(update)


http://www.debonoforschools.com/asp/six_hats.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats

http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php

below is example and extracts of the Thinking Hats on the http://www.mindwerx.com/mind-tools/5970/six-thinking-hats by Bill Jarrard,

Parallel Thinking for Teamwork

Edward de Bono is a leader in critical and creative thinking, and his Six Thinking Hats is powerful tool for teamwork, collaboration, and creative exploration using Parallel Thinking.
Let’s look quickly at the Six Thinking Hats..

• Blue Hat – like the sky it hovers above the thinking to manage the thinking process, set the focus, order the use of the other hats, defines next steps and more.
• White Hat – takes the neutral (think white flag) angle to draw out information available and needed, facts and data relevant to the situation – without judgement or emotion.
• Red Hat – think of fire and emotion, the opposite of white hat, here we explore feelings, gut reactions, emotions involved, intuition – our own and those of others.
• Yellow Hat – bright sunny uplifting, this hat allows us to analyse positive aspects, what is working, what is of value, what benefits and opportunities might result?
• Black Hat – dark gloomy, the downside of a situation, analyses what might go wrong, what is not working, what needs to be better, what risks are there?
• Green Hat – growth, alive, fun, allows time for creative idea generation, opens up possibilities and looks for alternatives - the objective is lots of new ideas.

When the Six Thinking Hats are effectively used in your individual or team thinking, you will find that you get better results, more creative ideas, faster than normal and all done in a spirit of productive collaboration.
To aid your thinking Mindwerx has developed a number of simple Thinking Tools, handy reference cards, you can use everydone.  Get these now to make Six Thinking Hats part of your daily routine.
And if you want to know a lot more about using the Six Hats, you can get the book and do our Mindwerx online program on Parallel Thinking and Six Thinking Hats and download this poster to keep the Six Thinking Hats top of mind at you next meeting

Review - updating

Edward de Bono invented the concept of lateral thinking. A world renowned writer and philosopher, is a lead authority in the field of creative thinking and thinking as a skill, as quoted above and in the Six Thinking Hats book. 

 

Quotes used for critical review

·         Thinking is an ultimate human resource

·         Main difficult of thinking is confusion, we try to do too much at once, emotions,  information, logic; hope and creativity all crowd in on us

·         Putting on one type of hat defines a certain type of thinking

·         Call forth what we will like a conductor

·         Useful to switch people out of their usual tracks

·         The sheer convenience of the six thinking hats is it value

reviewing

 

The under pinning of Edward De Bano ideas and the Thinking Hats gives understanding to the clouded mind. This makes you realise by removing an element of the confusion it would ease pressure on thinking, allowing one to move forward. This could be applied to individual children when they are feeling overwhelmed or things are becoming too much.

Literature Review, Research summary - fostering creativity updating soon

http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/resourcesandcpd/research/summaries/rsfosteringcreativity.asp

 

• creativity can mean different things to different people
• some people believe the term creativity is to those artistic talents
• imaginative and inventive
• taking risks or challenging conventions
• intelligence itself is creativity

• creativity has been associated with extraordinary people
• recent years researchers and educational writers have extended the general meaning of creativity
• creativity is not just about coming up with ideas, but coming up with practical solutions
• Everything around are conceived and developed my practical people

What others think about creativity, linking in with critical review

• 'Creativity is about liberating human energy' Howard Gardener
• 'Creativity is the process of developing ideas that are original and of value' Sir Ken Robinson 2001 - what is the value?
• (Ken quote on divergent thinking within creativity add)
• '....creativity as entire process....which ideas are generated...developed and transformed into value...innovation and entrepreneurship' John Kao 1997'
• Creativity thinking must involve soft (right side of the brain = visual, intuitive etc...)and hard thinking (left side of the brain = analytical and sequence etc..), is important to know when each is appropriate. 'It is believed that the most powerful creativity occurs when the left and right hemisphere of the brain combine to apply both generative and evaluative processes' Roger Van Oech 1990 and www.journeytoexcellence.co.uk
• De Bono believes that in order to foster creativity effectively we have to develop specific thinking techniques - it is more difficult to think laterally because thinking patterns become so well established

'Where the effectiveness of schools is measured in academic attainment, it is perhaps not surprising that some teachers and parents view the promotion of creativity and enterprise as added extras, or even distractions from the real business of schools - to prepare pupils for tests and examinations.' 'In recent years, however, there has been a growing understanding of creativity and how the development of creative thinking in young people can underpin effective learning and achievement.'

Updating and reviewing etc...
Creativity is about releasing energy
Divergent thinking within creativity is about different types of thinking
Developing original ideas to add value
         
Left side = structured creativity thinking and right side = loose creativity thinking
Structured thinking + loose thinking = powerful creativity

Vygotsky, on the other hand, suggests that young children’s creativity is less rich than that of adults because of their limited knowledge and the lower complexity of their cognitions. The creativity of children tends to be more subjective than that of adults. Children tend to create only for themselves, whereas adults create both for themselves and for the world in which they live. Edward De Bono suggests that the creativity typical of young children is a function of their innocence. If you do not know the usual approach, the usual solution, the usual concepts involved, then you are more likely come up with a fresh way of looking at things.  De Bono and others, however, promote the view that as children grow older, they become more affected by the views of others and this begins to inhibit their creativity. Their developmental schema of dawning realism around the ages of 8-10 years heightens the importance of what others think about their ideas. One of the main challenges for educationalists is how to help young people develop resilience around their creative ideas, whilst inviting others to assess, evaluate and contribute to them. The ability to work collaboratively and develop in creative partnerships are key skills for the 21st century

To foster creativity (In the classroom) teachers must encourage learners to think laterally and make associations between things that are not usually connected. They must be able to reinterpret and apply their learning in new contexts, look at things from different points of view and experiment with alternative approaches to solving problems. Teachers must help learners to see possibilities and challenges and all of these skills can be taught.

The importance of creativity

'In the modern world, the skills and qualities that we associate with creativity and ingenuity are required to help us work more effectively together.'

'Being able to come up with new ideas and solve everyday problems is also important for people on a personal level. It plays a critically important role in learning and personal development, as well as building self-esteem.

Reviewing and updating