This is my first year teaching a class that is going through the PYP exhibition. For the past seven years I’ve been a part of it, either as a mentor or as someone who helps prepare the presentations. I’ve always loved it, and always wanted to play a bigger role in it.
This year, especially with my class, I feel like it’s been pretty great. The students were pretty good at finding a problem and being able to look at something they felt was important to them. They’ve come up with questions and lines of inquiry. It’s been exciting to watch.
I guess most exciting of all, especially from my point of view, is when the students encounter problems with their group mates. It’s interesting to see how they go about approaching the person they think is the problem, and how they come up with solutions to figure out how to make something work. Sometimes it’s been really successful, other times, not so much.
Some of the groups have really changed their focus and ideas, while others have stayed pretty consistent. It’s just interesting to see the amount of effort that goes into it from a student point of view, and makes me wonder how well I manage my time.
One of the most rewarding aspects for me so far has been seeing how their idea of action has evolved. It started with just wanting to raise money and now it’s going for more personal transformation. Instead of students working to raise money for a cultural group, they are looking at how we can recognise racist thoughts in ourselves. One group is taking students into a green screen room to talk about how some people don’t get access to education using visual displays, it’s great to see action taking on personal aspects.
Joe Teft 