Internationalism: the PYP perspective

 

The PYP believes that the attempt to define the ideal of internationalism in ever clearer terms and the struggle to move closer to that ideal are central to the mission of PYP schools.

Given the complexity and variety of PYP schools and the abstract nature of the concept itself it would be naive to propose any simple definition and expect it to stand up to rigorous examination. Rather, the PYP would suggest that any definition is likely to be compound, reflecting a range of interrelated factors. What these factors might be is suggested later in this perspective. However, in examining these factors during the years since the inception of the PYP, one aspect of PYP schools emerges, not only as the most significant, but also as the common ground on which PYP schools stand, the essence of what they are about: this is the kind of student who we hope will graduate from PYP schools, the kind of person we would proudly call an internationalist.

 

The PYP is suggesting then, as central to its definition of an international education, the following student profile. In so doing, the PYP is placing the focus of schools where it belongs, on student learning. The PYP is saying that schools should be proud to send out into the adult world students who exemplify the qualities expressed in this profile. The PYP is conscious that this profile is value-laden and, it would say, quite rightly so, for this kind of learning is what the PYP values, it is what the PYP stands for and it is the embodiment of what international education is all about.

 

This profile is central to the work of the PYP. It represents its aims, it drives the curriculum framework which follows and it is central to the process of summative assessment which closes the circle of our work with students. It represents the qualities of internationalism which the PYP hopes will characterize its graduates, the contribution of PYP schools to this complex, challenging world.