Concept Based Learning
International School of Ulaanbaatar: November 2012
What’s the BIG idea? Do we ‘get it’? How will the
children? How will we KNOW they have?
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Starting with ‘C’ for Concepts
C = Concepts
Drive the….
I = Inquiry
Leading to….
A = Action
Example: Concept of Pollution (Factory) > Investigation > Action as a
result of understanding
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HOUSEKEEPING – Day 1
*
WELCOME - do you have your: Making the PYP Happen,
your school’s programme of inquiry, ‘A Basis for Practice, access
to planners that you are involved with planning, teaching and
reflecting on?
Session 1:
8.30am – 10am
Break:
10am – 10.30am
Session 2:
10.30am – 12.15am
Lunch:
12.15pm – 1.15pm
Session 3:
1.15pm – 2.30pm
Break:
2.30pm – 3pm
Session 4:
3pm – 4pm
It’s a JOURNEY…….
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Tuning IN – prior
knowledge
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As an In-School workshop we will adapt to the needs of the groups as we
go along…
‘A’ central idea for this
workshop
Concepts drive teaching and
learning that is relevant,
engaging, challenging and
significant
“Concepts are a very important part of thinking”
Edward de Bono
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Wall Wisher
In your groups you will be given one of
the questions from the Wall Wisher
page.
Brainstorm ideas and thoughts that
you think are the answers to the
question given.
Prepare to feedback to the workshop,
beginning with “We believe…..”
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Or another ‘Central Idea’ for this
workshop could be:
The PYP is a ‘concept driven’ curriculum which aims
to lead children to appropriate and responsible
action, as a result of ‘structured’ inquiry.
What is (should be) the ‘concept’ (big idea)
of this workshop?
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Finding OUT – The ‘idea’ of
concepts.
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Reading….
‘Futility’ article - Wiggins…. In groups of 4-5. Read
your section.. Share the main read with the rest of
the group and collate into a shared understanding.
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Agree? Disagree?
Teaching is not about coverage
and content. It is about BIG
IDEAS that will change the
world.
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Your ‘summative’ assessment task
To plan a brief presentation to parents for
your Grade level(s) or area of expertise to
explain the nature of ‘concepts’ in the PYP.
This could be part of a parents’ night
presentation for example. Groups of 4--5
Consider:
(6 facets of understanding –
reading handout)
•What they are
•Why we use them – practical importance
•What the children will do and understand
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OK – so what do you know well? Explain to the person on
your right..something you know well –
football/travel/local food - How have you come to
know/understand it?
Think:
 What skills did you learn?
 What new knowledge did you gain from the
experience?
 What was your attitude about yourself and learning
when you accomplished your goal (s)?
 What action did you take?
Is it just Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory? Is this essentially
what we need to be doing with the children?
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Concepts – ‘or NOT’ and if so
how BIG/important are they?
Make a T chart on a piece of paper and list under ‘topic’
and ‘concept’ from the following.
conflict, family, culture, chance,
fitness, human, rights, China, bears,
persuasion, dinosaurs, co-operation,
patterns, literature, scale, rhythm,
hope, hunger, meat
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Concept Definition
 In your groups come up with a set of criteria
for defining concepts. Try finding up to 5
 Wait for it….. They are…….
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Definition of concept
Nouns that are:
Timeless - e.g. ‘conflict’
Universal – specific examples
may differ from culture to
culture but….
Abstract and Broad
Represented by 1 or 2
words
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Concepts across the curriculum
 Bus stop activity
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As we know from our own experiences
 I tell you one thing, if you learn it by
yourself, if you have to get down and dig for
it, it never leaves you. It stays here as long
as you live because you had to dig it out of
the mud before you learned it.
Norton 1985 quoted from Wiggington (author)
‘Sometimes a Shining Moment – The Fox Fire
Experience’
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 The main proposition of constructivism is that
learning means constructing, creating inventing and
developing our own knowledge. Others can give us
information, we can find information in books, and
we can get information from the media, but as
important as information is - and it is extremely
important – receiving it, getting it and hearing it
does not necessary equal learning. Marlow and Page 2005
‘Creating and Sustaining the Constructivist Classroom’
Learners constructing meaning – The PYP definition of
curriculum (MtPYP Happen page 9)
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5 Essential Elements
 Concepts
 Knowledge
 Trans-disciplinary Skills
 Attitudes
 Action
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Sorting Out – concepts / PYP
concepts
Now lets look specifically at the PYP Key Concepts!
Which are…? And what ‘key questions’ go with them?
Sort the cut out pieces of the PYP concepts out use
your MiH or Basis for Practice to help you if you need
it
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What does the IBO say about
Concepts
A Basis for
Practice pg. 7+8
Highlight any points
you agree with or
that create questions
for you.
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Going Further –
developing a deeper
understanding and getting practical
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How can we better understand
the PYP Concepts?
 Change groups. 8 groups please (4’s?)
 Try to find – 1 K~2, 1 3`5, 1 local, 1 specialist
 In group, use the concept worksheet to
investigate your given concept.
 Gallery walk around room to view other concept
research papers.
 Discuss results as a group.
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Getting Practical….
How do we set up our classrooms to ensure
there is concept driven inquiry taking place?
What would we see in these classroom (classroom
environment)?
What would we hear in these classrooms (teacher and
students)?
What would we do in these classrooms (learning
engagements)?
Stand on the shoulders of giants!
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Welcome Back to Day 2
All the teachers of ISU!!
Find your seat, set yourself up, turn on your brain…
now meet us in the corridor!
Prize for the first group
to meet us
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Concentric Circles
 So what – why and how do you think concepts/concept
driven curriculum can help our students?
 What are the 8 PYP Key concepts and their related
questions?
 Define a ‘concept’ – 5 criteria (Erickson)
 How is your classroom going to change as a result of
your learning yesterday?
 What are the 5 essential elements (including concepts)
of the PYP?
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Quick Journal Writing…
Spend 3 minutes writing a reflection on
yesterdays learning in your journal…
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If we are teaching the
CONCEPTUAL IDEA….
 How do we use the lines of inquiry?
 What is the purpose of the teacher
questions?
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What is a good guiding
question?
 Read Rob Traver article… 4 page article.
 Think: In your group of FOUR, 4, quatre,
dorov, take one page each.
 Share: Develop one BIG IDEA per page. Share
back with the whole group.
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On the wall chart
Step 1: Write down the ‘BIG IDEA’
+ 2 key concepts.
Step 2: Now circle the one key concept that puts the spot
light on the BIG IDEA
Step 3: Now go back inside and combine the 2 into the
‘enduring understanding’ – THIS IS YOUR CI !!!
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Planning time for your next unit
Application
 Apply what you now
understand to developing
your next unit of inquiry.
 Do this keeping both the
BIG concept and PYP Key
concepts at the forefront
of your thinking.
Remember to have students
consider the BIG idea as well as
the PYP conceptual ‘lens.’
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Less of v More of in the classroom
 After what we have learned about the
concepts: what does this mean for you in
your classroom? What in your teaching do
you need to do less of and what do you
need to do more of?
 Connect, extend, challenge….
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OUR ENDURING
UNDERSDTANDING
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Recommendations
thank you for sharing your learning with us.
 All central idea’s will contain one BIG IDEA (concept),
where the enduring understanding is easily understood –
goes beyond a topic or ‘skinny’ concept, and become
something that is important now and in the future.
 The one or two PYP KEY Concepts will be used to focus
the learning of the big idea, and should be apparent in
the central idea.
 Keep the unit simple but profound. Keep referring back
to the guiding question.
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Recommendations continued
 Classrooms will be interactive learning environments,
where the key components of the unit will be: at eye
level, used regularly, be attached to student and
teacher questions.
 Classrooms will show evidence of VISIBLE THINKING! E.g.
related to learner profile, attitudes, skills, questions
both new and answered.
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Enjoy your
concept
driven PYP
journey
here at
ISU
Thank you
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Slides not used this time
 But worth keeping for another day
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Concept Pyramid
Where do concepts come in the scheme of things?
Workbook page 17and handout
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How can inquiry help student
understanding?
 Inquiry in the PYP leads
to the learner
developing a higher
conceptual
understanding.
Theory
Building
Generalisations
Expressions of the relationship
Between two or more concepts
Concepts
Classified/ categorised
groups of related facts
From: Focus on
Inquiry by Jeni
Wilson and Lesley
Wing Jan
Facts
Truths about specific events, objects, people.
These are easily investigated
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Year 2 Concepts Overview – work in progress Tues 9th Sept
Who We Are
Where we are in
Time and Place
How we Organise How We Express
Ourselves
Ourselves
How the World
Works
Sharing the
Planet
Form
Added new
Function
deleted
Causation
Added new
Change
Connection
Added new
deleted
Perspective
Added new
deleted
Added new
Responsibility
Reflection
Making the PYP Happen reference guide:
Science - page 98
Social Studies – page 107
PSE - page 120
Also please see page 6 of your
workbook for another idea which
includes Learner Profile and Attitudes
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Applying our understandings
 Regroup: Move back into your year level groups
 Question: How can you best use the next 40 minutes
to apply your understandings from today?
 Action: Suggestions…
 Look at your Central Ideas and check that they match the
Central Idea criteria
 Look at your Central Ideas and check that they include
conceptual understandings
 Look at your Teacher Questions and check that they match
the question criteria
 Look at your Teacher Questions and check that they include
conceptual understandings
 Check that your concepts are articulated through the Central
Idea, Inquiry Points, and Teacher Questions.
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Group Presentation
 Lunch plus 45 minutes to prepare a
presentation to parents based on
explaining a concept driven curriculum to
them
 Presentation should be no more than 5-8
minutes
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Reflect on your planning
 Did you write an engaging and relevant inquiry point to drive
your inquiry?
 Did you write 2-3 essential questions that will frame your
inquiry investigation?
 Have you identified some primary sources that you can use for
your inquiry?
 Did you establish how you will demonstrate your learning?
 Have you planned 2-3 activities that you can engage in to
answer your inquiry questions?
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Yesterday’s Homework
 Large Group Brainstorm on questions:
 What does a concept based curriculum do for you as a
teacher?
 What does a concept based curriculum do for your
students?
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Establishing Curricular Priorities
 Inquiry based on concepts develops enduring
understandings that span all subject areas.
‘nice to know’
Worth being
familiar with
Important to
know and do
foundational
concepts & skills
“big ideas” worth
understanding
“Enduring”
understanding
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Ulaanbaatar
Concepts through disciplines
 Break into 6 concept groups and each group unpacks that concept
through a disciplinary lens. - Use your Making the PYP Happen and
/ or the OCC
 Mind Map
 How do each of the concepts look in the subject areas? Are they
different? How/Why?
 Then consider related concepts under that key concept.
 How do the related concepts work in each of the subject areas, are
they the same or different in each of the subject areas?
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Gallery Walk of Mind Maps
 Using Post it notes – add to the mind maps
 Think about the following questions.
 What potential is there to explore disciplinary
knowledge through concepts to develop understanding?
 How do the concepts transcend subject boundaries?
 What opportunities exist for us to explore the same
concept through different disciplines?
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Lynn Erickson model three levels, scaffolding
thinking to complex levels.
 Level 1: How or why? People design and
build shelters to meet their needs.
 Level 2: So what – is the significance or
effect? People design and build shelters to
create a home.
 Level 3: People seek places where they feel
a sense of belonging.
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 Six Facets of Understanding – Wiggins and Mc Tighe
 explain:
Provide thorough and justifiable accounts of phenomena, facts, and data.
 interpret:
Tell meaningful stories, offer apt translations, provide a revealing
historical or personal dimension to ideas and events; make subjects
personal or accessible through images, anecdotes, analogies, and models.
 apply:
Effectively use and adapt what they know in diverse contexts.
 have perspective:
See and hear points of view through critical eyes and ears; see the big
picture.
 empathize:
Find value in what others might find odd, alien, or implausible; perceive
sensitively on the basis of prior indirect experience.
 have self-knowledge:
Perceive the personal style, prejudices, projections, and habits of mind
that both shape and impede our own understanding; they are aware of
what they do not understand and why understanding is so hard.
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Assessing Understanding
 How do you assess conceptual
understanding?
 Formative
 Summative
 How can the facets of understanding assist
you with this?
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