What are the PYP Key Concepts?

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) is driven by eight key concepts which give the units of inquiry direction and meaning.

"The concepts that drive the PYP are timeless (factual examples change, but not the core understanding), universal (so students can apply understandings across cultures, situations and disciplines) and abstract (so students engage in higher order thinking to grapple with central ideas).”
-Shannon O’Dwyer

The seven Key Concepts for the PYP programme are:

Form: What is it like? The understanding that everything has a form with recognisable features that can be observed, identified, described, and categorised.

Function: How does it work? The understanding that everything has a purpose, a role, or a way of behaving that can be investigated.

Causation: Why is it like this? The understanding that things do not just happen, that there are causal relationships at work, and that actions have consequences.

Change: How is it changing? The understanding that change is the process of movement from one state to another. It is universal and inevitable. 

Connection: How is it connected to other things? The understanding that we live in a world of interacting systems in which the actions of any individual element affect others.

Perspective: What are the points of view? The understanding that knowledge is moderated by perspectives; different perspectives lead to different interpretations, understandings, and findings; perspectives may be individual, group, cultural, or disciplinary.

Responsibility: What is our responsibility? The understanding that people make choices based on their understandings, and the actions they take as a result do make a difference.

Tune in next week for Central Ideas and Provocations!