PYP Journey at KNUES

Abstract

Education in our era calls for global learners who reflect on themselves with an open minded and inquiring attitude and lead positive changes in the world in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the transition to a hyper-connected society. Therefore, our school is working hard on researching and implementing innovation in elementary education by running a program that incorporates the characteristics of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP) for the first time in public schools. Kyungpook National University Elementary School (KNUES) has been conducting the Primary Years Program (PYP) since September 1, 2019, after being certified as an IB candidate school. The IB PYP has only been implemented at a few foreign private schools in Korea, and this is the first time that the curriculum has been introduced at a non-private elementary school. As a school leading the national curriculum, the foremost purpose of our school in implementing the IB PYP is to seek practical methodologies to enhance the effectiveness of the Korean National Curriculum. Therefore, based on the Korean National Curriculum, the IB program naturally incorporates the characteristics of the education system and continues to review the optimization of the Korean elementary education program. This is the major difference between IB education and main education at foreign schools in Korea. Our students are growing into self-directed lifelong learners by asking themselves questions and cooperating with friends through concept-based inquiry classes that transcend the subject. Through implementing the IB PYP education program, our school will improve the student-centered classroom culture and the curriculum-based teaching methods.