MYP Personal Project

A culmination of learning

The Middle Years Programme’s Personal Project is a student-centred and age-appropriate practical exploration in which they consolidate their learning.

This year-long project is an independent learning experience, involving about 25 hours of work. It begins in February of Year 9 and culminates the following February, in Year 10.

To support this process, each boy engages in a series of sessions from his Personal Project Co-ordinator, along with teacher lessons and check-ins during advising time. Each student is also assigned a supervisor for each boy. The personal project formally assesses students’ Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills for self-management, research, communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration. The personal project encourages students to practise and strengthen their ATL skills, to connect classroom learning engagements with personal experience, and to develop their own interests for lifelong learning.

The aims of the MYP Personal Project are to encourage and enable students to:

participate in a sustained, self-directed inquiry within a global context
generate creative new insights and develop deeper understandings through in-depth investigation
demonstrate the skills, attitudes and knowledge required to complete a project over an extended period of time
communicate effectively in a variety of situations
demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result of, learning
appreciate the process of learning and take pride in their accomplishments.

Students must identify a global context for their MYP projects to establish their relevance and significance. The following global contexts direct learning towards independent inquiry.

Identities and relationships
Orientation in space and time
Personal and cultural expression
Scientific and technical innovation
Globalization and sustainability
Fairness and development.

Students address the Personal Project objectives through:

the process they follow
the product or outcome they create
the report or presentation they make that explains what they have done and learned.

Students document their thinking, research process and development of their initial ideas by developing an outline of a challenging but manageable goal. Example goals include the development of original works of art, models, business plans, campaigns, blueprints, investigative studies, scientific experiments, performances, fieldwork, narrative essays, courses of study or learning engagements, films, computer programmes, and many other forms of work.