The International Baccalaureate’s (IB) philosophy is to develop “inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through education that builds intercultural understanding and respect.” The IB learner profile, international-mindedness, approaches to teaching and learning, and a broad, balanced, conceptual and connected curriculum are the four interrelated elements that shape each IB programme. Concepts are used as powerful organizing tools in the IB curriculum frameworks to drive inquiry and connect ideas across disciplines. Keep reading to learn more about the role of concepts in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP).
The 7 IB Specified Concepts
There are seven concepts used in the PYP to organize and design the curriculum and 
bring about conceptual understanding. Formerly known as key concepts, they are now referred to as specified concepts. These concepts provide a structure where knowledge can be acquired and conceptual understanding developed. They serve as content and assessment shapers. The concept of reflection once was the eighth key concept, but is now used throughout the learning process for self-assessment and to crystallize all conceptual understandings.
Form: Unveiling the Structure of Knowledge
Form captures the understanding that everything has composed features that can be viewed, described, identified and categorized. It explores the question, “What is it like?”
An example of exploring form with a transdisciplinary focus in math, art, or science could involve analyzing patterns and discovering what physical properties, similarities, and differences are present.
Function: Deciphering Roles and Behaviors
Constructing understanding of the purpose of something or the role of someone is its function. The concept of function explores a way of behaving with the question “How does it work?”
An example of exploring function with a transdisciplinary focus across science or social studies could include constructing knowledge about various systems such as governmental systems or the systems that exist in living things.
Causation: Connecting Causes and Effects
Understanding that actions have consequences or reactions is at the heart of causation. To investigate this concept the question, “Why is it as it is?” can be used.
An example of exploring causation with a transdisciplinary focus across language and science could involve evaluating a text to determine the consequences of a character’s actions or uncovering the scientific phenomena related to the idea, for every action there is a reaction.
Change: Dynamics of Transformation
Change can be defined as a process that involves the transformation from one state to another. This concept is probed using the question, “How is it transforming?”
An example of exploring change with a transdisciplinary focus across math and the arts could include learning experiences that examine how combining numbers, shapes, notes, harmonies, dance steps, or materials can transform pieces or parts into new creations.
Connection: Our Interconnectedness
The understanding that connection is about the interconnectedness of actions of individuals or groups affecting others or other things is the focus for this concept. The concept of connection explores the question, “How is it linked to other things?”
An example of exploring the concept connection might involve a transdisciplinary focus across social studies and language in a project where student groups research and present ways that lack of clean water affects people in different parts of the world.
Perspective: Embracing Diverse Viewpoints
The understanding that inquiries that are shaped by the concept of perspective seek to provide is a respect for diverse viewpoints and interpretations. The concept of perspective explores the question, “What are the points of view?”
An example of exploring perspective with a transdisciplinary focus could involve students constructing a diary as an historical character to chronicle key events and feelings associated with the occurrences by “stepping in the shoes” of that character.
Responsibility: Fostering Ethical Awareness and Action
The understanding that responsibility explorations impart understanding around the ethical impact of choices and ownership of actions taken is at the heart of the concept. The concept of responsibility explores the question, “What are our obligations?”
An example of exploring responsibility with a transdisciplinary focus across personal, social, and physical education or social studies could involve discovering individual and collective values, the possible reasons for creating sporting, classroom, school, and governmental rules, and investigating how people might make a positive difference in their local and global environments.
Practical Application for IB Specified Concepts in Education
A concept-based inquiry approach to learning supports learners in their
development of bigger understandings and allows for the transfer of knowledge from one discipline to another as well as in new contexts. Developing thinking habits that encourage students to use knowledge in new ways is practical for a rapidly changing world and brings rigor, significance, and relevance to learning. Planning curriculum using concepts initiate the environment for this to happen.
An example could look like this:
The PYP coordinator, third grade teachers, French teacher, and art teacher are reflecting on the third grade unit of inquiry for “How we express ourselves”. They look at their central idea to evaluate if it was a good guide for the enduring understandings they want students to learn and determine if it sets the stage for engaging significant and relevant inquiries. In the central idea, “Values and beliefs cause people to express ideas from different perspectives”, they plan to use the concepts of causation and perspective to drive the inquiries and make learning more challenging. These are the lines of inquiry that they agree upon:
- Values and beliefs can influence how people express themselves
- Expression of ideas can be seen from different perspectives
The Impact of IB Specified Concepts on Comprehensive Education.
The specified concepts help by placing factual knowledge into bigger schemas that are easier to remember and understand within various contexts. The six transdisciplinary themes are the global contexts and the vehicles for using concepts used to organize the whole PYP curriculum horizontally and vertically into the school’s Program of Inquiry. Within each unit of inquiry, teachers and students determine the learner profile attributes that are relevant to the learning that will occur. In our “How we express ourselves” third grade unit example, students and teachers might select the trait “open-minded” because considering and respecting different perspectives would help to develop it. They could also choose the “reflective” learner profile trait because they will have opportunities to consider the impact of their own and others’ values and beliefs on how ideas are expressed.
Conclusion: Shaping Future Global Citizens Through IB Specified Concepts
Concept-based inquiry (CBI) helps students construct understandings that are transferable to future learning and contexts. CBI develops the process skills that involve the critical thinking needed to understand and be able to find solutions to problems. The outcomes of a concept-based approach to learning also support the development of the IB learner profile traits which are valued as the representation of an internationally minded person that can help create a better world.
Explore more IB resources or join one of CASIE’s IB workshops to find more resources for building capacity to engage students in concept-based learning.
