Imyc teachers manual_implemenation_file_2016_v2

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IMYC Implementation File
Exit
Point
Entry
Point
Knowledge
Harvest
The
Big Idea
Assessment
for
Learning
Reﬂective
Journaling
Learning
Activities

I M Y C I M P L E M E N T A T I O N F I L EI M Y C I M P L E M E N T A T I O N F I L E
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Contents
Welcome to the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) 2
What is the IMYC? 4
Teaching with the IMYC
■■ Introduction
■■ Where does good learning come from, and why is a curriculum
important?
■■ Helpful information and tools
4
4
5
9
Learning with the IMYC
■■ Introduction
■■ The IMYC Learning Goals
■■ Personal dispositions: what kind of students are we helping
to develop?
■■ International Mindedness
■■ What does it mean to be internationally minded?
■■ What is an International School?
■■ What is an International Curricullum?
■■ The IMYC types of learning: Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
■■ The IMYC Learning Structure and Process of Learning
■■ Assessment in the IMYC
■■ The IMYC Assessment for Learning Programme
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11
13
14
14
15
16
17
18
20
21
Getting started: Implementing the IMYC
■■ Introduction
■■ What are the implications for stakeholders?
■■ What do leaders and teachers need to know?
22
22
23
23
Implementation timeline
■■ Begin with the end in mind: the IMYC Self-Review Process
■■ The stages of implementation
28
28
29
Appendix A: The IMYC Learning goals 31
Appendix B: Research into Learning
■■ References
52
57
Appendix C: Five Key Needs of the Adolescent Brain 58

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Welcome to the International Middle Years
Curriculum
Welcome to the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC), a unique curriculum for
students aged 11–14 years. Designed around the very particular needs of the adolescent
brain, it helps to improve learning in three ways: academically, personally and internationally.
As a teacher of Maths and Science in secondary schools and a parent of three boys (who
have all safely survived their adolescent years, albeit not without the usual challenges
and triumphs), I have always been aware that the ages 11–14 can be a very taxing and
challenging time for students, teachers and parents alike. Students may exhibit such radical
changes in behaviour and personality that we hardly recognise them! They may look for
sensation, take dangerous risks, value the opinions of their peers above those of an adult’s,
and disengage from learning and school.
Not only do we believe that this period is a crucial stage in every student’s learning journey,
we would go as far as to agree with the words of BJ Casey, Neuroscientist at Weill Cornell
Medical College: “We’re so used to seeing adolescence as a problem. But the more we learn
about what really makes this period unique, the more adolescence starts to seem like a
highly functional, even adaptive period”. Jay Giedd, famous for his neuroimaging study of the
developing brain, states that “the adolescent brain is not a ‘broken or defective adult brain’; it
is exquisitely formed … to have different features compared to children and adults”.
Through the IMYC, we to try to support these unique learning needs whilst students strive to
make sense of their secondary school environment, themselves, and their changing needs and
emotions, as well as keep up with the academic challenges of secondary education. We hear
the most heart-warming stories from schools that use the IMYC, and we remain convinced
that the IMYC will change the way that your students learn, prepare them well for the more
formal stages of Secondary School, and keep them engaged in learning.
Enjoy using it, and please share your stories and your experiences with us.
Isabel du Toit
Head of IMYC

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What is the International Middle Years
Curriculum (IMYC)?
The International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) is a curriculum aimed at 11–14-year-old
students, designed around the needs of the maturing adolescent brain. The IMYC inspires
students during a time when many, overwhelmed by the combination of the transition from
primary to secondary education and the changes in their bodies and brains, can become
disengaged in their learning.
Neurological research tells us that the brain is synthesising and specialising during
adolescence. Consequently, middle years students need particular support organising and
connecting their thinking and learning. This ‘fine tuning’ of the brain requires young people to
make connections and make meaning of their learning like never before – in a ‘use it or lose
it’ fashion. They engage most in learning when they can see the relevance of what they are
learning about, and when they are actively involved in the process. The IMYC takes this into
account and specifically addresses each of these learning needs.
We recommend that you visit our website (www.greatlearning.com/imyc and IMYC Members’
Lounge) as often as possible. Ensure that you really make use of the ‘My Fieldwork’ page in
order to tailor it specifically to your needs. The Members’ Lounge also gives you opportunities
to meet and collaborate with other schools. Furthermore, as we are continually improving
the IMYC–updating this Teachers’ Implementation File, adding and updating unit tasks, and
sharing new information and ideas – it is worth checking up on any developments regularly.
The IMYC endeavours to provide you with all of the practical help that you need in order
to implement a truly learning-focused curriculum in your school, support the needs of the
students of this very interesting, yet challenging, age group, and facilitate collaborative
planning, Assessment for Learning, and improving learning in the classroom.
We wish you well in your use and implementation of the IMYC, and we welcome you to the
IMYC’s worldwide learning community.
The Self-Review and Accreditation documents, which can also be found the Members’ Lounge,
are very useful documents for schools that wish to implement the IMYC to its full power and
potential, and we encourage you to use it to track your implementation progress and success
from the very beginning, even if you do not intend to ever apply for a formal Accreditation.
The Implementation Guide for the Assessment for Learning Programme is another very useful
document available on the Members’ Lounge, and we recommend that you study it in detail
in order to fully understand the IMYC view on assessment and the support that we provide to
teachers, as well as what we expect teachers and schools to add to the materials themselves.

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Teaching with the IMYC
Introduction
We believe that the purpose of teaching is to facilitate student learning in appropriate ways
and that, whenever possible, this process should also be enjoyable for teachers.
Teachers are likely to be more successful in helping students learn if they work closely with
colleagues, parents and other members of each student’s community. The emotional, physical
and social changes facing students at this age require particular nurturing and patience from
all of the adults in their lives. Therefore, the more that adults work together, the more that
they will be able to help students through this unique stage of their development.
We believe that teachers should spend more time on thinking about and planning how to
help individual students learn than on writing whole-school curricula. We have therefore
developed examples of learning activities that teachers can use to help students to reach
the Learning Goals identified in the IMYC. These activities – which have been developed
by outstanding teachers, all experts in their fields – allow teachers to add their own
interpretations whilst still enabling them to spend their precious time on doing what they
enjoy and were trained for.
As a teacher, you have a chance to make a difference to every student’s learning. You are,
and always will be, one of the most important influences in the lives of the students that
you teach. That is why teaching is so important and so challenging. Do a good job and you
will have had a positive influence on the next generation – what an exciting challenge (and
responsibility) we have!
What does this mean? It means that you are in a position to help your students – not only
to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding for your subject, but also determine
whether the students that you teach will enjoy their learning or see their time in school as
just as something to get through. It means that you have the chance to help them to develop
their own identity whilst recognising that they live in a global community, as well as to
increase the range of personal attributes that they will take with them into their later lives.
At the very least, this means helping your students to see:
■■ How they can get along and how they can disagree in a constructive manner
■■ How they can be proud of their own national heritage and culture and, at the same time, be
deeply respectful of the heritage and culture of others
■■ How they can begin to deepen their awareness and appreciation of the idea of the ‘other’
■■ How they can live both independently and interdependently within and across cultures and
countries
The IMYC was designed to aid teachers in improving student learning, and it is structured
around supporting five key needs of the adolescent brain.

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The curriculum begins with a set of standards or learning outcomes, called the Learning
Goals, which clearly define what students should know or be capable of at this important
period of their development. These form the foundation/skeleton of the IMYC, describing and
summarising everything that we have found our international network of educators to agree
that students should know, be able to do, and understand, in every subject covered by the
IMYC. The IMYC contains Learning Goals and tasks for the following subjects:
■■ Art
■■ ICT and Computing
■■ English Language Arts (creative listening, speaking, writing and drama tasks for English)
■■ Geography
■■ History
■■ Music
■■ Physical Education
■■ Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
■■ Technology
As well as Learning Goals (though no specific tasks) for:
■■ Mathematics
■■ Additional Language (for Modern Foreign Languages)
Where does good learning come from, and why is a curriculum
important?
Students learn what they learn from all kinds of places, people and experiences. Some of this
learning is accidental; it just happens.
Accidental learning takes place in schools as well as everywhere else. There are so many
opportunities, both during breaks and recess and in the ‘busyness’ of the whole daily
experience. However, schools are also places that are specifically set up to encourage and
facilitate learning. A school is not really a school unless a great deal of deliberate learning
takes place. Deliberate, planned learning is what schools are for, and that is the challenge
facing all of us in the profession, including you and your colleagues.
You are responsible for that deliberate learning. That is why you are so important. You are
more important than the resources that you have, the buildings that you are in, the quality of
your principal, head teacher or superintendent and, dare we say it, more important than your
curriculum.
However, a curriculum is one of your most important support systems. The IMYC has been
written to help you be the best teacher that you can be and, even more importantly, to help
your students to receive the best 21st-century education possible.

6
The IMYC contains many elements that are common to all good curricula. In preparing the
IMYC, we set out to make those elements as accessible and as trouble-free to teachers as
possible, without compromising on the primary goal of improving learning.
As a teacher using the IMYC, you will need to be aware of the differences in the way that
knowledge, skills and understanding are learned, taught and assessed (please see the
Assessment for Learning Implementation File for more details). In order to facilitate optimum
learning improvement, you will need to create multiple opportunities for students to practise
skills throughout the three-year period of the IMYC, as well as provide sufficient time in the
classroom for students to reflect on their learning.
However, the IMYC also has some elements that, taken together, set it apart. These elements
are:
■■ Rigorous and clearly articulated Learning Goals (see above)
Because knowledge, skills, and understanding in all subjects are learned differently, taught
differently, and assessed or evaluated differently, students, teachers, and others need as
much clarity as possible if activities are to be learning-focused.
■■ International Mindedness
We live in an interconnected and global world. The IMYC has the strongly-held view that
the development of International-Mindedness is as important as Mathematics, Language
Arts, History, Music, or any other subject. From the outset, we built into the IMYC rigorous
opportunities for students to become aware of the parts of a bigger world that exist both
independently of each other and interdependently with each other.
■■ Independence and interdependence
As we developed the curriculum, the ideas of independence and interdependence have
become important beyond International Mindedness. Consequently, the curriculum is now
designed to ensure that students work both independently and, in groups of varying sizes,
interdependently. Moreover, although students of the IMYC still study individual subjects
independently, subject areas are often interlinked in a specific unit through the Big Idea.
■■ Engaging students aged 11–14
The International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) is specifically designed to support the
needs of the developing adolescent in ways that will improve the learning of 11–14-year-
old-year-olds. The IMYC has studied – and continues to study – the latest neuroscientific
research on how the adolescent brain learns; this facet of the curriculum is described in
the appendix to the Self-Review and Accreditation Document. The appendix includes a
resources section that, though it is by no means exhaustive, seeks to share the main easily-
accessible studies that were used to reach our conclusions.
There are many changes that students aged 9–14 typically go through:
−− Physical growth spurts
−− The onset of puberty
−− Change in the way their brains are wired (specialisation)
−− Struggle for identity at home, at school and elsewhere

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−− Stronger identification and affiliation with their peers
−− Increased risk-taking and sensation-seeking
−− Search for meaning
A curriculum that is focused on helping students aged 11–14 engage with learning in new
ways clearly needs to respond to this group’s unique nature. This is an important part of
differentiated learning.
The IMYC units of work
For each of the three years of middle/secondary schooling, the IMYC provides ten units of
work with learning activities for nine different subjects, each structured around a conceptual
idea called the ‘Big Idea’. In total, this adds up to 30 units of work. For example, the first unit
in M1 (designed for 11–12-year-olds) is based around the theme of ‘Adaptability’ and the Big
Idea that will be used to interlink all learning in this unit is: “Adaptability is demonstrated by
the ability to cope, alter or change with new circumstances or environments”.
Based on the average teaching time available for each subject per week, collected from 20
schools that helped us to develop the first units, each unit was designed to be completed
over the course of approximately six weeks.
Consequently, for every year group, schools should choose approximately six units that
they want to use from the ten available to them. In the IMYC, we call these year groups M1
(typically 11–12-year-olds), M2 (12–13-year-olds) and M3 (13–14-year-olds) in order to
avoid any confusion between the different grading systems used in different countries.
Interlinking learning through the Big Idea
In recent years, neuroscientific research has informed us that the brain learns by making
connections between brain cells/neurons. ; Accordingly, the formation of a constellation of
neurons related to a particular concept or idea is sometimes referred to by neuroscientists
and psychologists as a ‘chunk’ of information.
Neuroscientists say that the brain learns ‘associatively’, meaning that it is constantly looking
for patterns in order to link new information to previous learning. (See the appendix to the
Self-Review document for more information and references)
In primary schools, teachers often find these links for students and regularly highlight any
links between the learning in different subjects. However, secondary teaching and learning is
often organised into departments, resulting in students having the responsibility of finding
their own links. The IMYC aims to help students to develop the habit of identifying these
links through an abstract concept called the ‘Big Idea’. This helps students to interlink their
learning during the six-week period and to develop multiple perspectives of concepts and
ideas.
The IMYC writers linked the knowledge, skills and understanding Learning Goals for their
subjects to the Big Idea that they felt was most appropriate and natural, covering all of the
subject Learning Goals in the ten units available for each year group. This helps students to
link or associate subject learning and concepts easily to the Big Idea, making retrieval easier.

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ADDITIONAL
LANGUAGE
MATHS
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY
D&T
When people
work together
they can
achieve a
common goal
SCIENCE
MUSIC
ART
ENGLISH
ICT
This structure requires all teachers to support the students in finding links to the Big Idea,
even if the subject does not have specific tasks in the IMYC resources.
The following are some examples of the Big Ideas from which teachers and schools can
choose:
■■ Balance (11–12-year-olds): “Things are more stable when different elements are in the
correct or best possible proportions”
■■ Resilience (12–13-year-olds): “Success over time requires persistence”
■■ Challenge (13–14-year-olds): “Facing up to, or overcoming, problems and barriers increases
possibilities in our lives”

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Helpful information and tools
Mind maps
The IMYC created a collection of mind maps (see the Members’ Lounge on the ‘Planning’ tab)
in order to illustrate simply and usefully which learning goals will be covered in each unit in
order to facilitate collaborative planning between teachers from different faculties. There are
30 mind maps in all, each of which provides a coherent outline of each unit. It identifies:
■■ The Big Idea
■■ Explaining the Theme: the subjects that will make a specific contribution to the unit and
their interpretation of the Big Idea
■■ The subject-specific Learning Goals
■■ The kind of learning that students will engage in for each subject, so that they learn the
specific Learning Goals and address the Theme and the Big Idea
The online IMYC Route Planner
All members of the IMYC have access to the online Route Planner on the Member’s Lounge.
The Route Planner makes planning easy and efficient by providing a ‘drag and drop’ system
that quickly organises the coverage in each unit over a full year.
Assessment for Learning Programme
Assessment of learning is important, as it helps teachers to find out whether and to what
extent students have learned of the recommended material. The Assessment for Learning
Programme contains detailed information and guidance on assessment in the IMYC.
Other information
Mathematics and the IMYC: You may have noticed that the IMYC units do not provide specific
opportunities for students to learn Mathematics. However, the units do give students the
chance to put some of their Mathematics into practice.
There is a simple reason for this. In talking to teachers and schools during the planning
phase of the IMYC, most told us that they had already invested heavily in a Mathematics
scheme or programme of work that worked well enough in their school. Therefore, it was
pointless producing Units of Work that contained material teachers were unlikely to use.
Nevertheless, the Mathematics Learning Goals are important because, in addition to all of
their other uses, schools can also use them as a checklist against which they can monitor the
effective coverage provided by their separate scheme.
We recommend that teachers still support students to link the content to the Big Idea, as
well as to take part in the Entry and Exit Points. This will emphasise the need for students
to notice connections in their learning in all subjects, not just the ones that happen to have
related tasks in the IMYC.

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Modern Foreign languages and the IMYC:
As with Mathematics, the IMYC identified certain learning goals that were also common to
the learning of a foreign language (see the Additional Language Learning goals). In this case,
however, because of the sheer scope of all the different languages learned across the IMYC
network, it was not practical to develop language-specific tasks. Similar to the above, we
recommend that teachers still support students to find links between the content of their
language-learning and the Big Idea, as well as to take part in the Entry and Exit Points.
English Language Arts and the IMYC
The IMYC approach to English Language Arts is specifically designed around Learning Goals
that identify the developmental aspects of Language Arts. These relate to students’ ability
to use their speaking, listening and writing as a means of communication and their reading
as a means of research and pleasure. Consequently, the tasks were not developed to cover
formal grammatical rules. When designing the tasks for English Language Arts for a unit,
we specifically reduced the time needed to complete the set tasks in order to leave time for
teachers to include their own tasks on grammar.

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Learning with the IMYC
Introduction
Learning with the IMYC is structured through six-week units, based around the concept of the
‘Big Idea’. An example is: “Things are more stable when different elements are in the correct
or best possible proportions”.
■■ Students study nine different subject disciplines in their subject classes, which include
subject-specific assessment. Importantly, they link the learning in their different subjects
through the Big Idea, considering what they are learning from a personal and global
perspective.
■■ They reflect regularly by responding to structured questions. This process is called
‘Reflective Journaling’, or just ‘Journaling’, and it is designed to help students to formulate
and develop a personal and conceptual understanding of the subject knowledge and skills
that they’re learning about, based around the Big Idea.
■■ At the end of each six week unit, as part of the Exit Point, students then work individually
or in small groups to present a piece of work to their classmates, parents or whole school.
This will usually be in the form of a Media Project that reflects their own thinking on the
Big Idea. This provides students with the opportunity to express themselves through a
creative medium, as well as to practise and improve their presentation and technological
skills.
■■ Students in IMYC schools all over the world are producing powerful, thought-provoking
and creative media projects, inspired by a Big Idea, on such topics as the Everglades, art in
Chicago, cyberbullying and global warming.
The IMYC Learning Goals
The way that the IMYC defines the Learning Goals (or the learning that we think students
need) may differ from the way that other curricula define their goals in some very important
ways. This is due to the fact that we hold the following beliefs:
■■ There should be a distinction between goals for knowledge, skills and understanding
■■ Learning must respond to the current and future personal needs of students. For example:
the particular needs of the adolescent brain, their future career needs, and the needs of the
varied societies and cultural groups in which they are likely to play a part.
■■ Learning needs to be proactive, in the sense that students must actively engage with their
learning. For students aged 11–14, this means that learning which is relevant to the future
must be placed in a context that is meaningful and connected to their present lives, and
that is relevant to their particular stage of development.
■■ Students need to share the responsibility for their learning with their teachers, parents and
caregivers. The proportion of responsibility that each stakeholder bears will depend on the

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age and characteristics of the student. Nevertheless, learning must be constructed in such
a way that, by the end of the middle years (11–14), students feel increasingly confident
about taking responsibility for their own rigorous learning.
■■ You will find that in the Assessment for Learning Programme, for example, we provide
students with rubrics outlined in appropriate language, in order to facilitate them take
ownership and responsibility for their learning.
■■ The IMYC has a simple but comprehensive learning structure. Everything is based on
clearly-defined Learning Goals that lay out the subjects, personal and international
knowledge, skills, and understandings that students need at different stages of their early
secondary or middle years education.
The IMYC
Learning Goals
Personal Learning Goals
The personal goals refer to
those individual qualities and
dispositions we believe students will
find essential in the 21st century.
There are eight IMYC personal
dispositions: enquiry, resilience, morality,
communication, thoughtfulness,
co-operation, respect and adaptability.
Opportunities to experience and practice
these very specific
dispositions built into the
learning tasks within each
unit of work.
Subject Learning Goals
The subject goals cover the
knowledge, skills and understanding that
students should learn in Language Arts,
Science, History, Geography, ICT & Computing,
Technology, Music, Art, PE. Tasks that enable
students to reach these learning goals are
built into the units of work supporting
students to link their learning through the Big
Idea and allowing students to talk about their
learning through multiple perspectives.
International Learning Goals
The IMYC is unique in defining learning
goals that help students move towards
an increasingly sophisticated national,
international, global and intercultural
perspectives on the world around them,
whilst developing the capacity to take
action and make a difference.
The IMYC Learning Goals are defined for each subject that contributes to one or more of the
IMYC units. The IMYC states explicitly which of the Learning Goals will be covered in each
subject section of each unit. One of the features of the IMYC is that activities have been
designed to support only those Learning Goals that can effectively be linked to the Big Idea
for the unit.

13
By using the Learning Goals, teachers will know the broad learning outcomes for their subject
within each unit. They will be able to check if the Learning Goals that they ‘need’ to include
are being covered within your school’s choice of units. The Route Planner (available in the
IMYC Members’ Lounge) will do this automatically, and each teacher will then be able to
make their own decisions about how they will cover any that are outstanding.
Every IMYC Learning Goal is a speciﬁc statement of what students should ‘know’,‘be able to
do’, or develop an ‘understanding’ of, for specific subject disciplines, International Mindedness
and personal dispositions.
See the Members’ Lounge for a full list of all the IMYC Learning Goals.
■■ Subject Learning Goals: The IMYC contains Learning Goals for each subject of the
curriculum. When defining the subject Learning Goals, we looked at curricula from many
different countries around the world. The Learning Goals of the IMYC are broadly in line
with most of those curricula of the appropriate subject discipline.
■■ Personal Goals: The IMYC has eight personal dispositions (attributes or skills): adaptability,
communication, cooperation, enquiry, morality, resilience, respect and thoughtfulness.
Efforts towards developing these personal qualities and learning dispositions should be
reﬂected in the whole curriculum and in all other aspects of school life.
■■ International Goals: The IMYC has written a set of international goals, which teachers are
encouraged to develop consistently and at every opportunity. See the Members’ Lounge
for the document,‘Global issues addressed in IMYC units’, for a summary of global issues
covered by tasks in the IMYC.
Personal dispositions: what kind of students are we helping to
develop?
All of the learning that students experience in a school defines, in some way, the kind of
person that that school is helping to develop. Schools that ask their students to sit in rows,
mainly listen to their teachers, and do not allow them to make any decisions of their own, will
inevitably develop a different kind of person to one developed in schools that take a different
view of teaching and learning.
The IMYC believes that 21st century students are most likely to succeed if they:
■■ Have learned appropriate knowledge, engaged practically in learning appropriate subject
and life skills, and have been able to reflect in ways that enable them to develop their
understanding of key issues and ideas
■■ Are able to see the connections between the different kinds of learning in which they
engage and the subject discipline of that learning, and are able to see that the world exists
independently and interdependently at the same time
■■ Know what it is to learn rigorously, habitually reflecting on their learning and embracing
the struggle to improve
■■ Are engaged and excited by their learning – dare we say that they enjoy their learning? –
so that they want to continue to be learners throughout their lives

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■■ Are able to appreciate the views and ideas of others – in their own group, in the wider
society in which they live, and across the world
■■ Have and develop a number of key personal attributes and skills (dispositions) that enable
them to respond to the world that they live in
Throughout their study of the IMYC, and all other aspects of their lives, students learn the
personal and social skills that they need in order to develop into healthy and productive
citizens of the world.
Students learn about the personal qualities of:
■■ Enquiry
■■ Adaptability
■■ Resilience
■■ Morality
■■ Communication
■■ Thoughtfulness
■■ Cooperation
■■ Respect
Efforts towards achieving these goals should be reflected in the whole curriculum and in all
other aspects of school life. To a large extent, they are assumed in the subject goals, so these
Personal Goals are, in effect, largely a summary of the personal outcomes of student learning.
By their nature, Personal Goals are not age-specific. They apply to students – and adults – of
all ages.
International Mindedness
As the principle of International Mindedness forms such an integral part of making the IMYC
a truly international curriculum, we feel it warrants its own section in the file.
What does it mean to be internationally minded?
In an interconnected global society, it is often claimed that one of the personal dispositions
that students need to survive in a changing world is to be ‘internationally minded’, usually for
the following reasons:
■■ Future jobs are increasingly likely to be found away from one’s home country
■■ The companies that students will work for may well be driven by cultures other than one’s
own culture
■■ Whether for travel, work or leisure, we will all increasingly come across different cultures
■■ Most of the world’s major problems are only going to be solved through international
cooperation

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All of the above points make for a compelling argument.
However, what is International Mindedness, and what does it mean for students, teachers, and
curriculum makers?
At the simplest level, we might say that it is about being at ease with people from other
cultures and with cultures different from our own. In fact, this may well do as a working
definition.
There are complexities, of course, and much of the discussion focuses around the level at
which we can describe someone as being ‘at ease’:
■■ Is it the ability or willingness to live alongside, but not integrate?
■■ Is it only when we are able to fully integrate into another culture?
■■ Is it only when one can fully empathise with people from different cultures?
There is also the issue of how crucial language-learning is to the development of
International Mindedness:
■■ Is it possible for me to ‘get’ cultures different from my own if I don’t speak the language
that plays a large part in revealing that culture?
■■ If it is important, what level of language proficiency do I need to have?
Howard Gardner has said that the process of human development is “a continuing decline
in egocentricity”. In other words, we develop from the tiny baby crying in the pram to the
‘terrible twos’, when we clearly demonstrate our awareness of the ‘other’, through parallel play
with children of our own age to our first ‘real’ friendship, and so on.
Gardner’s developmental ideas help us to see that International Mindedness – dealing as it
does with all of the differences within our own cultures magnified by the context of other
cultures – is somewhere towards the end of the process of our declining egocentricity.
It also helps us to realise that most 11–14 year-olds can only be at a relatively early stage of
International Mindedness although, importantly, they are still on the pathway of a growing
sense of the ‘other’ and a declining sense of their own egocentricity. However, it is worth
remembering that, as they struggle to make meaning for the first time, it often seems as
though a rising sense of their own egocentricity comes back into play for a whilst.
It is this growth of International Mindedness and decline of egocentricity that we need to
think about developing in schools. We need to think about helping our students to start by
working from the differences between individuals, families and other groupings familiar to
each student, and then about how to use these experiences to help them to come to terms
with the broader and more profound differences and similarities between their culture and
those of others who live in a world that is quite different (but no worse) to their own.
What is an International School?
Conventionally, a common answer to this question has been along the lines of “a school with
different nationalities” or “a school that is not situated in its ‘home’ country”. These answers
make a sort of sense on a superficial level. However, they don’t go deep enough. It is more

16
helpful to think about ‘internationally-minded’ schools, i.e. schools which build into the fabric
of their work opportunities for their students to experience different points of view and
different cultural approaches on an increasingly larger scale. Internationally-minded schools
encourage a growing critical awareness that enables students to increasingly see themselves
and others as ‘similar, different, but equal’.
This ‘similar, different, but equal’ approach is anything but woolly. It requires getting under
the skin of our similarities and differences and appreciating that we may be similarly or
differently ‘wrong’ as well as ‘right’.
Schools that are able to do this have their own characteristics. They demonstrate many
of the Personal Goals of the IMYC in their own daily practice. They are respectful, moral,
communicative, collaborative, and more. They work to create a culture in which ‘similar,
different, but equal’ is at the heart of everything that they do.
What is an International Curriculum?
In the IMYC, we have always claimed that we have done everything we can to embed
opportunities for students to develop International Mindedness into the curriculum. In
practice, this means that:
■■ Your students will work on their own, in pairs, in groups, and with the whole class, so that
they experience a different range of perspectives and intrapersonal and interpersonal
experiences on a regular basis.
■■ Your students will always learn through the immediate experience of their own culture
and environment, but not exclusively so. The IMYC provides many opportunities for your
students to look at issues through the lens of cultures and environments that are not their
own.
■■ The IMYC provides opportunities through its website and the Members’ Lounge for your
students to engage with students from other cultures around the world during their work.
■■ Your students are asked to think reflectively throughout the IMYC in order to foster their
developing understanding. These reflections are fostered not only through the journaling
that students do in each subject section but, critically, through the Exit Points in which your
students work collaboratively to represent their understanding of the Big Idea. Many of the
Big Ideas are themselves important elements of developing International Mindedness.
■■ Your students will be taught in a way that allows them to develop the personal qualities of
enquiry, adaptability, resilience, morality, communication, thoughtfulness, cooperation and
respect. These qualities should be reflected not only in the whole curriculum, but also in all
other aspects of school life.
The IMYC believes that International Mindedness is so crucial to the 21st century and the
personal and collective roles that our students will play out as they live their own lives that
we have given it the same prominence as we give Mathematics, Language Arts, and the other
subjects. We look forward to working with you and learning from you as we continue to create
opportunities for your students to develop further.

17
The IMYC types of learning: Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
The IMYC Learning Goals – academic, personal and international – form the foundation/
skeleton that the IMYC tasks were developed around. In order to fully understand the
Learning Goals, it is important to know that the IMYC believes that there are three types of
learning: knowledge, skills and understanding. Each has their own distinct characteristics
that impact on how they are planned for, learned, taught, assessed and reported on. We
believe that differentiating between them is crucial to the development of students’ learning,
and we therefore separate them in the Learning Goals. Therefore, the implications of these
differences are far-reaching and deserve proper consideration:
1. Knowledge: In the IMYC, ‘Knowledge’ refers to factual information. Knowledge is relatively
straightforward to teach and assess (through quizzes, tests, multiple choice, etc.), even if it
is not always that easy to recall. Knowledge is continually changing and expanding, which
creates a challenge for schools that have to choose what knowledge students should
know and learn in a restricted period of time. The knowledge content of the IMYC units
can be adapted to the requirements of any national curriculum.
2. Skills: In the IMYC, ‘Skills’ refer to things that students are able to do. Skills have to be
learned practically and need time to be practiced. The good news about skills is that
the more you practise them, the better you get! Skills are also transferable and tend to
be more stable than knowledge in almost all school subjects. For example, although
the equipment that scientists use may have changed over the past 200 years, the skills
needed remain largely the same. As we learn skills, we make a progression and, for
the IMYC, this progression takes the student from Beginning, through Developing, to
Mastering. Note that even ‘Mastering’ is not ‘mastery’. The reason that concert pianists and
professional golfers, for example, keep practising is that there is not an end point to the
development of skills.
3. Understanding: The IMYC agrees with the definition used in the famous book
Understanding by Design (Wiggens and McTighe, 2005) and sees understanding as “the
creation of a coherent schema through a combination of the acquisition of knowledge, the
practice and continual development of skills, and extended time for reflection”. It is often
experienced as a ‘aha’ moment – the moment in learning that we all strive for – but it
goes far beyond that, as learning always keeps on developing. None of us ever ‘gets there’,
so you cannot teach or control understanding. The IMYC unit tasks include journaling
questions that structure the students’ reflection on their learning and aim to support
developing understanding by linking back to the Big Idea. This creates the opportunity
for students to develop both subject and personal understanding. The Exit Point/Media
Project allows students to demonstrate their understanding and share the personal
meaning that they have made of their learning.
We believe knowledge, skills, and understanding act as a ‘wholearchy’, rather than a hierarchy,
with each different type of learning including and transcending the other. However, each does
have its own distinct characteristics, and it can be very powerful to ‘signpost’ to students what
kind of learning they are experiencing and what the implications of this are in the classroom.

18
The IMYC Learning Structure or Process of Learning
Exit
Point
Entry
Point
Knowledge
Harvest
The
Big Idea
Assessment
for
Learning
Reﬂective
Journaling
Learning
Activities
The structure of an IMYC unit
All of the 30 units have a consistent structure according to the IMYC process of learning. It is
important that learners do not just experience the structure and process of the IMYC, but also
that they understand why they are learning in this way. The subject tasks in each unit have
the following elements in common:
■■ The Big Idea forms the basis of the unit and is the concept that all learning will be linked
to
■■ The Entry Point is an introductory activity for students in each unit of work, providing an
exciting introduction to the work that is to follow. Entry Points can typically last from one
hour to a full day, depending on the activity and the school. In order to set the scene for
interlinking learning through the Big Idea, Entry Points should ideally be done with the
whole year group. Preferably, teachers will plan for Entry Points together, in order both to
develop the habit of collaborative planning and to foster a creative environment for the
following weeks that will be spent on the unit. (See the Members’ Lounge for examples of
Entry Points that schools have used)
■■ The Knowledge Harvest is the first formal learning activity in the IMYC Learning Cycle. The
purpose of the Knowledge Harvest is to give students an opportunity to share and display
what they already know about the Learning Goals within each subject section, the skills
that might be learned, and the deepening understanding that they may already be bringing
with them. Each subject teacher will conduct a Knowledge Harvest specific to their class,
set in the context of their own subject.
The Knowledge Harvest can be done in any variety of ways. For example: through class
discussion with the teacher, through discussion between groups of students and feedback
to the teacher and class, through knowledge tests or simple skills-based activities, etc.

19
The results of the Knowledge Harvest can be recorded in many different manual or
electronic forms, for example as a mind map, so that students can visibly see their learning
growing as they move through the unit. The Knowledge Harvest will happen in each class
as the first formal learning activity, and it is typically the first task for a subject.
■■ Subject tasks: Each unit of work has subject-specific tasks that teachers can use and adapt
to facilitate the students’ learning in order to reach the specific unit’s subject Learning
Goals. These tasks are designed around a ‘concept’ in the subject and are not designed to
be ‘lesson plans’ or to take the same time to finish. For example, Task 1, which is normally
a Knowledge Harvest, can take just one period (or even half of one) to complete, whilst
a task designed around practising a skill or discovering something could take more than
one period. Teachers that design their own tasks for their subject for whatever reason
should ideally follow the same task structure and teaching practice. Additionally, each IMYC
subject task has research activities and recording activities:
−− Research Activities: Research activities will always precede recording activities.
During research activities, students use a variety of methods and work in different
group sizes to research a topic, find out information, or practise certain skills.
The structure was designed to allow students to be exposed to enquiry-based
learning and take responsibility for their own learning.
−− Recording Activities: During the recording activities, students interpret the
learning that they have had and have the opportunity to demonstrate, share and
explain their learning in different ways
■■ Reflective Journaling: As above. The IMYC sees understanding as the “creation of a coherent
schema through a combination of the acquisition of knowledge, the practice and continual
development of skills, and extended time for reflection”
In every unit, the last activity for a subject contains a set of journaling questions that
formally support student reflection. These are merely examples of questions that can be
used and should be adjusted to the language proficiency of your students. Some of the
questions may be around personal dispositions, whilst others will foster International
Mindedness by encouraging students to consider the perspectives of themselves, their
families and others throughout different activities. When adapting the questions, teachers
should follow the structure of questions about:
−− Subject concepts
−− Links to the Big Idea
−− Making personal meaning of their learning (dispositions and International
Mindedness)
Throughout each unit, students participate in daily or weekly journal writing. The primary
purpose of journal writing is to provide some initial reflection time for students to consider
the unit’s Theme and Big Idea through directive and orienting questions driven by the
activities in each unit.
Journaling can be done as class activity, as homework, or during homeroom or advisory
times, and it may help students to organise their Exit Point project.

20
■■ Exit Point: This is a key element in developing understanding over the three years. Each
of the IMYC units is written to be completed in about six weeks. During the sixth week,
teachers and students come together for an extended period of time in a ﬁnal formal
opportunity for students to demonstrate the understanding that they have developed
through a combined project, often called a Media Project. Over the six IMYC units within a
year, students will conceive, design and produce six Exit Point projects.
The hard work is in the thinking and planning that is at the heart of the Exit Point. They
could be involved in:
■■ Reviewing and reﬂecting on their personal learning in subjects, on meaning made during
the six weeks, and on links to the Big Idea
■■ Deciding how they can represent that meaning within the context of the particular
Media Project being attempted. The Media Project doesn’t necessarily have to be modern
media like Videos, Podcasts, Web Documents or PowerPoint Presentations. It could be
debates, dramas, extensive writing projects, magazine articles, cartoons, or many more.
As long as it is an engaging hands-on opportunity for students to demonstrate their
learning and deeper understanding in:
−− Subject concepts
−− Connecting subject learning through the Big Idea
−− Making personal meaning of their learning
−− Creating their individual or group project and publishing it, where appropriate.
As each student will experience their learning in a unique way, this activity will
be individual to the understanding each learner gained on a personal level, even
if the project is developed in a group. Often it will be generated by the ideas and
deeper understanding that is cultivated through the weekly journaling.
Assessment in the IMYC
We believe that students don’t always learn what we planned for them to learn, so it is
crucially important for us to figure out and gather evidence of their learning. The goal of
assessment should always be to help students to improve their learning, which is why we
focus on Assessment for Learning. This is true whether the teacher assesses knowledge
or skills, or evaluates understanding. Gaining knowledge, skills and understanding are all
different learning experiences, so we believe that they should be taught differently and
assessed differently.
■■ The IMYC does not provide examples of knowledge assessment (tests or exams) as it
was designed to be a flexible curriculum, allowing teachers to adapt both content and
assessment practices to suit their school, country and students. It is expected that schools
will define and implement their own knowledge assessment tools, but still assess for
learning, rather than for reporting.
■■ The IMYC supports skills tracking and assessment through the IMYC Assessment for
Learning (AfL) Programme. Please refer to the AfL Implementation File and the different

21
resources (rubrics and learning advice) for subjects in the ‘Assess’ tab on the Members’
Lounge for more details.
■■ The IMYC supports students to develop their understanding through the process of
‘Reflective Journaling’ and to demonstrate their understanding through the Exit Point.
Please see the AfL Implementation File for more information about how to do this. It will
require careful planning to make sure that students’ understanding progresses during the
six-week period of learning – whilst avoiding falling into the trap of assessing students’
skills – and never moving on to the evaluating understanding developed. Proper systems
for giving feedback – whether it is coming from teachers, peers or parents – need to be
developed by every school. There are some examples of ways schools have used these to
ensure rigorous feedback on the ‘Teach’ tab on the Members’ Lounge.
The IMYC Assessment for Learning Programme
The IMYC AfL Programme helps to track students’ skills over time, enables and encourages
peer assessment, and provides tools and guidance to help you to improve your students
learning, rather than simply recording their skill level.
Please see the AfL Implementation file for resources and more information.

22
Getting Started: Implementing the IMYC
Introduction
In the following section, we will give some advice to leaders and teachers as to how to
implement the IMYC successfully in your school. As more and more schools become IMYC
members, we are developing more knowledge and understanding of the issues connected
with introducing the IMYC into your school.
This section of the file looks at some of those issues and offers advice based on the many
conversations and in-school experiences we have had with member schools.
Implementation of a new curriculum is a major change for many schools, and the planning
process and the leading and managing of change are essential ingredients for success. The
model below shows the six stages of implementation:
1. Discover the issues
2. Address the issues
3. Plan professional learning and development opportunities
4. Implement
5. Gather feedback
6. Analyse feedback
7. Begin a refined implementation process
Discover the
curriculum
issues in your
schools
Address the
issues
Plan
professional
learning and
development
opportunities
Implement
Begin again to
deepen the
process
Analyse
feedback
Gather
feedback

23
What are the implications for stakeholders?
What will stay the same?
1. School structure: The IMYC was designed to be used with a ‘normal’ secondary school
structure, i.e. subject-specific teaching and learning, allocating the same amount of time
to each subject as in a more traditional curriculum.
2. Subject teaching: Teachers are still responsible for ensuring that the students know
what they should know, are able to do what is expected, and understand the necessary
subject concepts and principles that they will need for the next phase of their learning.
This includes making sure that they learned what we planned for them to learn. The
IMYC supports teachers with the AfL Programme to track subject skills for every year
and over the three years.
3. Reporting to parents and stakeholders: The IMYC does not involve itself in how schools
choose to report to parents on their child’s progress, as different countries expect
different kinds of reporting. We encourage schools to use all assessment for improving
students’ learning (subject, personal and international) and the AfL Programme enables
schools to report on skills progression in their preferred way.
What may need some adjustment?
1. Time for teacher collaboration: The IMYC encourages schools to set apart time
specifically for teacher collaboration and planning. For example, enough time to plan
together for Entry and Exit Points should be built into your schedule, and teachers
should agree on how they will use and implement Reflective Journaling.
2. Time for students to take part in activities around Entry Points, to reflect on and
make personal meaning of their learning, and to plan and present their Exit Points:
Many schools make use of pre-existing group activities in the timetable, for example
assemblies, tutor times, etc.
What do leaders and teachers need to know?
Advice for school leaders
■■ Make sure that you understand the principles that the IMYC is built on and that you
agree with them. This is especially important regarding the belief that improving student
learning should be the main goal or – as it is called in the Looking for Learning Toolkit –
the ‘hedgehog concept’ of the school. This means that improving student learning is the
principle around which we make all our decisions and drives all our actions.
■■ Appoint an ‘IMYC Curriculum Leader’ that will drive the implementation of the IMYC. It is
important that this person is empowered to implement the necessary changes, as well as
to have the capacity to support teachers with aspects of these changes.
■■ Be aware of the change in mindset that some teachers may experience in planning for
student learning, i.e. planning from a learning goal and not from content.

24
■■ Ensure rigour. Use supporting tools, like the Route Planner, to ensure that learning is
sufficient and appropriate for all students. .
■■ Allow enough time for rigorous planning. It is essential that teachers have the opportunity
to plan collaboratively. Our experience is that it can be a very creative process when a
whole group of teachers plan together for Entry and Exit Points, and it also shares the
responsibility between them.
■■ Invest in professional learning days at the school. We recommend allowing at least two
days to support all teachers in understanding the principles, goals, and philosophies
behind the design of the IMYC, and why it is structured in a particular way.
■■ Provide time for students to plan and present their Media Projects to an audience, take part
in the Entry Points, and reflect on their learning.
The IMYC has developed systems and tools that will support the successful implementation
of the IMYC, of which this document is the first. Other very important documents and tools
are:
■■ The IMYC Self-Review Process: The IMYC Self-Review Process is now available for all
member schools to help with improving learning in their school. It has been written
in close collaboration with IMYC schools, and will help schools to embed the nine key
principles of the IMYC– the ‘Bottom Line Nine’. We believe that they are the nine non-
negotiables that underpin the successful implementation of the IMYC. The IMYC Self-
Review Process should become a school improvement tool from the beginning of the IMYC
implementation, as this will ensure that the IMYC is much more than just a curriculum. It is
a philosophy, pedagogy, and process that can help learners, teachers and the community to
continually focus on improving learning
■■ The IMYC Members’ Lounge: This is where schools can find everything that they need,
including the IMYC Learning Goals, the subject tasks, Assessment for Learning rubrics, and
the Route Planner for subject planning.
■■ The AfL Implementation File: This file is available on the Members’ Lounge and clearly sets
out IMYC views on assessment and associated resources.
Specific Advice for the IMYC Curriculum Leader:
1. Take responsibility for leading the IMYC: Make sure that you lead and support teachers
to plan in a rigorous way in order to ensure full subject coverage, support the needs
of the adolescent brain, take responsibility for the students’ learning (subject, personal
and international), and assess students’ learning.
2. Choose your units: Decide how many units you plan to use over a year, and choose the
ones you want to use for every year group. Our experience is that it is a good idea to
involve teachers in this process. Once the units and the order have been agreed, the
IMYC Curriculum Leader should ‘publish’ the route plan that the school will use. This
then becomes a ‘fixed’ plan for the year. We don’t recommend changing units through
the year as it may undermine rigorous planning.
3. Spend time with all teachers: Support them with planning and implementation.

25
Advice for teachers
1. Plan the learning for your subject for the whole year
We recommend that teachers plan for the IMYC on a yearly basis for each age group, and
then plan for each unit in more detail after that. We have designed a simple flow-diagram
to illustrate the process, which includes the necessary steps to ensure coverage in a specific
subject, planning opportunities for assessment, and the planning of activities to help students
to achieve the relevant Learning Goals.
Subject Planning for the IMYC
Plan for the whole year
Repeat the process
until you have allocated
all the IMYC Learning
Goals to a Big Idea
Make a note
Remind yourself to
adjust the tasks in the
unit to reach this goal
Choose your six units
for the year group
Draw a report
Which IMYC Learning
Goals are not covered?
Choose the Big Idea
that links easily to the
IMYC Learning Goals
not covered
Repeat for your
country’s national
curriculum
Now plan for assessment
How will I know that
students learned what I
planned for them to learn?
Plan for a unit
Make sure you cover the
goals you planned for
Adjust the unit tasks or
create new ones
Remember to link to
the Big Idea and help
students reﬂect on their
learning
Help the students learn

26
When referring to the diagram:
■■ Decide on the units that you will be using over the year for the relevant stage (M1, M2 or
M3) using the IMYC Route Planner. This will provide an overview of when and where the
different IMYC Learning Goals are and are not covered. For the Learning Goals that are not
covered by your choice of units, study the Big Ideas and identify which of these naturally
link to the missing Learning Goals.
■■ Add any missing Learning Goals to the subject goals covered in that particular unit, and
make a note to develop or adjust tasks to reach this goal
■■ Cross-reference the IMYC Learning Goals with your national or local requirements. Any
learning goals that are not covered can be added to the most appropriate units in the same
ways as above. This will provide you with a detailed annual plan of which Learning Goals
will be covered and in which unit over the year.
■■ Plan for your range of different assessments, identifying the opportunities within different
units for you to make sure the students have learned what you had planned for them to
learn
2. Plan for Assessment: how do we know that the students have learned what we planned for
them to learn?
Once you have identified the different Learning Goals for your subject, it is important to
plan for assessment over the whole year. The IMYC believes that knowledge, skills and
understanding are very different learning experiences, or learning types, and should therefore
be planned for, taught, learned, assessed and reported on differently. Assessment needs to be
balanced but rigorous in order to ensure that the students have learned what we intended.

27
The diagram below illustrates the processes that you may want to follow to ensure this happens.
Plan learning and
identify the
Learning Goals
that you will
assess.
Knowledge (K).
Skills (S).
Understanding (U).
KNOWLEDGE
Plan when exams
and tests will be
set for your
subject to assess
the knowledge
Learning Goals
covered in the
SKILLS
Plan for skills
practice and
opportunities to
assess and track
progress in each
key skill using the
IMYC AfL rubrics.
UNDERSTANDING
Plan to evaluate
Exit Points. How
will you evaluate
personal
understanding
linked to the Big
Idea?
KNOWLEDGE
Record, track and
report
‘performance’ in
line with your
school systems.
The IMYC Online
Assessment
Tracking Tool,
developed in
partnership with
Classroom Monitor,
will also be able to
SKILLS
Record, track and
report student
progress across
beginning,
developing and
mastering through
M1–M3 using the
IMYC Online
Assessment
Tracking Tool,
developed in
partnership with
SKILLS
Create scoring
rubrics for task
speciﬁc activities.
Track and report
with school based
system or the IMYC
Online Assessment
Tracking Tool,
developed in
partnership with
Classroom Monitor.
UNDERSTANDING
Peer and teacher
feedback. Used to
inform discussion
with students and
parents of the
students’ personal
understanding
gained.
3. Plan your first unit (lesson planning)
Having ensured that students will have the opportunity to achieve all of the Learning Goals
and outcomes that you have identified, and having considered how you will know whether
the students have learned what you planned for them to learn, it is time to plan the activities
that will facilitate these.
Use the tasks provided in the IMYC units as they are, or adapt them to the country or school’s
needs. Teachers may have to write one or two tasks that will cover some of the country’s
specific statutory learning goals or standards.

28
Implementation timeline
Begin with the end in mind: the IMYC Self-Review Process
The end of implementing the IMYC– or at least, the first end – is probably about three years
away. We developed the IMYC Self-Review Process in order to give schools clear direction
of the aims of the IMYC. After three years of successful IMYC implementation, we should be
seeing the following:
■■ Students’ learning will have improved, their personal qualities developed, and their
international awareness and understanding will be greater than it might have been
otherwise
■■ Teachers will be using a variety of classroom strategies, alongside the latest research into
learning, to optimise the conditions for learning in their classrooms
■■ The IMYC will have become embedded in the school. It will be the focus of much teacher
talk, parent interaction, and pride. It will represent ‘the way that we do things around here’;
the culture and ethos of the school.
■■ Parents and board members will have a high degree of confidence in the support the IMYC
provides to teachers and leaders
However, getting there takes time and planning.
We advise schools to use the IMYC Self-Review Process – available to download from
the IMYC Members’ Lounge – as soon as they start implementing the IMYC. This gives all
stakeholders – whether learners, teachers, leaders or members of the community– a view of
the final vision. It helps schools to embed and develop the curriculum across nine key areas
of the IMYC (the ‘Bottom Line Nine’).
Michael Fullan’s three key lessons of change
The Canadian educator and writer, Michael Fullan, is a well-known expert on leading and
managing change in education. His seminal book, Leading in a Culture of Change (Fullan,
2001), has been used by schools all over the world to help them to lead the complexities of
major change in their schools. It is worth keeping three of his lessons in mind throughout
the implementation process, as they are likely to prepare you well for leading change, even
through the frustrating times.

29
They are:
■■ Expect an implementation dip
However much people want something to happen, the difficulty of introducing something
new compared to what we were familiar with can, at some point, cause a downturn. The
trick is to work through the downturn towards the point when things start to improve.
Grumbles in the early stages are not an indication of failure – they are normal reactions to
change.
■■ If something can be misunderstood, it will be
If students construct their own knowledge and understandings, then so do teachers,
leaders, learners and the community. Keep in mind that everything new has to compete
with everything that has gone before it. It is unlikely that colleagues and others are
going to understand everything first – or even second time – however well-planned your
message.
■■ Ready... Fire ...Aim
Fullan reminds us that the traditional Ready ... Aim ... Fire is fine when issues are simple.
But when issues are complex, change is only possible by continual reference to a feedback
loop of information, followed by refocusing.
In practice, as Fullan advises, be as ready as you can, and then begin. Don’t wait until you
have crossed every ‘t’ and dotted every ‘i’. It will never happen. Begin, get feedback, refocus,
and begin again further down the track. Or, as Samuel Beckett the playwright once put it:
“try, fail, try again, fail better”.
The IMYC Self-Review Process can be a great help as a tool to be used in this feedback
loop. By encouraging all stakeholders in the schools to reflect on where they are currently
(‘Beginning’,‘Developing’ or ‘Mastering’) across the nine key criteria of the IMYC (the ‘Bottom
Line Nine’), it can help them to decide together on which areas they need to concentrate
on as a school. It has been used by many schools as a tool for them to plan their short-,
medium- and long-term school improvement plans successfully.
The stages of implementation
1. Before implementation
■■ Make sure that all of the stakeholders in the school – teachers, leaders, parents, students,
etc,– are provided with information about the IMYC, including the philosophy behind it and
its practical implementation.
■■ Allow enough time for teachers to do rigorous and collaborative planning.
■■ Invest in professional learning days at the school. We recommend at least two days to
support all teachers in understanding the principles, goals and philosophies behind the
design of the IMYC, and why it is structured in a particular way.

30
2.The first full year
During this first full year, we advise leaders, including Curriculum Leaders, to visit classrooms
as often as possible in order to support teachers during the implementation process,
collaborating with them to ensure that the philosophy, pedagogy and process of the IMYC is
in place.
■■ Teachers should increase their knowledge and understanding of the philosophy behind the
IMYC, and practise their skills of implementing the IMYC Process of Learning. For example:
linking all learning to the Big Idea, helping students to develop (or maintain) the habit
of looking for links in their learning, making personal meaning of all learning (subject,
personal, and international, etc).
■■ Students should be supported to take personal responsibility for their own learning and
progress.
■■ By this stage of using the IMYC, your community will be hearing about the IMYC from the
students. Near the beginning of this school year, hold a meeting for the community, and
support any families starting later in the year by running follow-up meetings. Do not try
to do too much at any single meeting. Make sure that the main focus is on improving
learning. When the members of the community cannot attend these meetings, make sure
that your newsletters and school website continue to contain regular mentions of the IMYC
and the learning that is taking place.
3. Year 3 and onwards – becoming more focused on improving learning
By Year 3, everyone in the school should be getting used to the philosophy, pedagogy and
process of the IMYC. Implementation, as we know, is a continual process, so there are still new
things that you can do in Year 3 to continue this process. For example, think about how to
introduce new board members, colleagues and families to the IMYC.
We encourage schools to reflect on the IMYC and its implementation continuously, but the
third year might be the opportunity to reflect on applying for formal accreditation for the
school using the IMYC Self-Review Process.
Accreditation can be an excellent opportunity for teachers and leaders to share their learning
with other schools.

31
Appendix A: The IMYC Learning goals
Part 1: Subject learning goals
1. ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE/MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Students will:
1.1 Know that foreign language learning enhances and reinforces their knowledge of
other disciplines
1.2 Be able to communicate, ask for and give information and opinions, express
feelings and emotions, and share preferences
1.3 Be able to understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of
topics
1.4 Be able to present information, concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners or
readers on a variety of topics
1.5 Be able to use the language both within and beyond the school setting
1.6 Be able to show evidence of becoming lifelong learners by using the language for
personal enjoyment and enrichment
1.7 Develop an understanding of the relationship between the practices and
perspectives of the culture studied
1.8 Develop an understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the
language studied and their own
1.9 Develop an understanding of the concept of culture by comparing and contrasting
the culture of the language studied and their own
1.10 Develop an understanding for the distinctive viewpoints that are only available
through the foreign language and its cultures
2. ART
Students will:
2.1 Know that the study of art is concerned with visual, tactile and personal
expression used to share and express emotions, ideas and values
2.2 Know the contributions and impacts of various artists in different countries and
how their work influenced or was influenced by society
2.3 Know how art, history and culture are interrelated and reflected through one
another over time

32
2.4 Be able to recognise influential artists from particular countries, genres or periods
and the pieces of art they produced
2.5 Be able to evidence how artists, craftspeople and designers from a variety of
traditions from around the world use materials, forms and techniques to express
their feelings, observations and experiences
2.6 Be able to use the elements of art and principles of design to discuss and critique
works of art showing understanding, respect and enjoyment as appropriate
2.7 Be able to create an original work of art using a variety of processes, materials,
tools and media to express their ideas, thoughts, emotions and views of the world
2.8 Be able to create art to achieve a particular purpose so that the idea goes beyond
art being exclusively for self-expression and creativity
2.9 Be able to evaluate their initial artistic products and adjust the work to better suit
their expression
2.10 Be able to describe works of art in terms of meaning, design, materials, technique,
place and time
2.11 Begin to develop an understanding of the benefits, limitations and consequences
of visual communication media around the world such as film, the Internet, print,
television and video
2.12 Begin to develop an understanding of how artists are influenced by their
background and experience and that they in turn affect others through their work
3. GEOGRAPHY
Students will:
3.1 Know that the study of geography is concerned with places and environments in
the world
3.2 Know about the main physical and human features and environmental issues in
particular localities
3.3 Know about the varying geographical patterns and physical processes of different
places
3.4 Know about the geography, weather and climate of particular localities
3.5 Know about the similarities and differences between particular localities
3.6 Know how the features of particular localities influence the nature of human
activities within them
3.7 Know about recent and proposed changes in particular localities
3.8 Know how people and their actions affect the environment and physical features
of a place
3.9 Know the relationship between weather, climate and environmental features

33
3.10 Know how the weather and climate affect, and are affected by, human behaviour
3.11 Know how the geography of a region shapes economic development
3.12 Know how the combination of the geographical, environmental and economic
features of a region impact human distribution patterns
3.13 Be able to use and interpret globes, maps, atlases, photographs, computer models
and satellite images in a variety of scales
3.14 Be able to make plans and maps using a variety of scales, symbols and keys
3.15 Be able to describe geographic locations using standard measures
3.16 Be able to use appropriate geographical vocabulary to describe and interpret their
surroundings as well as other countries and continents
3.17 Be able to explain how geographical features and phenomena impact economic
interactions between countries and regions
3.18 Be able to explain the relationships between the physical characteristics and
human behaviours that shape a region
3.19 Be able to use maps in a variety of scales to locate the position, geographical
features and social environments of other countries and continents to gain an
understanding of daily life
3.20 Be able to explain how physical and human processes lead to similarities and
differences between places
3.21 Be able to explain how places and people are interdependently linked through the
movement of goods and people
3.22 Develop an understanding of how localities are affected by natural features and
processes
3.23 Develop an understanding of how and why people seek to manage and sustain
their environment
4. HISTORY
Students will:
4.1 Know the characteristic features of particular periods and societies
4.2 Know that the study of history is concerned with the past in relation to the present
4.3 Know the history of the periods being studied
4.4 Know about the ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of people in the past
4.5 Know about the social, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the periods
studied
4.6 Be able to use historical terms associated with the periods they have studied

34
4.7 Be able to enquire into historical questions and their effects on people’s lives
4.8 Be able to describe how the countries studied have responded to the conflicts,
social changes, political changes and economic developments that represent their
history
4.9 Be able to describe aspects of the past from a range of sources
4.10 Be able to describe and identify the causes for and the results of historical events,
situations and changes in the periods they have studied
4.11 Be able to describe and make links between the main events, situations and
changes both within and across periods
4.12 Be able to describe how the history of the countries studied affects the lives of the
people who live there now
4.13 Be able to describe how the history of one country affects that of another
4.14 Be able to select and record information relevant to a historical topic
4.15 Be able to place the events, people and changes in the periods they have studied
into a chronological framework
4.16 Be able to describe how certain aspects of the past have been represented and
interpreted in different ways
4.17 Develop an understanding of how historical sources can be different from and
contradict one another and that they reflect their context of time, place and
viewpoint
4.18 Develop an understanding for how contradicting views of power, morality and
religion lead to local and global cooperation and conflicts
5. GEOGRAPHY
Students will:
5.1 Know that the study of geography is concerned with places and environments in
the world
5.2 Know about the main physical and human features and environmental issues in
particular localities
5.3 Know about the varying geographical patterns and physical processes of different
places
5.4 Know about the geography, weather and climate of particular localities
5.5 Know about the similarities and differences between particular localities
5.6 Know how the features of particular localities influence the nature of human
activities within them
5.7 Know about recent and proposed changes in particular localities

35
5.8 Know how people and their actions affect the environment and physical features
of a place
5.9 Know the relationship between weather, climate and environmental features
5.10 Know how the weather and climate affect, and are affected by, human behaviour
5.11 Know how the geography of a region shapes economic development
5.12 Know how the combination of the geographical, environmental and economic
features of a region impact human distribution patterns
5.13 Be able to use and interpret globes, maps, atlases, photographs, computer models
and satellite images in a variety of scales
5.14 Be able to make plans and maps using a variety of scales, symbols and keys
5.15 Be able to describe geographic locations using standard measures
5.16 Be able to use appropriate geographical vocabulary to describe and interpret their
surroundings as well as other countries and continents
5.17 Be able to explain how geographical features and phenomena impact economic
interactions between countries and regions
5.18 Be able to explain the relationships between the physical characteristics and
human behaviours that shape a region
5.19 Be able to use maps in a variety of scales to locate the position, geographical
features and social environments of other countries and continents to gain an
understanding of daily life
5.20 Be able to explain how physical and human processes lead to similarities and
differences between places
5.21 Be able to explain how places and people are interdependently linked through the
movement of goods and people
5.22 Develop an understanding of how localities are affected by natural features and
processes
5.23 Develop an understanding of how and why people seek to manage and sustain
their environment
6. ICT and Computing:
Digital Literacy
Students will:
6.1 Know that the study of ICT and Computing is concerned with designing and
applying technology to gather, use and exchange information
6.2 Know about different ways to find and identify credible and respected digital
resources, and how to cite digital sources in their work

36
6.3 Know how to protect their online identity, privacy and safety and avoid undesirable
contact, content and other threats (such as malicious software)
6.4 Know about digital footprints and online reputations; including how to control,
protect and develop a positive online identity
6.5 Be able to select and use technology and the internet safely, responsibly,
respectfully, creatively and competently, for a range of purposes and audiences
6.6 Be able to manipulate, combine and present different forms of information from
different sources in an organised and efficient way
6.7 Develop an understanding of the responsibilities and repercussions of online
behaviour, including issues associated with netiquette, cyberbullying, privacy and
ethical issues
Digital Science
Students will:
6.8 Be able to plan, develop, test and refine programs which include functions and
procedures, in order to solve a range of computational problem
6.9 Be able to solve a range of problems by applying different algorithms and
identifying the most effective according to purpose and outcome
6.10 Be able to interpret and apply Boolean logic; using and applying operators in
searches, circuits and programs
6.11 Be able to make a simple computer or a model of one, explaining how data is
stored and programs are executed
6.12 Develop an understanding of how many different types of data can be stored
digitally, in the form of binary digits; and be able to perform calculations using the
binary system
6.13 Develop an understanding of how the internet, the World Wide Web and Cloud
computing function, and how they facilitate communication and creativity
Digital Tools
Students will:
6.14 Know how to produce and edit text, image, audio, and video. Recognise an
increasing range of different file types, and how these can be converted for
different purposes.
6.15 Be able to communicate effectively using a range of digital tools including online
environments
6.16 Be able to evaluate digital tools analytically, identifying and using appropriate
hardware and software to solve a variety of problems
6.17 Be able to use ICT to plan and control events, including using digital technologies
to sense a range of physical data and program physical events

37
6.18 Be able to gather and interrogate information by framing questions appropriately
6.19 Be able to interpret their findings and identify whether their findings are valid
6.20 Develop an understanding that the quality of information affects the results of any
enquiry
6.21 Develop an understanding of how digital tools can be applied analytically to solve
problems by designing, creating and using computer models, e.g. 3D design using
computer assisted design software, gaming software and spreadsheets to create
simulations
Digital Design
Students will:
6.22 Know how to apply design principles when developing computer models and
programs
6.23 Be able to design, write and debug computer programs in two or more
programming languages (e.g. Python, Ruby, PHP, HTML)
6.24 Be able to design, create, use and evaluate creative digital solutions for authentic
purposes, considering the end-user
6.25 Develop an understanding of the user-centered design process and apply this in
practice when creating digital content
7. LANGUAGE ARTS
Students will:
Speaking and Listening
7.1 Be able to play a variety of roles in group discussions by reading required material
and being prepared
7.2 Be able to ask and answer questions to obtain clarification and elaboration with
relevant evidence
7.3 Be able to integrate strategies and tools such as multimedia to enhance listening
comprehension and add interest
7.4 Be able to use the content, intention and perspective of what is said to them in a
variety of situations
7.5 Be able to convey information, experiences, arguments and opinions clearly and
confidently when speaking to others
7.6 Be able to use appropriate vocabulary in speech
7.7 Be able to analyse the purpose and motivation of the information presented
7.8 Be able to use spoken language that is appropriate to the situation and purpose

38
Reading
7.9 Be able to read and comprehend for different purposes including stories, dramas,
poems and literature
7.10 Be able to use a variety of strategies to understand meaning
7.11 Be able to determine the theme of a text and its relationship to plot, setting and
characters
7.12 Be able to cite evidence that supports explicit and inferred meaning from the text
7.13 Be able to distinguish between fact and fiction
7.14 Be able to compare and contrast information from a variety of texts to understand
how it affects meaning and style
7.15 Be able to read for pleasure and enjoyment
7.16 Develop an understanding for how meaning is constructed using word choice, tone
and timing
Writing
7.17 Be able to write in a range of different forms appropriate for their purpose and
readers
7.18 Be able to write narratives to communicate real or imagined events using
descriptive details and event sequences
7.19 Be able to write arguments to support claims using evidence from texts and
research from credible sources
7.20 Be able to write informative or explanatory texts to examine a topic and share
ideas in an organised manner
7.21 Be able to use writing to organise thoughts, experiences, emotions and
preferences
7.22 Be able to write short reports to answer a question
7.23 Be able to use a range of strategies and tools for planning, drafting and revising
their writing
7.24 Be able to write neatly and legibly
Language Awareness
7.25 Know the rules for grammatical construction and usage
7.26 Know the rules for spelling, punctuation and capitalisation
7.27 Be able to recognise the devices used by an author to accomplish a purpose
7.28 Be able to recognise different forms, genres and themes

39
7.29 Be able to explain and describe the main features, ideas, themes, events,
information and characters in a text
7.30 Be able to recognise and use figures of speech
7.31 Be able to recognise and use descriptive language
7.32 Be able to recognise and use literal language
7.33 Be able to recognise and use different forms, styles and genres
7.34 Be able to recognise and use different linguistic conventions
7.35 Develop an understanding that language is used differently in different situations
7.36 Develop an understanding that language and the way it is used affects the
relationships between people
7.37 Develop an understanding that there are cultural differences between the way
language is used by different people and in different situations
7.38 Develop an understanding that the meaning of language can be influenced by
the situation, form, unexpressed intentions, physical posture, facial expression and
gestures
7.39 Develop an understanding that forms of communication benefit from the
application of rules
Drama
7.40 Know that everyone has a creative side
7.41 Be able to improvise a play, using the roles, situation and elements of a story
7.42 Be able to perform a scripted play
7.43 Be able to make use of voice, language, posture, movement and facial expression
7.44 Be able to make use of scenery, stage properties, costume and make-up
7.45 Be able to evaluate their own performance and that of others
7.46 Be able to respond to a performance identifying the key elements and Devices
8. MATHEMATICS
Students will:
Using Mathematics
8.1 Know examples of how mathematics is used in everyday life and by whom
8.2 Be able to apply mathematics in real life situations

40
Numbers and Algebra
8.3 Be able to solve problems using fractions, decimals and percentages
8.4 Be able to represent quantitative relationships using ratios and proportions
8.5 Be able to use exponential, scientific and calculator notation
8.6 Be able to solve problems using prime numbers, factors, prime factorisation and
multiples
8.7 Be able to simplify computations involving integers, fractions and decimals using
the associative and commutative properties of addition and multiplication
8.8 Be able to use tables, graphs, words and symbolic representations to represent and
analyse general patterns of data, particularly linear relationships
8.9 Be able to identify and differentiate linear and non-linear functions from
equations, tables and graphs
8.10 Be able to solve problems using algebraic representation
Measurement and Geometry
8.11 Know how to describe and classify two- and three-dimensional objects
8.12 Know formulas that represent geometric shapes
8.13 Be able to present deductive arguments using congruence, similarity and
Pythagoras’ theorem
8.14 Be able to represent geometric shapes using coordinate geometry
8.15 Be able to use transformations to move, reorientate and adjust the size of
geometric objects
8.16 Be able to use formulas that represent geometric shapes
8.17 Be able to determine the area of complex shapes
8.18 Develop an understanding of the relationships between angles, length of sides,
perimeter, area and volume for similar objects
8.19 Develop an understanding of the relationships between two- and three-
dimensional objects
Statistics
8.20 Know the measures of centre and spread for statistical data
8.21 Be able to develop a study to collect data in relation to two characteristics
8.22 Be able to select and create an appropriate graphical representation of data to suit
a particular situation and audience
8.23 Be able to interpret statistical data, including graphic representation
8.24 Be able to interpret a situation using proportionality or probability

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