Key Insights: PYP Curriculum Alignment Workshop

By Devika Datta, PYP Coordinator

These concepts help make meaning in our classrooms and have helped me make sense of the shifts, structures, and meaning behind this new approach to curriculum coherence.

Form: What is happening in the PYP?

The IB has recently decommissioned several subject-focused PYP workshops, including those centered on well-being, arts, mathematics, ICT, language, PE, and science. This shift signals a reimagining of the form of professional learning, moving away from siloed subjects towards something more integrated and purposeful. In their place, the new Category 3 workshop Connecting Subjects to Create a Coherent PYP Curriculum has emerged, bringing refreshed guidance, updated learning progressions, and a more holistic way of thinking about curriculum design.

Function: How does this workshop work?

I had the opportunity to attend this newly launched workshop from 21st -23rd November, and it offered an interesting function, inviting us to explore essential PYP elements (attributes, skills, concepts, action, and transdisciplinarity) through the lens of the recently released subject continuums. Instead of simply understanding what each subject is, we examined how they operate within the Programme of Inquiry. This new lens helped me see how coherence takes shape not by teaching more, but by teaching with intention.

Perspective: What viewpoints shape our learning?

The workshop’s virtual room itself became a mosaic of perspectives. Educators from Botswana, Norway, Pakistan, Dubai, and India came together, a blend of PYPCs, Arts and PE specialists, and homeroom teachers. Conversations were grounded in lived experiences: What does transdisciplinarity look like in different contexts? How do school cultures influence curriculum decisions? Listening to different voices reminded me how powerful it is when we broaden our thinking beyond our own school walls.

Connection: How do subjects and themes link together?

A major thread in our discussions was the web of connections within the PYP. We unpacked misconceptions around subjects, shifting our thinking from ‘coverage’ toward ‘alignment’, and explored how themes and disciplines truly support one another. The balance between explicit and implicit teaching of skills became clearer when we mapped these ideas across continuums. Attempting to see these connections visually, and collectively, was one of the workshop’s biggest strengths.

Causation: Why does coherence matter?

Why do we need to rethink these structures at all? Through multiple activities and activators, we discovered the causes behind this shift: to bring learning progressions into focus, to strengthen alignment across grades, and to ensure transdisciplinary learning is intentional rather than accidental. Coherence doesn’t happen by chance. It is designed, refined, and continuously revisited.

Change: What shifts are we being invited to make?

The workshop encouraged us to embrace change in the way we design planning conversations, map subject continuums, document skills, and support teachers. Using new tools like the Padlet Sandbox made experimentation fun and immediate. One reflective moment I loved was writing an email to myself for the first week back at school in January, outlining the actions I plan to take to strengthen student agency. Small shifts, but powerful ones.

Responsibility: What will we do with this learning?

As educators, we hold the responsibility to translate professional learning into meaningful action. The workshop offered helpful reminders, practical nano-PD ideas, and a sense of community that reaffirmed why we do what we do. While I still hope for more concrete guidance on curriculum alignment, especially with the new continuum documents, I left with clarity on the steps I can take now, and a renewed commitment to fostering coherence in our school.