In an IB school, all grade 10 students are required to undertake a Personal Project as their last year in the Middle Years Program (MYP). Each student decides what his/her project is going to be, connects it to one Area of Interaction (AOI) and completes it over the year under the supervision of a teacher so that at the end of the year, each student has a product or outcome and a process journal in which the student records everything he/she does during the process.
As the student can select any type of Personal Project, this year’s Personal Project at Beijing World Youth Academy (BWYA) has been a miscellaneous collection, ranging from producing an entire puppet show to writing a novella about sharks. The following are some of the diverse Personal Projects BWYA students are currently working on, and they will be on exhibition in April.
“Personal Project can be so frustrating because of the time limitation, but I enjoy it because it gives me a break from all the studying at school and allows me to do something that I like.” – Arica O, Grade 10
Name of the project: How to tie your (girl’s) hair into different kinds of hairstyles in association with your location
Area of Interaction: Human ingenuity
Aim: To help female students to tie their hair easily and try out numerous hairstyles in high school
Expected product: A PPT showing the methods of how to tie the newly designed hairstyles
Benefit(s) of the project: Improve on tying hair more effectively and beautifully
Problem(s) encountered: Having limited time to finish things when there is still a lot of other school homework and assignments
“My Personal Project reminds me of what awaits me in the future: the massive amount of work and effort that is required to complete almost everything in life.”– Matthew Park, Grade 10 student
Name of the project: The reasons behind the near-extinction of the Korean traditional house, hanok
Area of Interaction: Human ingenuity
Aim: To introduce fantastic Korean architecture to the world and also Korea so it will retain its culture and not be so profoundly influenced by other countries.
Expected product: A modified model of hanok made of reusable materials like wooden chopsticks.
Benefit(s) of the project: Learning and comprehending Korea’s culture and history, and growing increasingly affectionate about the beauty of them all.
Problem(s) encountered: Having limited time to finish things when there is still a lot of other school homework and assignments and not finding enough reliable sources
“It [Personal Project]’s hard… but it truly is beneficial in so many ways.” – Peggy Chang, Grade 10 student
Name of the project: The most effective way of educating, handling and taking care of preschool children
Area of Interaction: Community and service
Aim: To raise public awareness on the importance of preschool education
Expected product: A booklet introducing the preschool curriculum, appropriate materials to teach the kids, background information on psychology problems, and interviews with parents and babysitters on the topic
Benefit(s) of the project: Obtaining great knowledge about the preschool children, which might come handy in the future
Problem(s) encountered: “Filtering” information and making right decisions (e.g. choosing which information to use and not to use)
For those MYP students who will soon be in grade 10, here is a piece of wise advice for you when you choose your own Personal Project: work on something that you feel passionate about so that you can enjoy yourself, and be creative – the possibilities are infinite!
Photo by flickr user yago1.com
Lauren You (Jung Won) is half Korean and half Chinese, and is currently in grade 10 at Beijing World Youth Academy. Previously, she attended a Korean kindergarten, then a Chinese school in Korea, and later went abroad to Malaysia to study English at a local school and then in a British international school. Her experience of studying in diverse environments allows her to explore the horizon. Lauren enjoys reading and writing and she actively writes articles for her school’s magazine as well as for her school’s newspaper.
The beijingkids student correspondent program gives high school students with an interest in writing and journalism a resource for guidance, feedback, and real-life training.If you are a student interested in becoming a beijingkids student correspondent, or you know a student who is, please contact ellisfriedman@beijing-kids.com
photo by Flickr user yago1.com
