TFS - Canada's International School

Dear TFS students: Have you ever asked yourself why learning French is so important at TFS? If so, then the Grade 7 students in Odile Téphany's Itinéraires de découverte (IDD or Pathways to Discovery) class may have some answers for you. As TFS students, you may know that IDD is divided into two modules, one taught in English by Michael Rehberg, the other in French by Mme Téphany, Directrice des Etudes Françaises and French facilitator of the Middle Years Program. Both modules are projectbased; there is no content or lecturing in the traditional sense. The idea is to propel students forward in developing their perception and knowledge of inquiry. In Mme Téphany's class, the project she set out was: why do we continue to teach French at TFS? "I wanted them to go deeper, to understand why their parents sent them here," she says. The inquiry approach in middle years The Middle Years Program (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate starts in Grade 6 and concludes at the end of Level III. "Inquiry in class is done within a global context for learning," says Dr. Eric Robertson, TFS' MYP Coordinator. One key aspect of the MYP is the use of design methodology to solve problems across different subjects. Another facet is the inclusion of more open-ended research projects, pushing both collaboration and independence of thought. Photography: Rob Waymen It's about the journey "This project required the students to be fully engaged in the action of it. It's like chocolate: until you taste it, you don't know what it's like." By Level III, students are ready for their final MYP task – the personal project. Each student chooses a topic they are passionate about, and then works through the design process to come up with their culminating piece. The final piece can take many forms: an original work of art; a developed business plan, special event or establishment of a student or community organization; creative writing; an original science experiment; an invention or designed object or system, or; a written composition on a special topic. Each project must also reveal the student's reflection on the experience, as well as clearly demonstrate the process used to create their final effort. Says Dr. Robertson, "There are multiple routes they can take, and they need to evaluate the pros and cons of each. An important part of this is their journal, a record of their progress and process. It includes not only self-assessment, but also peer review and advisor feedback." The concluding version of each student's project is presented at an assembly to their peers, teachers and parents. Making sense of French TFS' Director of Innovation and Technology Bob Tarle, the students in Mme Téphany's class were given access to tools from Rotman's integrative technology design model that they could use to answer Mme Téphany's question. "We took their ideas and tools, devised for a business school, and brought them to the Grade 7 level and did it in French," says Mme Téphany. Using Rotman's specific design methodology of problem solving, the class determined the criteria for their product: its distribution would be to all TFS constituents, it had to be cost-effective, interactive and engaging, and it had to be a multi-media product. Says Mme Téphany, "These are 21st century children. Theirs is not a pen and paper society. It had to be relevant to them." They settled on developing an iBook – something digital, easy-to-use and attractive. The class would produce a single book. They brainstormed ideas, drew a mind map and went home to interview their parents, asking "Why am I at TFS? Why am I studying French?" Through a ground-breaking partnership with the University of Toronto's renowned Rotman School of Management, forged by Student journalists and authors The students came back together to share their experiences and their parents' answers. "They had to use interviewing and listening skills. They had to dig deeper, to ask 'why,' while showing empathy to their interview subjects, in order to get them to tell more," relates Mme Téphany. After examining their raw material, the students organized it, originally creating a 12-chapter book. After more deliberation, they agreed to a book with six broad sections, with students working in pairs on different parts of the book. After honing their product, the students put their first iBook into production in the Senior School media lab. "This project required the students to be fully engaged in the action of it. It's like chocolate: until you taste it, you don't know what it's like. They don't really 'get it' until they do it," Mme Téphany says. And that is the whole point of MYP. An MYP for our community The MYP at TFS will be as unique as our school itself, merging with the other two curricula we teach, that of France and Ontario, and our international perspective. "We are making it our own. It will speak to our context, our community and our values," says Dr. Robertson. While the MYP is vertically oriented by subject from Grade 6 to Level III, our teachers are also collaborating horizontally, at the grade level, across all subjects. "This will better help students in the way they experience teaching and learning. We are looking at the whole child. Students don't learn in compartments, so many of the connections they make are those that occur between subjects, not just within them," Dr. Robertson says. entre nous 7

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