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IB MYP

International Bacacalaureate
Middle Years Programme

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) is an internationally recognized educational framework for students aged 11 to 16. It encourages critical thinking, creativity, and global-mindedness through interdisciplinary learning and real-world connections. The MYP prepares students for success in further education and life by fostering inquiry, reflection, and responsible action.

Lanier’s IB MYP Programme is led by our Coordinator, Eileen Bell, who works closely with students, teachers, and families to support the implementation of the IB philosophy and framework, ensuring a meaningful learning experience for all students.

At Lanier, we celebrate and actively promote the IB Learner Profile traits, encouraging students to embody these values in their learning and everyday lives.

Use the navigation on the right to learn more about Lanier's IB MYP Programme, procedures, and policies.

Contact

Eileen Bell

IB Coordinator
(713) 942-1900

IB MYP Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment. These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right. 

The IB Middle Years Programme

  • addresses students’ intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being.

  • enables students to understand and manage the complexities of our world, and provides them with the skills and attitudes they need in order to take responsible action for the future.

  • ensures breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding through the study of eight subject areas.

  • requires the study of at least two languages to support students’ understanding of their own culture and of others.

  • provides the opportunity for students to undertake an independent project in an area of personal interest.

An IB education is the result of a dynamic interaction between…

  • IB learners (who)

  • teaching and learning in the IB (how)

  • global contexts for teaching and learning (why)

  • the pursuit of significant knowledge and understanding (what).

The IB’s philosophy of education is informed by research and by over 40 years of practical experience in international education. This philosophy remains open to reflection and review; the IB has always championed a stance of critical engagement with challenging ideas, one that both values the past and remains open to innovation.

In the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP), students learn through global contexts, key interdisciplinary concepts, and the application of social, thinking, research, communication, and self-management skills. Students benefit from a wide range of course offerings in the arts, world languages, technology, social studies, science, and physical education. Teachers ask "Essential Questions" that guide students in finding more than one right answer.

What the MYP offers students

The MYP aims to develop active learners and internationally minded young people who can empathize with others and pursue lives of purpose and meaning.

The programme empowers students to inquire into a wide range of issues and ideas of significance locally, nationally and globally. The result is young people who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers. 

The Middle Years Programme (MYP) helps students develop both subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. The MYP curriculum framework includes:

  • Approaches to learning (ATL), helping students learn how to learn by developing skills for research, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-management

  • Key and related concepts, helping students explore big ideas that matter

  • Global contexts, helping students understand the relevance and importance of their study for understanding their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.

The MYP culminates in an independent learning project. Students complete a significant piece of work over an extended period of time, encouraging them to consolidate their learning and reflect on the outcomes of their work.

What is the MYP?

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) emphasizes intellectual challenge. It encourages students aged 11 to 16 to make practical connections between their studies and the real world, preparing them for success in further study and in life.

How teaching and learning is organized in the MYP

The MYP organizes teaching and learning through eight subject groups. The programme promotes interdisciplinary study that helps students make important connections between academic subjects.

Integrated teaching and learning helps students analyze complex issues and develop the habits of mind they need to participate in our increasingly interconnected world.

10 Reasons why the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) encourages you to become a creative, critical and reflective learner

10 reasons poster with red background and red, maroon, white circles.