Arts

In the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP), students develop through creating, performing and presenting arts in ways that engage and convey feelings, experiences and ideas.

It is through this practice that students acquire new skills and master those skills developed in prior learning.

Students have opportunities to function as artists, as well as learners of the arts.

What is the significance of arts in the MYP?

Arts stimulate young imaginations, challenge perceptions and develop creative and analytical skills.

Involvement in the arts encourages students to understand the arts in context and the cultural histories of artworks, supporting the development of an inquiring and empathetic world view.

Arts challenge and enrich personal identity and build awareness of the aesthetic in a real-world context.

How is arts structured in the MYP?

In MYP years 1 to 3, arts course structures include a minimum of one visual arts discipline and one performing arts discipline followed by a choice of disciplines in years 4 and 5 of the programme.

The arts disciplines offered in the MYP are:

Visual art.
Media.
Drama.
Music.
Dance.

Schools can organize the study of arts in the MYP as:

discrete disciplines, focusing on each discipline separately
integrated courses, in which a combination of either performing arts disciplines or visual arts disciplines are studied. Schools are not permitted to combine performing and visual arts as one integrated course
modular courses. Students undertake a consecutive rotation of disciplines for a set period of time each, though not necessarily a full school year. These modules each focus on a single arts discipline – such as visual art, music or drama.

Find out more about the MYP curriculum and about becoming authorized to implement the MYP.