This week I’m talking to Kate Beatty. Kate is a former Head of Department in English and now spends her time communicating with people around the world as an MYP English Language and Literature consultant. Having recently made the move into an IB world school that teaches the MYP I was really keen to ask someone like Kate a number of burning questions regarding planning a sequenced curriculum. Thankfully she offered lots of clarification and excellent ideas throughout the chat. 

We discussed: 

- The best book she’s ever read, taught or been taught

- Her experience in international teaching and why did she made the move into consultancy

- How the MYP is a different opportunity for those more used to a British curriculum

- Where the MYP fits into recent discussions regarding a knowledge rich curriculum

- Effective strategies to implement inquiry within the English classroom

- How coordinators / teachers can accommodate the need to teach literary analysis, which is something of a niche pursuit given the MYP’s prioritisation of global contexts

- Kate’s advice on how to build ATLs into the planning of a unit or make them more meaningful to students

- And finally, examples of units that she’s taught or seen that best encapsulate the mission of IB and support English learning in equal measure

Thanks again to Kate for guiding me and anyone else who cares to listen in the ways of the MYP.

If you’d like to be made aware of when more education chat like this happens then be sure to subscribe to the podcast and/or follow me on Twitter @chrisjordanhk 

Links:

Girl, Woman, Other - Bernadine Evaristo

A Children’s Bible - Lydia Millet

The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls

Kath Murdoch - Education Consultant

Trevor Mackenzie - Inquiry Guidance Books

Harvard’s Thinking Routine’s Toolbox