Toward the end of Grade 5—the final year of the PYP—students participate in a collaborative project known as the PYP Exhibition. The exhibition unit is developed under the transdisciplinary theme: ‘How we organize ourselves’, and is generally seen as the culmination of a student’s experience in the PYP. Working in small groups over an extended period, students call upon their accumulated skills to carry out an in-depth inquiry that involves them in identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues or problems. These are selected by students themselves for their importance in the local, societal or global context as well as the interest they provoke in the students. Topics investigated in recent years include global warming, gender inequality, poverty, endangered animals, overworking, animal abuse, pollution, artificial intelligence, baby abandonment, healthy lifestyles and the like.

“The exhibition represents a unique and significant opportunity for students to exhibit the attributes of the IB learner profile developed throughout their engagement with the PYP.”

International Baccalaureate Organization

Students are responsible for all aspects of the investigation. This may include setting up interviews with representatives of local, national and international businesses and government officials, to community members, each helping drive the acquisition of new understandings for the students. Although the project is student-led, all members of the learning community are involved. Teachers and administrators lend support as mentors to help guide students in their inquiries.

The highlight for the school community takes the form of an open exhibit where all stakeholders, as well as local schools and invited guests, come together over a two-day period to celebrate in the achievements of the Grade 5s. The presentations take a variety of forms and offer a chance for the students to share their findings of their chosen topic and how it relates to their personal learning and possible lines of action within its context. In line with the Enhanced PYP focus on student agency and action, the exhibition should not be viewed as an ending, but rather a stepping off point into further interaction with the topics that the students have chosen.