Key Concepts

Conceptual learning continues to motivate and interest me. Personally, I am much more excited by the power of related concepts, but key concepts do have an important role. This post is about how they might be used in Kindergarten. 

Concepts share common criteria. Like the idea of white light, concepts can be viewed and described in a spectrum of different ways. 


There are 7 key concepts in the PYP. Here I have used these 7 key concepts as lenses to explore the big ideas of conceptual learning and consider practices we might consider moving away from and be intentional in moving towards other practices. 


I have blogged previously about the importance of conceptual learning. The post is here. 

The 7 key concepts promote different types of thinking and unpack big ideas in multiple ways. They are not hierarchical; responsibility and perspective are as relevant and important in Kindergarten as they are in any other grade level. 

Our current unit of inquiry is built around the related concept of imagination. The key concept of form helps children to inquire into what imagination is (and is not). The key concept of function helps them to understand how we use our imaginations. The key concept of perspective helps us explore and be open to different ways to create and respond using our imagination. 

The 7 key concepts are a tool. The objective is not to teach the 7 words as vocabulary without using and applying their meaning in authentic contexts. They are a tool to scaffold meaning making and understanding. They can be thought about as keys that unlock different kinds of thinking and engage with complex ideas in multiple and broad ways. 

The 7 key concepts help us to develop diverse lines of inquiry, and over the period of a year, ensure all 7 ideas are explored in each grade level. 

The 7 key concepts can also be very useful to plan and craft different types of questions. These might be questions to structure invitations, provocations, reflections, conferring or playing alongside children. An awareness of the key concepts ensures that questioning goes beyond only causation (for example). The key concepts can also be used to categorise the interests and wonderings of the children to see patterns in children's thinking. 

The 7 key concepts can also be useful to develop transdisciplinary connections and frame collaborative dialogue. 

The 7 key concepts are useful to think about beyond units of inquiry. They can help to structure morning meetings and read alouds, for example. Routines such as snack, lunch, dismissal and tidying up are all authentic contexts to explore key concepts such as responsibility and causation. 

Reflection is no longer a key concept in the PYP. Not because reflection isn't important, but because it is so important and can be embedded into all learning opportunities. 

Reflection questions:
How do you use the key concepts?
When you think about your learners' inquiries and play, which key concepts are being explored most often?
What might the next steps be to use the key concepts?




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