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Curious about the upcoming changes to the PYP framework? This blog breaks it all down for you! From updates to the concepts and transdisciplinary themes to the exciting new subject guides, we’re here to help you navigate these changes.

Parita Parekh
Parita Parekh, PYP Coordinator, Northern High School
Aaron Bradbury
Aaron Bradbury, Early Childhood Academic
Toddle
Toddle

Table of contents

Change #1: The concepts

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

—William Shakespeare

The concepts we know and love—form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, and responsibility—are staying the same, but the way we talk about them is evolving.

  • Key Concepts → Specified Concepts
  • Related Concepts → Additional Concepts

Why the change?

The major drive behind the change is to make the language clearer and more aligned with transdisciplinary thinking and planning.

Specified concepts are the ‘big ideas’ we explore across the transdisciplinary framework. They provide a shared language to help us explain the world and organize our mental schema across the PYP.

Additional concepts are the more specific, disciplinary ideas connected to our units. These concepts bring depth to units and help teachers target what students will understand in each subject.

And the best part? The descriptors for the concepts remain unchanged—just update the terminology.

Download the all-new specified concepts poster here.

Change #2: The transdisciplinary themes

No need to panic—the new transdisciplinary theme descriptors were released in December 2024, but there’s plenty of time to adapt. The official updates won’t appear in Principles to Practice until April 2025, and schools have until September 2027 to fully implement them (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2024).

Why the change?

In the Transdisciplinary Theme Descriptor Review Development Report (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2023), the IB outlined four key focus areas for the theme review:

  1. Purpose: Shifting the focus from human commonalities to the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world.
  2. Relevance: Updating language to reflect current global education research and making it more inclusive and relevant.
  3. Balance: Ensuring subjects and additional concepts are evenly distributed across themes to foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
  4. Advancement of the IB Mission: Encouraging action-oriented learning that addresses local and global challenges.

What’s new in the theme descriptors?

The revised descriptors now feature a driving sentence followed by three conceptual support statements, replacing the longer descriptions used previously. It’s important to note that these bullet points are not intended to serve as lines of inquiry.

Revamp your classrooms with the new transdisciplinary theme posters!

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The updated theme descriptors

Who We Are

An inquiry into identity as individuals and as part of a collective through:

  • Physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health and well-being
  • Relationships and belonging
  • Learning and growing

Where We Are in Place and Time

An inquiry into histories and orientation in place, space, and time through:

  • Physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health and well-being
  • Relationships and belonging
  • Learning and growing

Change #3: Test title

The concepts we know and love—form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, and responsibility—are staying the same, but the way we talk about them is evolving.

  • Key Concepts → Specified Concepts
  • Related Concepts → Additional Concepts

Why the change?

The major drive behind the change is to make the language clearer and more aligned with transdisciplinary thinking and planning.

Specified concepts are the ‘big ideas’ we explore across the transdisciplinary framework. They provide a shared language to help us explain the world and organize our mental schema across the PYP.

Additional concepts are the more specific, disciplinary ideas connected to our units. These concepts bring depth to units and help teachers target what students will understand in each subject.

And the best part? The descriptors for the concepts remain unchanged—just update the terminology.

Download the all-new specified concepts poster here.

Change #4: Again test title

No need to panic—the new transdisciplinary theme descriptors were released in December 2024, but there’s plenty of time to adapt. The official updates won’t appear in Principles to Practice until April 2025, and schools have until September 2027 to fully implement them (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2024).

Why the change?

In the Transdisciplinary Theme Descriptor Review Development Report (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2023), the IB outlined four key focus areas for the theme review:

  1. Purpose: Shifting the focus from human commonalities to the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world.
  2. Relevance: Updating language to reflect current global education research and making it more inclusive and relevant.
  3. Balance: Ensuring subjects and additional concepts are evenly distributed across themes to foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
  4. Advancement of the IB Mission: Encouraging action-oriented learning that addresses local and global challenges.

What’s new in the theme descriptors?

The revised descriptors now feature a driving sentence followed by three conceptual support statements, replacing the longer descriptions used previously. It’s important to note that these bullet points are not intended to serve as lines of inquiry.

The updated theme descriptors

Who We Are

An inquiry into identity as individuals and as part of a collective through:

  • Physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health and well-being
  • Relationships and belonging
  • Learning and growing

Where We Are in Place and Time

An inquiry into histories and orientation in place, space, and time through:

  • Physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health and well-being
  • Relationships and belonging
  • Learning and growing

Table of contents

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