“Aspiração” — MYP Personal Projects Exhibition 2022

On 1 March 2022, the Aga Khan Academy Maputo’s Grade 10 students hosted their Personal Projects (PP) Exhibition titled “Aspiração” or aspiration in Portuguese. Being the first time that the AKA Maputo hosted a face-to-face PP Exhibition, the students displayed their work in the Academy Building and invited their families and colleagues to attend the exhibition.

 

“The Personal Project is a crucial requirement in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) which enables students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have developed across their subjects and to apply these skills to real-world situations,” said Personal Projects Coordinator and Physics teacher Sumeya Taquidir.

“It is a self-designed and interest-based project that each Grade 10 student focuses on for approximately 8-10 months,” she continued. “Not only do the students select their own project topics and select a challenging goal, but they also guide their own learning journeys and create a product in response to their own success criteria. Fundamentally, this equips them with critical thinking, problem solving and effective approaches to learning skills, all of which empowers each student to succeed in the future and encourages them to become lifelong learners.”

The PP Exhibition was inaugurated by Head of Academy Andrea Spinner, who congratulated the MYP students on their hard work. “Grade 10 students, the work that you are presenting, the criteria that you use and your thoughtful approach to your work is really going to set you up well as you continue moving forward, not only for your education but also for your life,” Andrea said. “I saw some incredible, thoughtful thinking while looking through the projects, and I am really pleased with the effort that has gone into your work.”

This was echoed by Dean of Studies and interim Senior School Principal Alejandro Zepeda, who said he was positively impressed by the students’ personal engagement and connection to the topics they selected for their projects. “Each student is clearly working on a topic that matters to them,” Alejandro said.

MYP Coordinator Smita Gangola explained the importance of the PP exhibition for the Grade 10 students, saying “As the name suggests, a Personal Project is a very ‘personal’ journey that the MYP Year 5 students embark on. It stems from personal interest leading to a learning goal and expands into an outcome that is intended to have far-reaching positive impacts on the community.”

“Despite the challenges, students have shown tremendous resilience and engagement to aspire to do something beyond the ‘ordinary’. I welcome everyone to take pride in their accomplishments, and I hope our Grade 10 students’ pursuit of excellence reaches unfathomable heights.”

This was echoed by Sumeya, who said “Due to the pandemic, the students had various limitations that caused them to adjust their goals. Nevertheless, they showed perseverance and were able to overcome these challenges. The PP exhibition went remarkably well and the students showed confidence in their presentations. They were able to articulate themselves well and effectively answered questions that they can now use for reflection and to improve their final PP report.”

Both Andrea and Smita extended their sincerest thanks to all supervisors for the guidance and support extended to the students throughout their PP journey. “And a special thanks to Sumeya for bringing everything together so beautifully,” Smita said.

 

Click here to see photo highlights from the MYP Personal Projects Exhibition 2022.