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Mauritius: The Importance of Planning - "To teach successfully, one must plan successfully."
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L'Express (Port Louis)
22 January 2008
Posted to the web 24 January 2008
Shardha Sandapen
Port Louis
An effective teacher spends a great deal of time on careful and detailed planning.
Planning begins at the beginning of the year when a teacher thinks about what is to be achieved with his/her class. This involves reflection on the age, needs, abilities and interests of the students, discussion of school policy in different subject areas, review of subject matter for the year level, checking of references and resources, deciding upon teaching strategies, determining class organisation and selecting evaluation procedures. These activities are closely linked to the teacher's philosophy and beliefs about teaching.
This yearly planning is translated into a term, monthly or unit programme by the teacher. This programme of work is then used as a basis for weekly, daily, and single lesson planning. Most teachers keep a Daily Work Pad or Record of Work for this kind of short term planning. Great emphasis should be laid on sound planning in teaching as it helps to make learning more purposeful, efficient and effective. It does this by ensuring that the teacher is organised and has a clear idea of what, when, how and why the students will learn.
It also gives the teacher a feeling of confidence, by reducing anxiety and providing him/her with a sense of direction. Moreover, it allows the teacher to think through potential problems before the lesson. This makes it easier to deal with problems and to cope with any change of plan or incidental happenings during teaching. Another fact is that it encourages reflection about students, learning objectives, subject matter, learning experiences and evaluation.
Planning is also an administrative requirement. Principals, heads of department, senior staff and even relief or temporary teachers need documentation of a teacher's learning programme. Despite the importance of planning in teaching, it must be emphasized that a plan is only a guide to action. From time to time, it is necessary to adapt or change the plan to meet the needs of the students, pursue interests or take advantage of opportunities for spontaneous or incidental teaching.
In many ways a teaching plan is very much like planning for a holiday. It helps you know where, when, how and why you are going and what you are going to do when you get there. Yet the best moments are often when you depart from your plan to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities. Planning for teaching is like that.
Here is a short list of five key questions that teachers need to ask themselves while planning their lessons:
- What background factors need to be considered in planning this learning experience? (The background)
- What should the students learn as a result of this learning experience? (The learning objectives)
- What knowledge, concepts, generalisations or skills have to be covered? In what order? (The subject matter)
- What experiences will help the students learn this subject matter? (The learning experiences)
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- How will I know what, and how much, the students have learned? (The evaluation)
(Reference: Barry k. & King L, 1994, Second Ed.,
Beginning Teaching, Social Science Press, Australia.)
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