Planning and making decisions about instruction are among the most important aspects of teaching, because they are major determinants of what is taught in schools and how it is taught.
It is sometimes difficult to learn planning skills from experienced teachers, because most of their planning activities are hidden from public view.
The traditional perspective of planning is based on rational-linear models characterized by setting goals and taking specific actions to accomplish desired outcomes. The knowledge base suggests that teacher planning and decision making do not always conform to rational-linear planning models. Newer perspectives on planning put more emphasis on planners' action and reflections.
Theoretical and Empirical Support
Studies have shown that planning has consequences for both student learning and classroom behavior. It can enhance student motivation, help focus student learning, and decrease classroom management problems.
Planning can have unanticipated negative effects as well; for example, it can limit self-initiated learning on the part of students and make teachers insensitive to student ideas.
Experienced teachers and beginning teachers have different planning approaches and needs. Experienced teachers are more concerned with establishing structures ahead of time to guide classroom activities and plan ahead for the adaptations needed as lessons get under way. In general, beginning teachers need more detailed plans than experienced teachers do. They devote more of their planning to verbal instructions and respond more often to student interests.
Planning Domains
Teacher planning is multifaceted but relates to three phases of teaching: prior to instruction, in which decisions are made about what will be taught and for how long; the instructional phase, in which decisions are made about questions to ask, wait time, and specific observations; and after instruction, where decisions are made about how to evaluate student progress and what type of feedback to provide.
Planning cycles include not only daily plans but also plans for each week, month, and year. The details of these various plans differ, however. Plans carried out on a particular day are influenced by what has happened before and will in turn influence future plans.
The Specifics of Planning
One of the most complex planning tasks is choosing curriculum content. Standards and frameworks developed by professional societies and by state and local curriculum committees assist in making these decisions. A number of planning tools also can help teachers, including curriculum mapping.
Curriculum mapping is a planning tool that allows groups of teachers to chart what they are teaching across grade levels and content fields. This type of planning identifies gaps and overlaps.
Instructional objectives are statements that describe the student changes that should result from instruction. Behavioral objectives include statements about expected student behavior, the testing situation in which the behavior will be observed, and performance criteria. An objective written in a more general format communicates the teacher's overall intent but lacks the precision of a behavioral objective.
Taxonomies are devices that help classify and show relationships between things. Bloom's taxonomy, which is the most widely used device in the field, classifies objectives in three important domains — the cognitive, the affective, and the psychomotor.
Formats for lesson plans can vary, but in general, a good plan includes a clear statement of objectives, a sequence of learning activities, and a means of evaluating student learning.
Unit plans cover chunks of instruction that can span several days or weeks. Like lesson plans, the format can vary, but a good unit plan includes overall objectives for the unit, major content to be covered, syntax or phrases of the unit, major assignments, and assessment procedures.
Time-tabling techniques, such as making a chronological map of a series of instructional activities, can assist with long-range planning tasks.
Effective teachers know how to make good formal plans. They have also learned how to make adjustments when plans prove to be inappropriate or ineffective.
Through the planning process, teacher can vary time, materials, and learning activities for the purpose of meeting the needs of every student in the class.
Planning for Time and Space
Time and space are scarce commodities in teaching, and their use should be planned with care and foresight.
Research on time shows considerable variation from teacher to teacher on the amount of time allocated to different subject areas.
The amount of time students spend on a task is related to how much they learn. Students in classrooms in which allocated time is high and a large proportion of students is engaged learn more than in a classroom where allocated time is low and students are found off task.
Space — the arrangement of materials, desks, and students — is another important resource that is planned and managed by teachers. The way space is used affects the learning atmosphere of classrooms, influences classroom dialogue and communication, and has important cognitive and emotional effects on students.
The use of time and space is influenced by the demands of the learning tasks. Effective teachers develop an attitude of flexibility and experimentation about these features of classroom life.
