PLANNING TEACHING
Teaching plan is a document that outlines the structure and details of a single session.
A good teaching plan is a comprehensive write-up of the step-by-step teaching methods, the estimated duration of each segment of teaching, and the materials and resources needed for the session.
Importance of Drawing a Teaching Plan/Lesson Plan
Teaching planning is essential as it provides a guide for the day’s lessons and gives the teacher a clear direction for the day’s activities. Here are some key reasons for its importance:
- It organizes the subject matter effectively.
- It prevents thoughtless teaching.
- It fosters the proper atmosphere for the learning process.
- It ensures that the learning objectives (integral components of the lesson plan) are central to all classroom activities.
- It allows the teacher to design an assessment plan to evaluate whether the class has met its targets.
- It provides clarity on when to start the evaluation and when to proceed to the next lesson.
- Lesson plans promote organized teaching and save time.
- They enable the teacher to select appropriate teaching strategies.
- They make the teacher more prepared and confident while teaching the lesson.
Note: FAIL TO PLAN = PLAN TO FAIL
Factors to Consider When Planning Teaching
Needs, Capabilities, and Interests of the Learner: It’s important to understand the individual needs, capabilities, and interests of your students. This knowledge guides your teaching approach and ensures that your lessons are engaging and relevant to your learners.
Psychological Knowledge of the Learner: Familiarize yourself with what your students already know or have learned from their previous teachers. This knowledge is crucial for effective instruction and helps you build upon their existing knowledge.
Learning Experience: Define the learning experiences you want your students to gain. This will help you determine the most suitable method for delivering the content and engaging your students effectively.
Social and Physical Environment of the Learner: Create a conducive environment for learning the subject matter. Ensure that the classroom environment supports the learning objectives, making it easier for students to focus and participate.
Lesson Plan Materials/Tools: Utilize a variety of resources and materials to enhance your lesson plan’s success. Consider using audio/visual aids, the latest technologies, and library resources to support your teaching materials.
Goals and Results (Learning Objectives): Clearly outline the goals and expected results for your lesson plan and your students. This provides a clear direction for both you and your learners.
The Content/Subject Matter: Possess a thorough understanding of the content you’ll be teaching. Study the topic, and ensure you have mastery of the subject matter to effectively convey it to your students.
Evaluation and Feedback: Continuously evaluate and correct your lessons. Use methods like questions, quizzes, and feedback from both teachers and students to ensure that learning is taking place and that you have achieved your goals.
CURRICULUM
Curriculum refers to the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college. A curriculum is also a plan or program of all experiences which the learner encounters under the direction of a school.
TYPES OF CURRICULA
Official curriculum/Intended curriculum: This is the curriculum as written down on paper in syllabuses.
Actual curriculum/Operational curriculum: This is what is implemented in practice in schools.
Assessed/examined curriculum: This is that part of the taught curriculum that is actually assessed.
Null curriculum: This is curriculum that we do not teach, thus giving students the message that these elements are not important in their educational experiences or in our society, such as critical thinking, inquiry, and intellectual development.
DETERMINANTS OF CURRICULUM:
Curriculum determinants are the factors influencing a particular type of curriculum design.
Educational philosophy: Educational philosophy is a crucial determinant of the curriculum development process by helping clarify our thought and mind process. The purpose of nursing education is to bring about desirable behavioral changes in nursing students to enable them to render comprehensive nursing.
Educational psychology: This enables us to follow the psychological development of learners and helps us know whether the children have developed adequately to be able to understand certain concepts. For example, in the first year, nurses start with microbiology, anatomy, and physiology, and then advance to medical and surgical content in the second year.
Society: There are many aspects of society that need consideration in curriculum making, such as culture, health needs, socioeconomic issues e.t.c Therefore there is need to include what is applicable and relevant to the society.
Student: Since modern curriculum is student-centered, nursing education must address the needs of the students without neglecting patient’s rights. Additionally, it should prepare students for the future by enabling them to fulfill other roles in addition to those of a professional nurse.
Knowledge: Knowledge that students need to acquire. Increased specialization has led to individuals focusing on specific segments of knowledge. For example, midwives may not study surgical nursing and medical nursing because they specialize in midwifery. This has led to an explosion of knowledge and specialization. Therefore, specific criteria should be established for selecting the knowledge to be included in a particular curriculum.
Resources: The development of a viable curriculum depends on the availability of tangible and intangible resources. Tangible resources include teachers, textbooks, and physical facilities, while intangible resources encompass motivation, interest, and intelligence.
ELEMENTS/COMPONENTS OF THE CURRICULUM
The most commonly used model, known as Wheeler’s model, comprises five components:
AIMS, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES: Aims, goals, and objectives pertain to a terminal point towards which we are working or heading.
Aims: Aims are the broadest statements that convey the values held for an educational program. For example, the aim of universal primary education in Uganda today is to enhance socio-economic development.
Goals: Goals are a more specific form of aims. They describe the purposes of a course and provide curriculum planners with a foundation for selecting curriculum content. For instance, the goal of universal primary education is to ensure that all school-age children attend school to acquire basic education.
Objectives: Objectives are specific statements outlining what learners should be capable of doing after experiencing the curriculum or a portion of it. Objectives are categorized at two levels: Curriculum and instructional objectives.
CONTENT: Content refers to subject matter or what knowledge, concepts, principles, generalizations, theories, techniques, and procedures are to be used in a particular subject. In curriculum, the criteria for selection of content are:
Validity: Content is valid if it promotes the outcomes it is supposed to promote. This is the extent to which selected content is true.
Significance: Refers to the suitability of the material chosen to meet certain needs and ability levels of the learners.
Needs and interests of the learner: Learnability; It must also be consistent with social realities.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES: Learning experiences are the interactions between the learner and the environment within the school setting, determining what the learners will be able to do by the end of the course. Criteria for selecting learning experiences consider the following:
- Conformity with objective: The experiences must align with the curriculum objectives to give students the opportunity to practice the desired behaviors.
- Learnability: Learning experiences should be adjusted to the learners’ abilities and differences, starting from where the student knows.
- Interest: Students are likely to interact with stimulating situations.
- Relevance to life: Learners must see the purpose of education in their everyday lives.
- Consistency with social reality: Learning experiences must align with the actual situation at home or in society.
- Variety: Creativity in choosing from a range of educational experiences aiming at the same objectives.
- Satisfaction: Learning experiences should provide satisfaction from carrying out the desired behavior implied by the objectives.
EVALUATION: Evaluation is the process of determining how far or to what extent the learning experiences developed, organized, and exposed are actually producing the desired outcomes. It enables comparison of actual outcomes with expected outcomes (or objectives) and leads to conclusions for further action.
SYLLABUS
A syllabus is a document that communicates information about a specific course unit and defines expectations and responsibilities. It provides relevant qualifications for teaching the class.
Elements of syllabus:
- General course information, That tells students what the course is about, why the course is important, and generally what they can expect from the course. This section will include;
- the course title,
- course description,
- course learning outcomes or objectives.
2. Specific course information, That tells students exactly what will be required of them throughout the course , when in the term they will be required to do what and how their work in the course will be evaluated. This section will include;
- content to be covered in specified time,
- detailing required assignments,
- assignment descriptions, required
- recommended texts,
- required examinations,
- course calendar, and
- grading overview and criteria.