The curriculum is already defined for us. Now, it is up to us how we plan to teach this curriculum in the most effective way to meet all the curricular objectives. Sequential planning for progression of learners is a crucial aspect of curriculum development. To do so, teachers must focus on certain aspects to ensure effective teaching and learning.
Mr P, our mathematics teacher, always plans his lessons sequentially. He teaches addition, then makes his learners practice the concept. When they are done, to teach them multiplication, he begins with addition again and then lets them know that repeated addition is multiplication. That’s how he progresses from one concept to another.
Focus Area: Skills development
Objective: To encourage the learners to learn new skills or practise and strengthen existing skills
When teaching ‘Profit and Loss’ to his learners, Mr P also gets them to create bills and talks to his learners about saving money while shopping. This way, he makes them aware of their surroundings in addition to teaching them a mathematics concept.
Focus Area: Promotion of contextual learning
Objective: To integrate different disciplines for the holistic development of learners
Mr P uses a variety of activities, textbook exercises, worksheets, games, and simulations in order to practice concepts in order to teach concepts in the classroom.
Focus Area: Provision of a range of instructional tools for lesson delivery
Objective: To engage learners in the process of learning
Mr P asks a lot of questions in his classroom. He assesses his learners in the classroom in multiple ways. Sometimes, he just asks them hinge-based questions to check their understanding. Other times, he gives them a pop quiz. He always ensures that he does a baseline assessment before starting a new concept.
Focus Area: Development of smooth build-up of knowledge
Objective: To ensure effective achievement of learning outcomes
His is a diverse class with multi-level learners, with different learning preferences, so Mr P uses a wide range of strategies to teach his learners. From PowerPoint presentations, to hands-on activities, his classes always seem exciting to each of his learners.
Focus Area: Creation of a wide range of learning experiences
Objective: To address needs, interests and preferences of diverse learners
In practice, we may combine multiple approaches together to teach one lesson. We must remember that our planning must ensure that all these approaches support and relate to one another.
To explore the topic further, feel free to check out our course on Curriculum Design and Development.
