Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 60

Designing the Classroom Curriculum Of course, not all the information thrown up by questions fits a template and is better used as reference and background information. It is advisable to keep ‘answers’ to each question succinct and in ‘ready-reference’ format. This makes reviewing the plan as a busy teacher far easier. This task is made possible by referencing the specifics to a portfolio of associated ‘details’. While the learning management questions are presented in numerical order, Question 1, 2 and so on, it is the phases that dictate the order in which the questions are answered. Question numbers are for reference purposes (see Figure 3.2 for the phases). Therefore, on entering a phase, consider each set of questions as an inter-related group. Answers to any one question are affected by the other associated questions. For example, teachers often undertake the outcomes phase by referring to the focal learning outcomes (i.e. Learning Management Question 2) before attending to Learning Management Question 1, where student achievements to date are outlined. 8 Questions ‘Answered’ to form a Classroom Curriculum From the outset, and especially from the perspective of the novice teacher, the application of the Learning Management Design Process (LMDP) will appear daunting. There are many considerations and the time to extract and format such information is considerable. However, if a teacher wants all students to make the required learning gains, then a thorough application of the process seems imperative. There is light at the end of the tunnel as the following explains. Being a capable and experienced teacher means that the process is eventually internalised, not unlike how a dentist knows instinctively the rudiments of various dental procedures and the likely scenarios for procedures and recovery. Accumulated experience in this learning management approach enables a teacher to reduce planning time to fit curriculum programming needs. That is to say, the capable experienced teacher who knows the process uses it as part of their everyday professional repertoire and may not rely on as much written detail to initiate teaching strategies. The use of the eight learning management design questions and the associated steps that we are about to outline, are generic to any size or type of teaching program. In simple terms ‘answers’ or ‘findings’ from each question can be constituted as a lesson plan, a series of sequential lessons or a unit of work. In all cases they are generically referred to as the ‘classroom curriculum’. Depending on the classroom curriculum development context (size, scale and scope), the format of the learning management plan ‘template’ will vary but the questions stay the same. In more simple terms, the larger the teaching program (i.e. the time frame and number of associated lessons) the more complex and involved the process. In turn, the documentation template in which to record such ‘answers’ grows and increases in complexity as the teaching program is scaled up. Our advice is worry less about the plan presentation--- the template and it’s formatting--- and more on the ‘answers’ and how each inter-relates to the other to form a concrete and informed plan for teaching. If you focus on the ‘answers’ then the way you collate all this is commensurate to what you need to reference and guide each sequential ‘lesson’. 60