PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs

on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

INTRODUCTION It is necessary to plan activities for every institution because it serves as a guide and a monitoring device. Once this has been prepared, it is very necessary to follow the plans. As teachers, we need to have careful plans to ensure that we achieve our goal within the limited time. Planning can help us teachers to; a) Determine approaches, methods and skills that are suitable for the content and the objectives. b) Select suitable resources to help best achieve the objectives. c) Familiarize (internalize) content hence assist teaching to be effective. d) Effectively and efficiently use the available time and other resources by prioritizing. The skill of planning instruction involves fitting work planned into available time in the term, allowing for holidays, testing periods, indicating what is to be taught and the like through Schemes of Work (SoW). SCHEMES OF WORK DEFINITION Activity 1; Ask participants to be in pairs to brainstorm the meaning of schemes of work. o Schemes of Work (SoW) can simply be defined as a sequence of topics broken down into teachable units per week. A scheme of work is a plan of what will be covered in each week or session of the learning programme or course.
o

Nicholas Twoli (2006) defines a scheme of work as a document containing topics from the syllabus broken down into sub-topics which can be taught in a specified period of time usually a school term.1

o A scheme of work defines the structure and content of a course. It maps out clearly how resources (e.g. books, equipment, time) and class activities (e.g. teacher-talk, group work, practicals, discussions) and assessment strategies (e.g. tests, quizzes, Q&A, homework) will be used to ensure that the learning aims and objectives of the course are met. It will normally include times and dates. The scheme of work is usually an interpretation of a specification or syllabus indicating the amount of work to be covered during the term or year and can be used as a guide throughout the course to monitor progress against the original plan.2 The definitions above imply that time; structure and content are key component of Schemes of work. From the syllabus teachers make schemes of work which go together with Records of Work (what has been accomplished or statements which indicates actual work pupils were discussing to learn and how well it was done). WHEN SHOULD SCHEMES OF WORK BE PREPARED Schemes of work are prepared before the term begins to maximize the use of the available time for teaching and learning.

PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

Activity 2 What should be done before (activities preceding) drawing schemes of work and what is the role of the Head teachers and heads of Department? Holding Departmental and Staff meetings to plan for the coming term. Subject/ period allocations in the departments and approval during staff meetings. Purchase of Scheme books, pens and other stationery required. Planning together dead line for the submission of Schemes of work for checking by the HODs and approval (stamping) by the DHT/HTs to be an Official document.

Many schools, teachers and head teachers committed to teaching and learning recognize the importance of schemes and records of work. Schemes are planned and prepared by all teachers well ahead of time before the term begins and checked (validated) by the Heads of Departments HoDs before being stamped by the Head teacher or Deputy. REQUIREMENTS IN PREPARING SCHEMES OF WORK AND RECORDS OF WORK Pre-planning stage When designing a scheme of work, there are a number of factors that should be taken into consideration. The teacher has to consider the groups of students he/she is going to teach in conjunction with the objectives of the syllabus, materials available in core textbooks and other resources. Then the teacher chooses appropriate content and activities to match the objective, the skills, the values and attitudes that learners need to acquire.

teacher's knowledge of the syllabus

teacher's knowledge of the students

teachers' knowledge of core textbooks

objectives

knowledge of skills, values and attitudes

Content

activities

planning ;
---schemes of work ----Lesson Plans

In preparing Schemes of Work, teachers must have adequate knowledge on the following areas of requirements. The subject syllabus - determines the scope, outline content, success criteria.

PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

Core (Recommended) Textbooks detailed content (concepts) and Skills. Subject matrices- Number of periods per week for each subject at each level. School Calendar- Number of Weeks, dates of school opening and closing, holidays. Available resources- consider availability of laboratories, library, models and school garden. Identification of students needs- ability and previous knowledge

The schemes of work are based on the syllabus, textbooks and the school calendar. From the schemes of work the teacher prepares lesson plans to guide him or her when teaching which are tools necessary for effective teaching. Syllabus familiarization Teachers need to be familiar with the syllabus and use it as an effective tool in the teaching and learning process. Teachers should teach everything as guided by the syllabus, and should not assume that students already have knowledge. It is clearly important that teachers should be familiar with the syllabus documents so that they can find their way around it and have a deeper understanding of the Content of the Syllabus. Teachers must be familiar with the teaching syllabus so that they can decide what and how to teach and so that they understand what is expected of them. A teacher cannot plan for valid teaching and learning activities for her or his classes in the absence of the syllabus. He or she must acquire the syllabus which should be the basis for scheming of lessons. Teachers should study the syllabus to decide the logical sequence when arranging topics. It also reminds them of the goals (purpose), of teaching a particular subject and the substance (content) that is to be covered. Activity 3 In your groups, list the major sections of the syllabus and their use. Syllabus section a. National goal of education; use guides the teacher to what the society expects education to achieve at different levels. b. Secondary school education objectives; c. Subject rationale; guide the teacher to what pupils are supposed to have achieved at the end of course. explains the purpose of offering the subject at secondary school Level. d. Subject objectives; guides the teacher about specific knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that students acquire in the subject. e. Themes (list of skills and values); guide the teacher on major areas that the syllabus covers. This provides him/her with a framework on which to plan his /her work. They are also

PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

useful when it comes to supplementing textbooks with articles form available resources. Teachers must ensure that they develop the skills and values listed in their lessons. f. Scope and sequence chart; this show the depth and breadth of subject matter in order to avoid digression or omission and to ensure full coverage of the curriculum from known to the unknown. g. The actual teaching syllabus; Activity 4 In groups, look at the national goals of education and secondary education objectives. Single out those that relate to your subject. COMPONENTS OF THE TEACHING SYLLABUS Activity 5 In groups explain the importance use of the different columns of the actual teaching syllabus for lesson preparation and actual teaching process. Syllabus column/ component I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Importance or use Theme guides the teacher on the major areas the subject covers. This provides him a framework on which to plan his/her work. Topic it helps the teacher to break the theme into teachable units. Objectives guide the teacher to achieve the intended objectives for each topic and they spell out knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to be achieved at the end of each topic. Content gives the teacher a guide on the material to be used and covered to achieve the objectives of each topic. Suggested Learning activities guide the teacher on a variety of activities that could be used in the lesson according to the nature of the class and lesson. Suggested teaching and learning materials their lessons. suggest some materials teachers may use in it contains the details of what should be taught.

Suggested modes of assessment suggest various methods of assessment based on particular skill, objective and content. It is important in every lesson the teacher should determine learners achievement. All core textbooks have been approved by MoEST and will cover at least 80% of the syllabus. Schools should buy a class set of these books with TRF though little. However, no core textbook will be perfect for any one class. Teachers must therefore supplement the core textbook with other supplementary materials where necessary. The core textbook should therefore be evaluated in terms of syllabus coverage by looking on table of contents and look through the whole book in detail. Teachers should do this before scheming so that they can find out how much they need. Teachers should know where the gaps are in core textbooks so that they can easily supplementary materials. Other

Core textbook familiarization

PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

textbooks should be used when the core textbook does not deal with an area adequately or is unsuitable for a particular group of students. PARTS/COMPONENTS OF SCHEMES OF WORK AND RECORDS OF WORK After the teacher has familiarized himself/herself with the syllabus and the core text books, he/she can go on to plan a scheme of work as seen in the attached Format of SoW. DESIGNING SCHEMES OF WORK. Experience shows that there are some Schemes of work which are quite detailed while others are quite outlined (sketchy) (a lot of evidence show that some Sow are hurriedly written by teachers and some of they are not detailed enough). Furthermore, for many teachers, completing records of work is pausing serious challenges. Nevertheless, detailed schemes of work are recommended because they give a lot of guidance to teachers and other stakeholders as well as right balance between curriculum interpretation and implementation as a policy. Activity 6 In groups prepare a weeks schemes of work for any form on your subject. Think about the students that you have, look at the syllabus, what is available in the core text books you are using. You can also use supplementary materials. (Activity time 20 minutes, reporting time 5 minutes per group). IMPORTANCE OF SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK It is important to prepare Schemes of Work and update the Records of Work because they; Ensure that all topics are drawn by going through the syllabus topic by topic, and sub-topics in the SoW are sequentially arranged (logical sequence) to ensure meaningful learning. Guide teachers on what, when and how to assess teaching and learning (content / objectives and assessment criteria). Provide continuity in the work and the learning process during handovers especially during the school year. (Remarks on RoW). A teacher who takes over a class will know where to start. Regulate teachers to apportion time proportionately, giving more time to difficult topics than simple ones. Demonstrate accountability to their employers and learners. Help the Ministry officials, education advisors and Head teachers to evaluate the work of the teacher (check what the pupils are learning i.e. what they have covered or not). Assist to evaluate and determine the quality and quantity of teaching and learning taking place in the school in terms of appropriateness of content, approaches and meeting needs of the pupils. Help to keep the teacher updated (abreast) with suggestions and reviews every term and year. Helps a teacher to draw better schemes of work for the following term/academic year (influx of new knowledge). Help / guide in making Lesson Plans as they provide supporting information about planning and teaching.

PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

Guide the teacher to identify teaching methods and prepare T/L Aids in advance. Enables teachers of different subjects to coordinate their efforts. Shows successes and failures of the lesson and on what should be done if a lesson is a failure. Helps to indicate how much time has been spent on each lesson (pace of teaching). As a planning tool, Sow can also be seen as a time management tool. The time spent on developing a scheme of work at the start of the term is small compared to the time saved for delivering the course in accordance with it. SoW allows teaching staff to organize their work so that teaching remains on target and in accordance with the syllabus.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHECKING SCHEMES OF WORK BY HoDS One of the role/duty of HoDs is to supervise teaching and learning in the department by a) Checking Schemes and Records of Work and Lesson Plans. b) Observing teaching to ensure that the syllabus is being followed correctly and that appropriate methods of teaching are used. So, the HoDs should check Schemes and Records of Work to ensure that; 1. Guided by the national syllabus (based on the syllabus). 2. Prepared for the entire term (in accordance with an official academic calendar. 3. Use of recommended textbooks as priority. 4. Planning a variety of participatory methods relevant to the learning tasks and content so that pupils develop the skills required through the syllabus. 5. Schemes of work are fully prepared in detail. 6. Important details of preamble (preliminary details) are filled important information are seen. 7. The subtopics are related and are sequenced logically. 8. A scheme of Work is followed to the letter by checking the RoW. 9. RoWs are updated properly and remarks are evaluative. 10. Continuous assessment (means of evaluation) is planned and done. correctly and no omissions of

PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR LESSONS: SCHEMES AND RECORDS OF WORK Presented During Ntchisi Cluster INSET of HoDs on 27th October, By Andrew D. Mkomba (Senior Inspector of School-CEED)

2012

CONCLUSION: A Scheme of Work is a plan of teaching based on the syllabus that must be prepared by all teachers. Its preparation involves an accurate interpretation of the course syllabus and writing down the topics or concepts in a sequential order relative to all teachers for them to draw detailed Schemes of Work and carry out effective evaluation of the teaching and learning processes. Preparation and use of Schemes and Records of Work has many advantages to teachers, learners and the education system as a whole. WAY FORWARD It is a professional and ethical requirement for teachers to prepare detailed SoW before school open. Head Teachers and Heads of Departments must attach value to and encourage teachers to draw SoW. All teachers must prepare SoW using a Syllabus and various relevant textbooks. Head of Depatrment must validate Sow of Work before the head or deputy stamps. Teachers must appropriately fill the records of Work to evaluate actual teaching and learning process with indicators. Continuous assessment for teaching and learning must be planned for in Schemes and Records of Work a part from the of term tests.

ENDNOTES 1. Nicholas W. Twoli (2006). Teaching Secondary School Chemistry: a textbook for Chemistry Teachers in Developing Countries. Nairobi, Kenya. P.140 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_of_work