Programming
Developing a quality program is a vital element of the teaching and learning cycle. Essentially, a teacher’s program is a legally binding record of how and when syllabus requirements are met for the class or individual students. The document contains a sequence of learning episodes for a school year that is differentiated according to the learning needs of a particular year level, class and/or students (NSW BOS 2012b). The following section aims to provide a range of tips on how to design an effective teaching program by using the ‘backward design model’ (Wiggins & McTighe 2005).
1. core concepts
The first step of programming is to develop overarching concepts or ‘big ideas’ that the students are going to work towards understanding over the course of the year. These concepts act as yearlong learning goals and inform the choice of topics, outcomes, teaching and learning episodes, strategies and resources to be used during each unit of work. Big ideas need to be developmentally meaningful and able to address content that is relevant to the students’ real worlds (Churchill et al. 2011).
To complement the ‘big ideas’, a range of essential questions should be recorded. Each question should aim to be open-ended and difficult to answer, allowing the students to revisit them over the duration of a unit (Wiggins & McTighe 2005). Once the broad concepts and questions for each unit of work have been decided upon, the topics / themes and specific concepts of the units that the students will be required to understand can be decided upon and briefly described in a unit overview.
To complement the ‘big ideas’, a range of essential questions should be recorded. Each question should aim to be open-ended and difficult to answer, allowing the students to revisit them over the duration of a unit (Wiggins & McTighe 2005). Once the broad concepts and questions for each unit of work have been decided upon, the topics / themes and specific concepts of the units that the students will be required to understand can be decided upon and briefly described in a unit overview.
2. Syllabus outcomes
The second step of programming is to identify the syllabus outcomes that the students are going to be working towards during each unit of work according to the topics and concepts established earlier. Each outcome is essential in planning learning and assessment experiences, tracking student development, measuring student achievement and reporting student achievement to school staff and parents (NSW BOS 2012b). Syllabus outcomes drive all stages of the teaching and learning cycle, as evidenced in figure 1 on the right.
An effective program also highlights the links to syllabus outcomes across all key-learning areas within a single unit of work. This strategy is known as the ‘interdisciplinary approach’ and is endorsed by all Australian Curriculum frameworks. When applying this approach, units of work are based on a single topic that incorporate two or more key learning areas and allows students to fulfill syllabus outcomes from a wide variety of subject areas (Wiggins & McTighe 2005). |
3. assessment and reporting
Now that the learning outcomes have been identified, the next step is plan a number of assessment tasks and strategies that will provide evidence of whether or not students have fulfilled each outcome. “The purpose of assessment is to gather valid, reliable and useful information about student learning” (NSW BOS 2012a). Assessments should be ongoing to track students’ knowledge, understanding, skills and progress, and varied to provide a bigger picture of their strengths and weaknesses (Tompkins, Campbell & Green 2012). Teachers can then use the gathered information to guide future teaching and learning, and provide constructive feedback to encourage and support student improvement (NSW BOS 2012a; Tompkins, Campbell & Green 2012). This is essential as teachers make decisions about what to teach and how to teach.
An essential component to the backward design model of programming is using a pre-assessment task at the beginning of a unit to attain information regarding the students’ prior knowledge and areas of developmental weakness (Wiggins & McTighe 2005). Throughout the duration of the unit, a number of formative assessment tasks should be planned to provide ongoing evidence of student understanding and to monitor their development. At the end of the unit, a summative assessment should be planned to identify outcome achievement and evidence to present to parents and future teachers (Churchill et al. 2011). Another words, assessment will place students where they are at and allow teachers to plan according to where they need to be (Tomlinson 2008).
Click here to read about NAPLAN.
An essential component to the backward design model of programming is using a pre-assessment task at the beginning of a unit to attain information regarding the students’ prior knowledge and areas of developmental weakness (Wiggins & McTighe 2005). Throughout the duration of the unit, a number of formative assessment tasks should be planned to provide ongoing evidence of student understanding and to monitor their development. At the end of the unit, a summative assessment should be planned to identify outcome achievement and evidence to present to parents and future teachers (Churchill et al. 2011). Another words, assessment will place students where they are at and allow teachers to plan according to where they need to be (Tomlinson 2008).
Click here to read about NAPLAN.
4. Knowing your students
Before progressing to the planning of teaching sequences and content, it is important to consider the individual learning needs of each student. According to Tomlinson and McTighe (2006), by differentiating the curriculum, all students can learn the same content by taking an approach to learning that suits their specific learner profile. Learner profiles may differ due to the following factors:
It is vital that teachers collect data regarding their students’ learning profiles before planning the content, presentation and assessment strategies of learning sequences. Such data can be collected during informal conversations with students and their parents, personal questionnaires and pre-assessments before the commencement of a unit. Whilst planning units of work, teachers can differentiate the curriculum in the following ways (Churchill et al. 2011):
- Learning styles: visual, linguistic, kinaesthetic and technological
- Multiple intelligences: linguistic, mathematical, visual, kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic intelligence (Gardner 1993)
- Personal interests
- Cultural background / life experiences
- Zone of proximal development (Vygotsky 1979)
- Specific learning difficulties
It is vital that teachers collect data regarding their students’ learning profiles before planning the content, presentation and assessment strategies of learning sequences. Such data can be collected during informal conversations with students and their parents, personal questionnaires and pre-assessments before the commencement of a unit. Whilst planning units of work, teachers can differentiate the curriculum in the following ways (Churchill et al. 2011):
- Negotiate some aspects of the learning process with the students
- Offering the students choices about the presentation of knowledge for assessment
- Implementing individual learning plans or contracts
5. Flexibility
One of the most important elements of an effective program is its flexibility, that is, the ease by which the teacher can divert form the original plan and still maintain a high level of intellectual quality and significance. Such flexibility can be achieved in the following ways:
- Ensuring the content and goals of the lesson are open-ended and can be achieved in multiple ways
- Designing student-centered learning experiences
- Allowing room for unexpected scenarios and changing student interests/needs
6. critical reflection
The ability to ‘think on your feet’ as an educator is not only an essential skill in the classroom, it is equally critical during self reflection outside of the classroom, as evaluating past lessons and deciding to redesign future lessons requires rapid planning. This is why critical reflection on past lessons is necessary when programming throughout the year. Unexpected circumstances, rapidity of student progress, student disengagement and disinterest, the usefulness of resources and students failing to reach expected outcomes are some of the wide range of reasons that can contribute to program redesign (Mason 2002). Teachers need to become ‘reflective practitioners’ by constantly reflecting on the effectiveness of their lessons and pedagogy, both during and after lessons, if they are to maximise student learning (Churchill et al. 2011).
For more information
Program builder
https://pb.bos.nsw.edu.au/
BOSTES programming information page
http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/programming/
NSW DEC Programming policy
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/curric_plan/PD20050290.shtml
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/curric_plan/policystandards161006.pdf
https://pb.bos.nsw.edu.au/
BOSTES programming information page
http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/programming/
NSW DEC Programming policy
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/curric_plan/PD20050290.shtml
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/curric_plan/policystandards161006.pdf
references
Churchill, R 2011, Teaching: making a difference, Milton, Qld. : John Wiley and Sons Australia, 2011.
Gardner, H 1993, Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice, Basic books.
Mason, J 2002, Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing, Routledge.
New South Wales Board of Studies (NSW BOS), 2012a, Kindergarten-year 6 assessment strategies, Board of studies, accessed 12/8/2015, http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/k-6-assessment-strategies/
New South Wales Board of Studies (NSW BOS) 2012b, Programming, Board of Studies NSW, accessed 19/08/2015, http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/programming/
Tomlinson, CA & McTighe, J 2006, Integrating differentiated instruction & understanding by design: connecting content and kids, Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, CA 2008, “The goals of differentiation”, Educational Leadership, vol. 66, no. 3, p. 26-30.
Tompkins, G, Campbell, R & Green, E 2012, Literacy for the 21st Century, Pearson, Australia.
Vygotsky, LS 1979, ‘The development of higher forms of attention in childhood’, Soviet Psychology, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 67-115.
Wiggins, GP & McTighe, J 2005, Understanding by design, Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Gardner, H 1993, Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice, Basic books.
Mason, J 2002, Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing, Routledge.
New South Wales Board of Studies (NSW BOS), 2012a, Kindergarten-year 6 assessment strategies, Board of studies, accessed 12/8/2015, http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/k-6-assessment-strategies/
New South Wales Board of Studies (NSW BOS) 2012b, Programming, Board of Studies NSW, accessed 19/08/2015, http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/programming/
Tomlinson, CA & McTighe, J 2006, Integrating differentiated instruction & understanding by design: connecting content and kids, Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, CA 2008, “The goals of differentiation”, Educational Leadership, vol. 66, no. 3, p. 26-30.
Tompkins, G, Campbell, R & Green, E 2012, Literacy for the 21st Century, Pearson, Australia.
Vygotsky, LS 1979, ‘The development of higher forms of attention in childhood’, Soviet Psychology, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 67-115.
Wiggins, GP & McTighe, J 2005, Understanding by design, Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.