Planning a scheme of work - a design and make task for teachers

Abstract

I have often felt that the processes which teachers have to go through in order to develop a scheme of work are very similar' to those involved in the designing and making of products. We have a situation or context - the school and department in which we work; from this we can devise a brief - to produce a scheme of work; and we have a range of resources with which to work. These resources include our own skills, expertise and experience, and published schemes and guidelines. As in all other designing we also have a number of constraints and these can include the teaching rooms and facilities, the skills and expertise of the teaching staff and the previous knowledge and experience of our pupils. Having devised our scheme, we implement it and evaluate the outcomes.