Chapter 2: Beginning to Teach

As you develop as a teacher, you are expected to adapt to different levels of pupil attainment in your planning. This is often called differentiation and more recently, adaptive teaching and refers to the need to consider pupils’ attainment in your planning and teaching so that all pupils are challenged and extended by the work (Ofsted, 2019; Parsons, et al., 2018). Adaptive teaching can be achieved in different ways depending on the material to be taught. Adaptive teaching may, for example, be achieved by outcome (that is, different types or qualities of work may be produced) or by task (where tasks are adapted for different pupils) or by teacher input (that is, the level of support or teaching strategy applied) (Unit 4.1 provides further information). You provide continuity of learning for the pupils by taking account of and building on their existing knowledge, skills and understanding.

As your experience of the curriculum and of pupils’ learning develops, it becomes easier to answer this question. You need to consider what has been taught before as well as the experience outside school that pupils might have had. It may be appropriate to do some form of testing or analysis of knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding or to have a discussion with pupils to discover their prior experience and attitudes regarding the work in question. As a beginning teacher, you should seek advice from the staff who normally teach your classes, as well as consulting national guidance materials.

Learning outcomes are assessable intentions for what the pupils will know, understand and be able to do. Drawing up effective learning outcomes requires considerable thought. One way of presenting learning outcomes is to identify what ‘all’, ‘most’ or ‘some’ pupils should be able to do. Alternative thinking is to set a single challenging outcome, question or focus for the lesson to be shared with the pupils. When writing learning outcomes, you should include a verb (what your pupils will do to evidence their learning e.g. demonstrate or explain), a context (the situation in which the learning will take place e.g. individually, in a group, written or verbally) and in some subjects a quality (the characteristics or features of the behaviour e.g. with accuracy, creativity or confidence) that ensures your outcome is measurable.
Verbs that help you be precise are those such as state, describe, identify, prioritise, analyse, explain, create and justify. These verbs force you to write outcomes that can be observed or measured. If you think that your learning outcomes are vague, ask yourself whether they make it clear what the pupils have to do to demonstrate their learning

On the example lesson plan provided in the textbook, a timeline is drawn down the left-hand side. You should plan for short learning episodes in order to maintain the engagement of the pupils. At the planning stage, think practically about how long it is likely to take to set up, complete and review each task. During the lesson, the timeline enables you to see easily if it is necessary to adapt the original plan to fit the time available.

It is important to select and make available the most appropriate resources to achieve the learning outcomes. Check how resources are reserved in your department and book them early because other staff may need them at the same time. You should also be prepared to adapt resources to suit different classes and to evaluate their suitability.

You should plan for how you group pupils, integrate resources and manage transitions between activities and stages of the lesson (see Units 2.3 and 4.1).

Teaching strategies should be selected as the best method to achieve your learning outcomes (see Units 5.3 and 5.9). Where possible, a range of learning strategies should be planned to engage and support all pupils’ learning (see Unit 5.2). Relevant questions should be planned for every lesson to assess pupils’ knowledge and understanding during the lesson and to develop their higher order thinking skills. Phrasing appropriate questions is a key skill for a teacher (see Unit 3.1).

The assessment methods selected should enable the learning outcomes to be accurately assessed. It is therefore important to choose reliable assessment methods and you should seek advice from the teacher of the class. Ensure that you allocate sufficient time to carry out your chosen assessment methods effectively (see Unit 6.1).

Safety is an important issue in schools. In some subjects, the assessment of risk to the pupils and incorporation of strategies to minimise this risk are a necessary part of the teacher’s planning. Departmental and national guidelines are provided and should be followed to ensure the safety of pupils. As a beginning teacher, you should consult your head of department, class teacher or mentor for guidance on safety issues. Never undertake an activity until risk assessment has been considered. For examples of risk assessments see your subject association guidance (e.g. The Association for Science Education; The Association for Physical Education; The Design and Technology Association). Subject associations are listed in Appendix 2.