Lesson Planning for Effective Learning

Lesson planning is the essential component of every teacher's practice and the development of a teacher's skill is built explicitly on a rigorous approach to planning. This goes beyond just written plans and includes a process of mental preparation, anticipation, rehearsal and performance - all essential elements of the craft of teaching. This book offers heaps of useful advice and key ideas related to planning an effective lesson.

With clear links between the preparation of writing a lesson plan, and the delivery of that lesson plan through your teaching, this book explores:

• Common components of lesson planning including learning objectives, learning outcomes, starters, teaching activities and plenaries
• The lesson plan document: what it can and can't do
• Teaching 'style' and your role in bringing lesson plans to life within your classroom
• Common pitfalls, including time management, over- and under-running, optimum learning time, and activity sequencing
• Broader strategies such as differentiation, personalisation and assessment
• Sample lesson planning documents from real teachers

"This is essential reading for all teachers, teacher educators and policy makers. For new entrants to the profession, it offers the opportunity to think beyond the notion of folk pedagogies and to consider how a more powerful theoretical framework might underpin lesson planning. It presents essential analysis as to why common approaches to teaching and learning have emerged and become embedded - this provides a great opportunity for more experienced teachers to develop a deeper critical understanding of their practice. Punctuated with reflective questions, it enables the reader to reconceptualise planning and pedagogy and to engage in theorised reflection on practice."
Kate Laurence, Institute of Education, University of London, UK

"At last! A plain speaking book on effective lesson planning.Lesson Planning for Effective Learning by Martin Fautley and Jonathan Savage combines theoretical perspectives with really useful, instantly useable examples from everyday practice. Despite the scholarly approach, the 200 pages of this little book retain an essentially conversational quality ensuring that it is equally accessible to students, academics and learning enthusiasts alike."
Andrew R. Mackereth, Headteacher, Heart of England School

"Lesson planning is one of the most fundamental duties of teachers no matter what their subject, age phase or experience. In their latest book, Martin Fautley and Jonathan Savage start with practice and, in deconstructing what teachers do every day, apply their deep thinking and reasoned consideration. They are adept at weaving a wide range of thoughts, experiences and theory into the mix, making this readily accessible and ultimately a very helpful book.Martin and Jonathan make much of the novice-expert continuum. I'm not sure where I fit but I certainly experienced a number of 'penny-dropping' moments that immediately led me to reflect and sharpen up my own planning. I've been reminded of the huge complexities that there are in planning effective lessons, both the "private preparation and the public performance" elements. It is impossible to read very far into this book without realising that planning for effective learning has little to do with the administrative task of completing a planning pro forma, important and necessary though that is. This book makes it abundantly clear that pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge underpin planning for effective learning. Although, as the authors point out, much lesson planning is invisible, what they do so well here, in the words of Russell and Loughran*, is to 'make the tacit explicit'. Above all, this book articulates something of what it is to be professional for teachers of all types. I heartily recommend this book."
Simon Spencer, Birmingham City University, UK

* Russell, T. & Loughran, J. (2007) Enacting a Pedagogy of Teacher Education: Values, Relationships and Practices, London: Routledge

"This book gives fantastic insight and practical strategies for teachers at all points within their career in order to encourage and embed reflective practice. For outstanding practitioners and senior leaders, it provides case studies and examples which will stimulate discussion and provide starting points from which to develop policy at whole school level, and influence and develop practice at an individual teacher level. A 'must have' resource for any school Teaching and Learning Group library."
Hayley McDonagh, Senior Leader, Golden Hillock School, Birmingham. Former LA senior adviser working with Schools in Ofsted Category