Meaningful joint planning

What is meaningful joint planning?

Meaningful joint planning is not

  • sharing ideas without evaluating, refining or reflecting;
  • splitting the workload when designing schemes of work;
  • exclusively a more experienced practitioner sharing ideas with a beginning teacher (which can be great, but there should be a broader culture of joint planning between colleagues); nor
  • ensuring that all staff within a department are following the same lesson plans.

Meaningful joint planning should be:

  • pupil focussed – it’s not about what the teacher is practising, but what you expect pupils to learn. You might also be focussed on particular target groups of pupils.
  • evaluated – when planning you should have a clear idea of what the need you are addressing is, how you plan to address it and what success would look like. This then allows you to evaluate the lesson.
  • refined – it is important that, after evaluating each lesson, lesson plans are updated, refined and improved.
  • collaborative – joint lesson planning is not about transferring knowledge but about developing practice. Staff involved in planning together should both/all be contributing, reflecting, challenging each other and developing.

Blog, Andy Newell: Collaborative Lesson Planning

Blog, David Weston: Should teachers be required to plan lessons collaboratively?