The Evolution of Functional Lesson Plans among Twelve Elementary and Secondary Student Teachers

Abstract

Although a variety of lesson plan formats are recommended for use by preservice teachers, none of the formats are derived empirically, that is, inferred from novices' experiences in classrooms. To find out what lesson plan formats were most useful to novices, we asked 12 student teachers (5 elementary, 7 secondary teachers of English and history) to modify the traditional linear format according to their needs and to document their experimentation in logs during a semester / quarter of student teaching. We were also interested in comparing the planning needs of elementary and secondary novices. The majority of the secondary student teachers used plans as memory aids while teaching. As the semester progressed, their plans grew more detailed, eventually incorporating factual information from textbooks that student teachers wanted to be sure to tell their pupils. In this sense, detailed written plans facilitated an information-giving model of instruction among secondary novices. In contrast, the elementary student teachers used written plans to organize thoughts and materials but never consulted the plans while teaching, preferring to respond to pupils spontaneously. As the quarter progressed, their plans grew less detailed and generally served as adjuncts to prepared teachers' guides. The elementary novices felt that detailed plans hindered attempts to interrelate lessons across subjects. We suggest that it may be helpful to novices to define a lesson plan as a brief outline of instructional procedures, perhaps to be used in conjunction with prepared curriculum guides.

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