Instructional Planning: Attitudes,Decisions,and Preparation Time Among Secondary Social Studies Teachers

Abstract

The “teacher is the key to what social studies will be for any student” (Shaver, Davis, and Helburn, 1979). Because it is teacher planning that transforms curriculum content into instructional practice, most teacher education programs devote considerable attention to the skills required to plan lessons. Judging from the content of undergraduate methods texts and professional articles in the field, systematic planning is the dominant model in social studies. In broad outline, that model entails an integrated set of decisions that includes: 1) establishing objectives and rationale; 2) assessing entrance characteristics of students; 3) designing instruction that is focused on the objectives and that is appropriate for the students; 4) evaluating student learning in terms of the abilities specified in the objectives; and 5) if necessary, modifying instruction and providing remediation.