Teacher guides and lesson plans

According the International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP), teacher guides must : support teachers and student learning through the following essential components: 1) explicitly communicating conceptual goals with direct links to proposed activities; 2) providing knowledge and support to help understand and implement teaching plans; 3) reinforcing pedagogical content knowledge; 4) offering practices and understandings of relevant pedagogical activities; 5) presenting alternatives and freedom of choice; and 6) engaging teachers in ongoing reflection.

In countries where teachers do not receive a quality pre-service training, these materials can help them compensate – in a relative way- their missing knowledge or practice. Thus, elaborating lesson plans and/or teacher guides seems important in order for pupils to learn in the best conditions, that is why political actors must consider giving attention to these teaching supports in order to increase quality education in their countries.

This Policy page will deal with strategies related to lesson plans as well as some strategies regarding teachers’ guides. The objective is to highlight strategies in order to help teachers by giving them a course scenario for the entire school-year.

Lesson plans and teachers’ guides must be on the alignment with the curriculum and classroom realities. They aim at helping teachers to adapt their pedagogy and to have a directive line in what they teach and how they teach it. Lesson plans, as well as teachers’ guides usually promote one pedagogical aspect: learner-centered or most often teacher-centered pedagogies. This type of teaching material indeed includes pedagogical aspects in order to help teacher managing the classroom and to transmit knowledge as efficiently as possible.

* For more information, consult Policy pages Availability and content of textbooks and Classroom practices.

Promising policy options

Lesson plans appropriateness

Lesson plans and teacher guides are the two common resources when it comes to teacher education and support. Lesson plans can take several formats: they can be scripted or just shared orally between actors, most generally teachers. On the one hand, they can help vary methods and tasks since they give teachers more instruments and possibilities in their way of teaching. On the other hand, they may also prevent teachers from being free to teach in their own way, in their own timeframe. In this respect, it seems prominent to guarantee that lesson plans give enough pedagogical guidelines to teachers but are also adequate to the local context, so teachers do not feel frustrated in their way of teaching.

Moreover, it is important that teachers rely on each other while there are planning their lessons. If they do it only by themselves, not only it takes teachers a lot of time not doing other tasks, but it also prevents them from improving their teaching skills by sharing their opinion and experiences with their peers. This leads to an increase in the teachers’ availability for their students and may affect positively learning outcomes.

According to UNESCO, lesson plans must have several characteristics in order to ensure their appropriateness to the learning context:

• Teaching and Learning Material must be put at disposition for the subject taught;
• duration, timing, and environment must be adjusted to topic-specific learning activities;
• a set of objectives must be reached after one lesson. These may be fixed according to the SMART goals reference, which means that they must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-scaled;
• there has to be an elaboration of a prior organization and progression related to each activity before it is taught; and
• it must include an evaluation, including marking and feedback and adapted to the type of activity taught.

Teachers’ guides content

Teachers’ guides must follow inclusiveness characteristics, which are also supposed to be present in textbooks, for instance regarding gender equality:

• explain the subject matter and the philosophy of teaching it;
• provide clear guidance on how to teach and assess pupils;
• include lessons plans that are simple enough for teachers to apply them in class;
• include the relevant excerpt from the textbooks with the number of the pages related to each specific subject. The aim is to link efficiently the teaching and learning processes;
• be trialled and piloted in marginalized areas in order to be more realistic and helpful for teachers;
• include suggestion for optional and more complex activities; and
• include more detailed notes and resources to help teachers conducting lessons.

Teachers’ guides and lesson plans provision

Teachers’ guides and lesson plans are not systematically provided together. Teacher’s guides are very much linked to textbook contents and can be printed in pairs by commercial editors, whereas lesson plans can be provided either by ministries of education together with the official curriculum or with teachers’ guides.

Ensure that teachers’ guides are available for each teacher in each class. This strategy can have a positive effect on the financing of teaching and learning material since providing one teacher guide per class is less expensive than providing one textbook to each pupil. Thus, schools could reduce the number of textbooks, and ensuring teachers to have their own.

Lesson plans, when provided together with teachers’ guides, are elaborated out of the classroom context. Thus, teachers must consider local determinants in order to adapt the suggested lesson plan to teach in the most appropriate way for students to progress and learn properly. The provision of information packs with more in-depth coverage of new subjects for teachers who do not master them already is also an important policy, particularly in the context of new teachers or contract teachers.

If teachers’ guides are difficult to provide for each teacher in each school due to printing costs, it may be an efficient solution to include lesson plans and propositions of teaching activities in the textbooks.

Other policy options

ICTs for teachers’ guidance and lessons planning

Include links to relevant online materials in teacher’s guides content and adapt lesson plans to ICTs awareness through e-learning activities in class. Create a website with regular updates and links to content accessible for free via mobile phones and make use of other networking opportunities (social media).

Educative curriculum materials

Educative curriculum materials enable teachers to acquire more in-depth knowledge about the subjects in the curriculum which, in turn, means they can master more the content of the lessons, and plan and assess more efficiently. Besides, it develops their general knowledge, which they can apply autonomously in flexible situations. Concretely, this type of material may take the form of a curriculum framework or a curriculum-related syllabus and are either official or support documents and they are often single documents that can be completed by teachers’ guides, year plans, and lesson plans and must correspond to the curriculum content.

Policy options for improving Equity and Inclusion

Gender-responsive policies

Promising policy options

Develop gender-responsive lesson plans and teacher guides

Ministries of Education and teachers must ensure that existent teacher guides and lesson plans are free from gender-bias. Teacher guides and lesson plans should also help students to critically ponder on gendered-norms. For this purpose, multiple teacher guides have been produced by Ministries of Education, International Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, in order to tackle gender issues down by enhancing inclusive practices. For instance, the IGLYO (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth and Student Organisation) Teacher’s Guide to Inclusive Education developed in 2015 helps teachers in primary and secondary schools throughout Europe to adopt inclusive practices within the classrooms (IGLYO, 2015). The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) recompile multiple guides and resources which can be mobilised by teachers to address subjects such as family diversity within their classrooms (for more information consult GLSEN, 2016). In 2014, UNESCO Bangkok published the document Lesson Plans for teaching about sexual and gender diversity in Thailand to support teachers address the issue of homophobia and more overtly help ensure ‘all learners’ right to a safe and supportive learning environment’ (UNESCO Bangkok, 2014: 4).

On the other hand, teachers should make sure that the lesson plans they develop are gender-responsive. Gender-responsive lesson plans are defined by the FAWE as a plan which ‘takes into consideration the specific needs of girls and boys in all the teaching-learning processes’ (FAWE, 2006: 9).  Throughout lesson planning, teachers decide ‘on the learning materials, methodologies, content, learning activities, language use, classroom interaction, assessment and classroom set up’ and through every single one of them, gender must be taken into account (FAWE, 2006: 9).

*For precise information about gender-responsive teaching and learning materials consult Policy page Availability and content of textbooks; to learn more about developing teachers’ gender-responsive content knowledge consult Policy page Content knowledge; for information about inclusive classroom practices consult Policy page Classroom practices; to learn about gender-responsive language consult Policy page Language of instruction; to explore particular gender-responsive teaching skills consult Policy page Teaching skills.

Policies for children with disabilities

Promising policy options

Teachers’ guides content

Consult the general section of the present Policy page to learn more about key recommendations to be taken into consideration when creating inclusive teacher guides.

Resources, such as UNESCO’s Guide Understanding and Responding to Children’s Needs in Inclusive Classrooms: A Guide for Teachers, have been created to provide teachers with relevant information about how to help children overcome learning difficulties as well as strategies to respond to diversity within the classroom (UNESCO, 2001). these resources have been mobilized by countries such as Tanzania, where the Ministry of Education and the Vocational Training Programme prepared the Inclusive Education Teacher’s Guide and Teacher’s Resource Pack, adapted from UNESCO resources (IBE-UNESCO, 2008a).).  

Inclusive lesson plans

Research shows that lesson planning increases teaching effectiveness (UNESCO, 2001). In inclusive education systems, lesson plans must be conceived in a way in which they cater to all children’s needs, strengths, weaknesses, and diversity. They must also be designed in such a way in which barriers to learning are removed within the classrooms. Teachers can mobilize the principles of Universal Design while creating their lesson plans. For instance, teachers can include in their lesson plans (Bulat et al, 2017; CAST, 2018):

• multiple ways to represent the concepts as well as multiple teaching strategies and materials to ensure the comprehension of all students;
• encourage students to demonstrate their knowledge through multiple means; and
• provide different options to keep students engaged throughout the learning process.

While planning their lessons, teachers should acknowledge the differences between learners. Instead of providing ‘different’ or ‘additional’ teaching and learning experiences for some, they should extend the range of options available to all pupils to ensure that all of them participate and learn (this avoids ability-labelling as well as the marginalisation of some children by treating them differently) (Florian, 2015).

It is recommended for teachers to work collaboratively with colleagues, parents, community and health workers as well as students, to conceive inclusive lesson plans (UNESCO, 2015; UNESCO, 2001).

Individual Education Plans

Guarantee that Individual Education Plans (IEP) are being used to ensure that all children get the necessary support they need to effectively participate and learn in mainstream settings, without leading to the exclusion or isolation of certain children (UNESCO, 2001). The following considerations should be kept in mind for that purpose:

• ‘Are Individual Education Plans about providing access to, and supporting participation within, a common curriculum?
• Do Individual Education Plans for some students improve the teaching and learning arrangements for all students?’ (Booth and Ainscow, 2002: 64).

IEPs should:

• take into account diversity and the specific needs of each student;
• be provided to all students (instead of solely to children with disabilities to avoid ability labelling);
• track the students’ progress in relation to their individualized learning goals;
• be made in collaboration with the classroom teacher, the student, the student’s family and if possible and when required, with support or specialized education centres;
• be shared among all of the teachers to cater to all students’ needs; and
• be reviewed by Head Teachers.

Policies for displaced populations

To ensure an adequate provision of teacher guides and lesson plans to teachers working with displaced populations, the policy recommendations addressed in this section are a complement to those mentioned in the general section of the present Policy page.

Promising policy options

Strive for context-based, locally produced teacher guides and lesson plans

In case of a large influx of displaced populations, adequate teacher guides and lesson plans should be provided to teachers as they have the power to support them in executing their lessons effectively (UNHCR, 2001). The local production of teacher guides and lesson plans must be prioritised, when possible. Otherwise, international assistance can be sought, while making sure the content of the materials is adapted to the local context.

To guarantee a rapid production and distribution of teacher guides and lesson plans it is important to have local supplier agreements in place (Smith, 2013). In case of scarce resources, low-cost production can be pursued through ‘low-cost reproduction techniques such as mimeograph machines and silk-screening to distribute lessons or modules to teachers’ (IIEP-UNESCO, 2010: 190). If teachers are asked to develop their own teacher guides and lesson plans, they must be provided with adequate support and mechanisms to foster peer-to-peer collaboration must be in place. For example, two days per month can be allocated so that teachers develop their daily lesson plans for a month together (INEE, 2010). When planning lessons together is unfeasible, peer-to-peer feedback on individual lesson plans can be sought; this is the case of teachers in Sahrawi camps, Algeria, who meet daily and weekly for this purpose, among others (Ring and West, 2015, as cited in Richardson, MacEwen and Naylor, 2018.). Teachers can produce ‘thematic portfolios, glossaries, posters, activity sheets, and assessment sheets’ to support their daily teaching practice (INEE, 2010: 15) (consult Annex 1. For a lesson plan template).

 When local production is not possible, international procurement can be put in place with the assistance of development partners. Pre-developed teacher guides and lesson plans can be translated and adapted to the local language and context with the help of teachers and the communities (INEE, 2010).  Those teaching guides and lesson plans are usually distributed along with pre-assembled teaching and learning kits (Smith, 2013).

To learn more about the types of content to include in teacher guides and lesson plans read below. 

Annex 1

Lesson Plan Template

Source: INEE (Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies). 2010. Guidance notes on teaching and learning. p. 68. New York: INEE. Retrieved from: http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1004/Guidance_Notes_on_Teaching_and_Learning_EN.pdf

Review existing teacher guides and lesson plans

Reviewing existing teacher guides and lesson plans is essential to ensure they are appropriate and pertinent to the context (Smith, 2013). All delicate matters must be taken out and positive, inclusive messages regarding displaced populations must be incorporated. They must also be adapted to the practical reality of teachers teaching displaced populations (UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, 2020). In particular, teaching guides and lesson plans must be developed to teach multicultural, multilingual, multi-grade, and large classrooms (UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, 2020). It is key to involve relevant educational stakeholders in the review and adaptation process, including teachers, students displaced and host parents and community members, as well as development partners (Smith, 2013). 

Teacher guides and lesson plans must be highly structured and include concrete activities to be implemented in the daily practice. Instead of ‘de-professionalizing teachers through reducing their autonomy and agency’, research shows that ‘well designed, detailed teaching materials (topic guides, lesson plans, assessment tools) lead to an increase in teacher agency, creativity and the ability to respond to their students and children’ (UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, 2020: 15). For example, the Catch Up programme implemented in Zambia showed increased levels of teacher and student creativity through highly structured lesson plans (UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, 2020: 15).

Key topics to include in teacher guides and lesson plans for teachers working with displaced populations

Teacher guides and lesson plans should include information about human rights and peace education, social and emotional learning, conflict and disaster prevention and mitigation, as well as dedicated sections about migration and displacement. The Ministry of Education must assign adequate financial support to include those topics in existing –or new– teaching guides and lesson plans (Smith, 2013).

It is essential to embody human rights and peace education messages and tasks in daily lessons, particularly amidst conflicts (INEE, 2010, UNHCR, 2001). Teacher guides and lesson plans should also include practical strategies and activities to support students deal with stress and trauma, and help them heal (UNHCR, 2001; Ahmed, 2017; IRC, 2004). For instance, in Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Lebanon, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed the Healing Classroom model, which provides daily lesson plans to teachers to ensure students’ socio-emotional development (Jalbout and Bullard, 2021).

Ensuring teachers get adequate information about conflict and disaster prevention, preparedness, and mitigation through teaching guides and dedicated lesson plans is also essential (Smith, 2013; UNICEF and UNESCO, 2012; Heart, 2016). For instance, in Indonesia, the Curriculum Centre of the Research and Development Office of the Ministry of National Education developed lesson plans regarding disaster preparedness for elementary schools (UNICEF and UNESCO, 2012). In Timor-Leste, Save the Children trained teachers in fifty schools of two school districts in how to use Disaster Risk Reduction materials as well as how to integrate DRR into lesson plans (UNICEF and UNESCO, 2012).

Students must get to know the different types of migration and displacement, particularly in places that have received a large influx of internally displaced populations, refugees, and asylum-seekers. Specific guides should be provided to teachers to facilitate their task in teaching those matters appropriately, so as to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment. Throughout their development, it is indispensable to pay particular attention to how these issues are portrayed as this has a significant influence ‘in the experiences of migrants and refugees as well as those of the host communities’ (IBE-UNESCO, 2018: 5).

There are various resources available online that can be mobilised by teachers to teach about displacement, for example:

• UNHCR’s Teaching About Refugees website
• UNCHR’s Guide for teachers – Teaching About Refugees 

In the long term, including these contents in teacher guides and lesson plans will not only support displaced students, but also support the establishment of more inclusive, welcoming societies.

Policies for minority populations

To ensure an adequate provision of teacher guides and lesson plans to all teachers working with minority populations, the policy recommendations addressed in this section are a complement to those mentioned in the general section of the present Policy page.

Promising policy options

Develop teacher guides and lesson plans that support cultural and linguistic diversity

Teacher guides and lesson plans must reflect the existing multicultural, multiethnic, and multilinguistic realities of the country and encourage students to demonstrate their identity (UNESCO, 2002; Deer, 2020). Integrating culture and diversity into lesson plans should aim to ensure students’ success (MALDEF and National Education Association Office of Minority Community Outreach, 2010). Educational authorities should engage minority communities and institutions in the process of developing teacher guides and lesson plans, particularly to ensure the appropriateness of the content and translations, when applicable (Council of Europe, 2020). When there are indigenous populations within the country, it is crucial to consult them to guarantee teacher guides and lesson plans are enriched with their cultural knowledge and traditions. This is the case of UNECO’s inclusive education project developed with Mayangna people of Nicaragua where indigenous peoples got engaged in rooting lesson plans in their own traditions (The World Bank, 2019). Adequate funds must be attributed to this process. Ministries of Education with the support of minority communities and institutions should raise the necessary resources to do so.

To learn more on how to get minority populations involved in educational processes, consult Policy page School community relationship.