Circular planning

Circular Planning to Inform Lesson Planning

12th November, 2015

Aaron looks at the term 'Circular Planning' and how may it provide some assistance to pre-service teachers  

For anyone who has worked in the child services field, the term ‘Circular Planning’ won’t be new to you, it may be annoying at this point, but it certainly won’t be new. For those of you not familiar or irritated with the term, it basically functions as a tool to plan activities, games and experiences for children that are founded in their personal experiences, interests and ideas. The idea is that through careful observation, interaction and conversation we develop an understanding of how we can jump off and extend upon a child’s interests and ideas to create the opportunity for children to flourish in the activities we plan for them.

Since my first placement in a school, planning lessons has always been the most daunting task for me. It’s something that I’m never 100% certain I’m doing right, and something that due to the strict nature of the paperwork we are required to plan with, is something that I’m never quite comfortable with how I’m being asked to plan out. However, this has changed in the last year or so since I realised, “Wait a minute; I effectively plan lessons for children on a daily basis at work!” Now these lessons may not relate directly to the Australian Curriculum, but none the less they require planning, and thoughtful consideration about how they will develop a child’s learning – and that really is the goal with lesson planning in the classroom.

In a recent unit at University, we spoke at length about ensuring students had the opportunity to relate their personal experiences to the lessons we plan for them, and how this was important for them to place value or interest in what we as teachers are teaching. Hearing this really helped me confirm my idea of using this Circular Planning technique in relation to my lesson plans for placements, and made me realise that I wasn’t just pinching ideas from work! Since this discussion as well, I have found myself really looking forward to the observation dates for my upcoming placement as this will really be my chance to soak up the interests and ideas the students in the classroom have, and use these observations to inform the planning that I have to do for the class.

I think this is something that really needs to be discussed more, and perhaps brought to the light a bit for PSTs, as we are regularly expected to plan lessons for students we don’t know, nor have any experience gauging their interests and how these interests will affect our lessons. I look forward to the opportunity to take notes on things I see in the classroom, and interactions the students in the classroom have to develop my lessons, and implementing this newfound realisation. Again I might just be harping on here, but I can’t stress enough how my experiences in Childcare inform my Education practices, but this one was too obvious not to bring up. I think the real thing this has made me realise though is that I’m excited about a skill I have developed through experience in the workplace informing my education and helping me in my further career aspirations, even though the two areas may not seem intrinsically linked. Further suggestions for anyone reading, look into the recesses of your mind, what experiences have helped you with your teaching in the past? Implement things that may not seem to link, it might help you in the long run!

- Aaron