What a Source Plan Is
What a Source Plan Is
What it is
- A preliminary, flexible plan for teaching.
Its purpose
- To provide a collection of possible materials for teachers.
Its two characteristics
- Flexible: it can be modified for the needs, interests, and abilities of a particular group.
- Inclusive: it offers a wide range of experiences to choose the most appropriate from.
The source plan is the heart of the organizing process, and it is easy to misunderstand. It is not a script a teacher must follow. It is a preliminary, flexible plan for teaching, a starting resource rather than a finished lesson.
What a source plan is for
The purpose of a source plan is to provide a collection of possible materials for teachers. It gathers, in one place, more than any single class will use, so that a teacher has a rich bank to draw from. Think of it as a well-stocked pantry rather than a fixed menu: it holds the ingredients, and the teacher cooks the meal that suits the group in front of them.
This is why it sits at step four of the organizing process. After the scheme, the principles, and the unit type are decided, the source plan is what gets handed to teachers so they can actually teach the organized curriculum.
A preliminary, flexible plan that gives teachers a collection of possible materials
It is a starting resource, not a finished script. Its job is to hand teachers a rich bank of objectives, experiences, and materials to draw from for any class.
The two characteristics: flexible and inclusive
Two characteristics define a source plan, and both protect the teacher’s freedom to adapt.
- Flexible. A source plan can be modified easily according to the needs, interests, and abilities of a particular group. It expects to be changed, because no two groups are the same.
- Inclusive. A source plan is inclusive enough that it provides a wide range of experiences, out of which the most appropriate for a given group may be selected. It deliberately offers more than will be used.
These two work together. Because it is inclusive, a teacher has real choices; because it is flexible, the teacher can reshape those choices to fit. A teacher can select the material of her choice from the source unit, as the requirements of her particular group demand, and use it in her class. The source plan supplies the range and the permission; the teacher supplies the fit.
Flexible and inclusive
Flexible: it can be modified for a particular group’s needs, interests, and abilities. Inclusive: it offers a wide range of experiences to choose the most appropriate from. Together they protect the teacher’s freedom to adapt.
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