The Teacher as Decision-Maker

A Bigger Frame

After studying many models and methods, the question becomes: how does a teacher use all of this in a real classroom?

The answer: by being a good decision-maker. Every choice the teacher makes (what to teach, when, how, what to do when something goes wrong) is a decision. Better decisions lead to better learning.

The Teaching Cycle

The teacher’s work moves in a loop with three components:

1. Planning.
2. Implementation.
3. Evaluation.

There is no fixed start. Most teachers think of planning first, but in practice the loop is continuous. Last week’s evaluation feeds this week’s planning. Today’s implementation will be evaluated tonight.

Flashcard

The teaching cycle

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Answer

Three components in a loop: Planning → Implementation → Evaluation → back to Planning. Decisions happen at every stage, not only the planning phase.

Three Perspectives on Planning

The way a teacher plans depends on which model they follow. Three main models exist.

1. Traditional Linear Model

The most common. Steps:

1. Set goals.
2. List the strategies needed to reach the goals.
3. List the actions for each strategy.
4. Carry out the lesson.
5. Assess whether the goals were met.

Strengths: clear, simple, easy to evaluate. Most lesson planning forms in Pakistan use this model.

Weaknesses: rigid. If a child needs something the plan did not foresee, the plan does not bend. The teacher follows the script.

2. Non-Linear Model

A response to the limits of the linear model. Research showed that real teachers do not always plan in straight lines. Steps:

1. Start from the content and the processes you want to develop.
2. Plan how those processes will live in the lesson.
3. Let goals emerge from the processes, rather than being fixed in advance.
4. Adapt as you go.

The teacher’s focus shifts from “did I cover the goals” to “did the children develop the processes.”

3. Reflective Model (Mental Planning)

The newest of the three. The idea: planning is partly a thinking and imagining process before any paper work.

Steps:

1. Think the lesson through mentally.
2. Image the moves you will make.
3. Mentally rehearse before the lesson.
4. Reflect-in-action. While teaching, watch what is happening and adjust.
5. Reflect-on-action. After the lesson, review what worked and what did not.

This model fits how good teachers actually work. They plan on paper, but they also plan in their heads, and they replan continuously.

Three Phases of Teacher Planning

Planning does not end when class starts. It happens in three phases:

Prior to Instruction

The desk-and-paper part. Lesson plans, unit plans, schemes of work. The teacher thinks through what will happen.

During Instruction

This is where most experienced teachers do their hardest decision-making. The class is in front of them. Things are happening fast. The teacher is constantly:

1. Watching how children respond.
2. Adjusting pace.
3. Deciding when to intervene.
4. Choosing which student to call on.
5. Switching strategy if the planned approach is not working.

Each of these is a decision. Many are made in fractions of a second.

After Instruction

The evaluation phase. The teacher looks at what worked and plans for the next lesson. This includes:

1. Marking student work.
2. Reflecting on what landed.
3. Noting which children need extra attention.
4. Adjusting the next lesson plan.

Flashcard

Three phases of teacher planning

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Answer

1. Prior to instruction (desk planning). 2. During instruction (real-time decisions, often in seconds). 3. After instruction (reflection, adjustment, next-lesson planning).

Why Decisions During Instruction Are So Intense

A classroom is public. The teacher’s decisions happen in front of thirty observers. There is no time to retreat and think.

This connects back to the classroom properties from earlier: multidimensionality, simultaneity, immediacy, public, history. All five make in-class decision-making harder than desk planning.

A small list of decisions a teacher makes in any given lesson:

1. Whether to slow down because a student looks lost.
2. Whether to repeat a concept or move on.
3. Whether to address a behavior issue now or later.
4. Whether to shift from a planned activity to something simpler.
5. How to respond to a question that is off-topic but interesting.
6. Whether to extend the lesson or wrap up.
7. How much time to give for an activity.

A weak teacher follows the lesson plan no matter what. A strong teacher reads the room and adjusts. The strong teacher’s decisions are mostly invisible because they happen smoothly inside the lesson.

Tying It Back

The whole point of being a decision-maker is to align teaching with learning. A teacher who plans well, watches closely during instruction, and reflects after, will keep adjusting until the gap between intended learning and actual learning shrinks.

The next two articles look at one specific framework that helps teachers make these decisions in the face of diverse learners: the 4MAT model.