To Write Teaching Notes or NOT to Write: Why Some Teachers Don’t

To Write Teaching Notes or NOT to Write, that is the question. Our recent article Teaching Notes: Some Headteachers Rejecting Printed Notes? has brought a lot of diverse reactions in the last 24 hours. The issue seems to have been a bone of contention indeed.

Our 42 Colleges of Education continue to spend countless hours teaching future educators the rudiments of crafting professionally accepted lesson plans. This is expected to make the teacher ready for lessons and answer the questions “how” and “why” to make students demonstrate knowledge at the appropriate depth after the lesson. 

However, reactions and comments emerging on the opinion shared have given rise to another important dimension seeking to explain why some teachers do not want to write lesson notes. 

According to Benjamin Franklin, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

If teachers fail to plan by not preparing their lesson notes, they are indirectly planning how to fail. However, having access to scripted lessons makes the planning process flexible. Yet still planning and going through the lesson and all other issues must be covered before the next class. 

Whiles a section of our readers believe writing of teaching notes using pen and teacher’s notebook is old-fashioned, others think the note writing must continue.

Those in favour of the latter are of the view that teachers are lazy.  Well, that is an opinion they are entitled to. 

Some readers have argued that headteachers are rejecting printed lesson notes for good reasons. The argument is that some teachers are lazy, so propelling to re-copy the scripted lesson plans into the required standard based notebook.

For others, headteachers are asking for handwritten lesson notes because of our old system of doing things and that we do not want any innovation. GES must call those CS and headmasters to order, we need to do new things. Another commentator said.

There is rumour on social media that suggests the current situation is not the making of either the headteachers or the CS. There is the need for the GES to come clear on whether printed lesson notes are acceptable, then it becomes the new normal for teachers.

However, a reader outlined reasons why some teachers don’t prepare lessons or teaching notes. The argument is that: 

1. GES has made the teaching profession somehow tedious by allowing teachers to write lesson notes, even though they have the soft copy.

Fact: The writing of teaching notes helps teachers to prepare ahead of the lesson, grasp the ideas and concepts to be taught, and plan their lessons. It was the same process your teachers used to shape you.

Writing the teaching notes can be done daily by committing 1-hour a day after normal contact hours. Procrastinating it and writing the entire lesson notes on weekends is what makes it tedious. Planning is key, and strategy is needed. 

2. Many teachers have been busy for one way or the other. Others are doing their private businesses to supplement their income.

FACT: The teachers’ code of conduct requires that teachers do not use contact hours for their private businesses.

3. Again, some teachers are upgrading their education hence cannot write teaching notes.

FACT: Nearly all workers in every field combine upgrading themselves with office work. Teachers may not use this as the basis not to perform their duties and prepare for teaching learners. 

4. In addition, some teachers are of the view that female teachers usually become overburden with household chores.

FACT: It is not only female teachers that have to perform household chores, all working mothers without house help nearly do the same. Effective planning and time management are essential to making time to write the lesson notes. 

If these are the reasons why teachers do not want to write the teaching notes, then I bet to differ.

For the above reasons, innovation and IT, transformation of education, most teachers don’t usually prepare their lesson notes these days.

ALSO READ:

• WAEC 2021 Nov/Dec registration is scheduled to commence – Check Date
• GETFund 2020/2021 Scholarship Application Process Starts: How to apply

To find solutions to the above, some teachers have taken it upon themselves to prepare lesson notes for colleagues and make them available at a fee.

Web portals have become channels for making these available to educators as well.

This is where innovation, IT, and outsourcing of teaching notes come in. The above reasons are not cogent enough as a basis for not writing lesson notes.

For more General News, Visit our site: Newsghana24.com 

Source: Wisdom Hammond | Ghanaeducation.org