The what and how in scripted lesson plans: the case of the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy

Abstract

Lesson plans are advocated as useful forms of teacher support because they can expand a repertoire of teaching practices. But what kinds of scripted instruction can effectively guide and improve teachers’ instruction and how can lesson plans achieve that? This article examines the nature and purpose of the scripted lesson plans (SLPs) used in the Gauteng primary education system and then investigates how teachers enacted these routinised SLPs. Through a review of the literature on teaching English language and on SLPs, the article assesses the opportunities and challenges afforded by the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy’s (GPLMS’s) lesson plans for Grade 3 English as First Additional Language (FAL). Then, through an analysis of an English FAL lesson taught differently by two teachers, it points to the many professional judgements made by the teachers as they enact the prescribed teaching routine. Our analysis suggests, firstly, that the knowledge resources given to teachers need to be considerably more detailed and, secondly, that teachers need strong subject matter knowledge to transmit the conceptual relations that underlie the teaching routines of the lesson plan.