Guiding Questions
for Reflection and Discussion
A guide for encouraging discussion and collaboration in the LBS field...
In addition to the PAL website and its suite of resources, another aim of the PAL project is to encourage use of the materials for further collaboration and reflection .
We hope that LBS practitioners will find it useful to work with the Guiding Questions—A Thinking and Reflection Routine for LBS Practitioners...
It was nice to be involved in a project that didn’t focus on what we teach but on how we teach — including the reasons behind different strategies and the value of learner feedback.
Georgina,
Instructor with the Ottawa Catholic School Board
HOW YOU COULD USE THE GUIDING QUESTIONS:
For individual practitioner use, to sharpen and interrogate your practice.
For periodic review of your lesson planning approach in order to identify your priorities and to reflect upon new aspects of planning (e.g. digital integration, flow, extending the lesson beyond the class session).
For small group discussions between LBS practitioners to encourage the sharing of insights, ideas, approaches.
A few of the Guiding Questions could be tackled during a Professional Development Day or during a team meeting that has a planning/teaching focus.
Some feedback from the front-lines on the usefulness of the guiding questions...
Here's what the the instructors at the he Adult Learning and Skills Development Program with the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) thought when they explored the PAL Guiding Questions during a PD day meeting:
The guiding questions offered a structured framework beneficial for both novice and experienced instructors and useful for lesson plans.
The LBS practitioners particularly appreciated the versatility of the tool, as it accommodated diverse teaching styles and subject matters.
The wide range of questions was good because the LBS educators said they could always find something in there that resonated with them.
It did facilitate thoughtful reflection on strategies and outcomes to foster continuous improvement in teaching practices.
Practitioners also decided that integrating this tool into their instructional planning process could enhance the coherence and effectiveness of their lessons which could definitely benefit the learning experiences of their learners and allow for some continuous improvement.
Practitioners also said that it "made some of us realize that we were already doing a lot of good things in our classrooms!"
NOTE TO ADMINISTRATORS AND POLICYMAKERS:
Learning about what happens at the lesson level, can benefit you, too! Why? Because considerations and challenges at the lesson level can also be instructive for the issues at the curriculum level, program level or systems level.
