Section 3
Planning for Modern Languages
Teaching and learning programmes need to be planned in ways that provide:- broad and balanced learning opportunities within and across the four outcomes
- coherent links and connections
- continuous pathways for learning
- progressive development of knowledge, skills, essential experiences and dispositions.
It is essential that staff from primary, special and secondary schools be involved in the design of a joint, agreed teaching and learning programme for P6-S2 that ensures breadth, balance, coherence, continuity and progression.
Breadth provides appropriate experiences to ensure the coverage of a sufficiently comprehensive range of areas of learning.
Balance ensures that appropriate time is allocated to each aspect of modern languages and that provision is made for a variety of learning experiences.
Coherence requires the establishment of links across the curriculum and within the modern language so that pupils make connections between one area of knowledge and skills and another.
Continuity ensures that learning builds on pupils' previous experience and attainment.
Progression provides pupils with an increasing depth of experience and with a series of challenging but attainable goals.
A sound planning process helps teachers and managers ensure focus and clarity of expectations. Schools and clusters have an obligation to plan overall provision in a collaborative way to take account of their pupils' needs and the guidance provided in the national guidelines. This type of cluster planning ensures that all aspects of the modern languages framework receive appropriate attention over time.
Equally, teachers have an obligation to plan for learning and teaching in a way that establishes clear goals for work in the classroom over a term, or any other appropriate length of time, and which ensures that pupils develop the key skills and ideas described within the relevant strands.
The curriculum planning process in modern languages 5-14 can be divided into three stages:
- cluster planning
- long-term planning
- short-term planning.
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