Question posed: Is planning always necessary or

are we overrating it?

We have been studying about the importance of planning our lessons, the
different sort of planning we can choose or which ones are more focused
on the results or in other aspects, etcetera. Undoubtedly, planning a fact
implies knowing and predicting what is going to happen or, at least, what
is probably to happen in the future. In this way, we could predict the
changes and preparing measures to solve it. It seems very effective and,
at the same time, it seems essential. But is it true? Are there alternatives
to planning?

In education, we usually use planning when we program the next course,

or the next session. We plan the activities, the materials, the classroom
organization, the objectives and even the timing - although it also varies
along the session. What is more, we in the university, are constantly
designing and programming didactical sequences in which planning,
obviously, is also present. According to Educando.edu (2008) - educational
web page from Dominican Republic - planning could seem just a
mechanical activity or transmit to fulfil the demand of the directors but
suddenly it reveals an important plannings point of view:

Planning is a fundamental task in the teaching practice, because it

allows to join the educational theory with practice. It makes possible
to think coherently the learning sequence that you want to achieve
with the students.

Maybe the problem is that we associate planning with a mechanical process

and we are not valuing it properly. Which is the real value of planning?

In my opinion we as future teachers have to understand and perceive the

planning stage as something vital and worthy for our future job. According
to Sebastian Ansaldo, Diego Portales University lecturer, appropriate
planning implies that teachers can resort to different tools and
methodologies to ensure that programmatic content better reach
students. He also talks about how we must see planning as teachers in
order to take an advantage of it:

However, it should not be forgotten that education is a dynamic

process, in which influence many variants that sometimes escape
control and planning. Therefore not always there to see planning as
a rigid body without possibility of change. Planning should be seen
primarily as an important guide support, which sometimes can be
modified due to special circumstances.

Once we all agree on this fact, we must identify why this process is not
been valued as it should be for a lot of primary education students and why
planning is sometimes seen as something dispensable. In my opinion, the
students of primary education associated the planning with didactical
sequences or projects that they design but they never apply. Then, this
planning makes no sense. Personally, I believe that having the opportunity
to practice and apply these interventions in real contexts will foster the
value of planning
since they will need
to predict and take
into account all the
variables that could
appear during a
lesson or activity.
Here you can see an
example of the
guidelines proposed
in some of our
subjects with the
aspects required:
As I have said before, I really think these aspects contribute to the correct
development of the didactical sequence but since they would not be applied
in a real context, it is not meaningful for us as students. This is the reason
why I started this research. I would know and understand the real meaning
of planning through the experts opinions and points of view. In this way, I
expect to change my perception about this teaching phase in order to
become more efficient in my future work.

Teachers in a near future are expected to base their lessons in projects -

the so called Project Based Learning (PBL). This fact could also be confusing
for those who do not understand properly the concept of learning by
projects because, since it have to take into account children's needs and
interests, it could be thought that teachers do not prepare and plan
anything regarding the contents in the curriculum. According to (BIE) Buck
Institute for Education, Project Based Learning is a teaching method in
which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period
of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex
question, problem, or challenge. Here there is also an interesting diagram
extracted from AulaPlaneta that defines clearly the PBL:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B12d1KRsbWcqc0xpdV84X1dTUXM .

If we agree on this affirmation, who is in charge of proposing the question

or the challenges? Is the teacher or the student? If is the student which is
the teachers task? Here I bring you an example of what does it mean
planning within a PBL context.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B12d1KRsbWcqbTIybHA1Si1hejQ

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B12d1KRsbWcqQnFaajBzTXdZbUU

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B12d1KRsbWcqVGRUNnRCamJQZE0
In this clear example - extracted from my practicum tutor Beth Sostres - it
could be clearly seen how all the stages and the activities prepared for the
project has also each curriculum content specified. This demonstrates us
that, even the projects can be based on students interests, planning is still
being very important in order to adequate each content to each children
need and give to the whole didactical sequence a coherent sense.

To conclude with this research, I would highlight the fact that it has been
very enriching for me because, as I have said before, I had a wrong
perception about what planning means within the teaching process, its
functions and its importance and relevance for the final outcomes. But
thanks to researching and learning from the experts, I have realized that
planning is not overrated. In fact, I think it is quite misunderstood since
not everybody is giving it the enough importance. Concerning what I have
suggested before about having the opportunity to put in practice our plans
in order to value planning properly, I would encourage to all of these
students who feel that this teaching phase is useless or that can be
dispensable that try to apply their plans within the most real context as
possible to realize that, without thinking previously about the needs,
possible circumstances, timing, materials or organization, the final outcome
would have been totally different.