Lesson plans: Tools for demonstrating effective teaching

Lesson plans are used pervasively by pre-service teachers in Australia and globally. Individual initial teacher education (ITE) institutions, education sectors, schools and teachers create, use and adapt lesson planning tools to suit their own unique contexts. While there is a growing body of research into the role of lesson plans in the development of effective teaching, there is little universal agreement regarding the necessary elements and key terminology required to ensure these lesson plans are effective. The introduction of the Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) and the current focus on teacher quality and standardisation in education make this research timely. These national and global contexts highlight the need to develop a clear understanding of what constitutes an effective lesson plan and how lesson plans can be utilised to support the demonstration of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. This research set out to investigate what recommendations have been made to date in the literature regarding the use and design of lesson plans, what key terminology is common across lesson planning tools, and what is considered to constitute an effective lesson plan. It goes on to make recommendations regarding an appropriate universal design for lesson planning tools.