ABSTRACT
Planning has become such a familiar part of the work of teachers that it is difficult now to imagine life without it. We have lesson plans, course plans, programme plans, departmental and institutional plans, annual plans, rolling plans, five-year plans, personal development plans, succession plans… Teachers have always had to think and work ahead to some extent, but the contemporary emphasis on systematic planning is more recent, and stems ultimately from a rational paradigm of teaching and management. That paradigm is questioned by those who believe in a more incremental or pragmatic approach or who think that the apparent rationality in fact masks a more political (small p) process (see Notes). It is important therefore to stand back a little from the idea of planning and ask why it is currently so central to teaching and whether it actually works. The question is thus not whether there is planning but whether there is enough planning and of the right sort. As with the previous section, you may want to focus on issues at a particular level in the organization.
