Partner Planning

In the Partner Planning approach, both co-teachers visualize the core development of the lesson. The individual components of the lesson are then divided equally, so they can be designed separately by the mentor and the teacher candidate.

You may see similarities between Partner Planning and the One Plans, One Assists approach. A key difference in Partner Planning is that the mentor and candidate envision the whole lesson together and then develop equal components independently.

Let’s look at an example. The co-teachers are developing a lesson on animal mask making in an art class. They visualize the type of presentation that will be delivered and decide to include a hands-on activity.

One teacher is tasked with leading the discussion of the topic, incorporating PowerPoint into the presentation and sharing models of masks from cultures around the world. The other teacher is tasked with leading the hands-on activity in which the students create animal masks. Both teachers develop these components separately. When the components have been developed, the co-teachers get together and jointly refine the final lesson.

This type of approach offers several benefits. As the work is shared equally, neither teacher has a majority of the planning responsibility. The teacher candidate has the added benefit of becoming an equal co-planner. This prepares the candidate for later when the majority of the lesson planning will be their responsibility.

In Partner Planning, it can take time to establish the right balance that works best. The individual components may not always mesh well so it is important that the mentor and the teacher candidate visualize the core of the lessons components first before distributing and developing them separately.