A scheme of work is one of the most important tools in primary education. It helps teachers plan, organize, and deliver lessons in a structured and effective way throughout the term or academic year. In this guide, we explore what a scheme of work is, why it matters, and how it supports both teaching and learning in primary schools.
Here’s a basic structure of a scheme of work:
UNDERSTANDING SCHEMES OF WORK.
Scheme of work is a long-term plan which is prepared by the teacher for a week, month or a term in order to facilitate the process of teaching and learning.
Some teachers wrongly claim that they are knowledgeable, skillful and experienced enough to continue teaching without any scheme of work.
Such teachers end up doing work haphazardly or in trial-and-error manner and they finally fail and embarrass both learners and the school authority.
You are strongly advised to prepare your subject scheme of work always before the school term starts.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHEME OF WORK.
- It derived from the syllabus
- It shows a logical sequence of topics and sub-topics to be taught at a specific time.
COMPONENTS OF SCHEME OF WORK.
The scheme of work has different components divided into two parts, namely introductory part and matrix part.
The components of scheme of work are divided into two parts:
- Introductory part
- Matrix part
SCHEME OF WORK The introductory part.
This part contains the following:
- Ministry: This part shows the ministry of Ed.
- Year: This part show the year in which the scheme of work will be implemented
- Name of school: Show where the teacher is working
- Name of the teacher: show the teacher who planned and who is going to use the scheme of work.
- Term: Show the term in which the scheme of work will be implemented.
- Subject: Show the name of specific subject.
- Class: Show the name of the specific class.
SCHEME OF WORK The matrix parts.
This part contains 13 components:
- Competence
- Specific objectives
- Month
- Week
- Main topic
- Sub topic
- Period
- Teaching activities
- Learning activities
- Teaching/learning materials
- Reference book
- Assessment
- Remarks
Description of matrix components.
- Competence: Is a statement which specifies the ability that is expected to be exhibited by learners after they have gone through the topic(s) for a given class.
A). It derived from the syllabus.
B). One competence can be build by a combination of subtopics and specific objectives.
- Objectives: These are statements which specify the behavior to be showed by the learners. these statements are derived from the topic in the syllabus.
- Month: Is a column that indicate the month in which the topic will be taught.
- Week: Is a column that indicates the week in which topic or subtopic will be taught.
- Main topic: This column indicates the topics which will be taught in that particular month.
- Sub topic: This specifies the area/ subtopic of the topic to be covered.
- Periods: A column that indicates number of periods budgeted for a particular topic or subtopic.
- Teaching activities: A column that indicates a list of operational activities which will carried out by the teacher in the process of teaching a particular topic or subtopic.
- Learning activities: A column that indicates activities which the learner will perform in the process of learning a particular topic or subtopic.
- Teaching/learning resources or materials: A column that indicates a list of teaching aids that will be used to facilitate teaching and learning a particular topic or sub topic.
- References: A column which indicates a list of textbooks, supplementary books or any other resources that will be used in teaching and learning a particular topic/subtopic.
- Assessment: A column which indicates the kind of assessment that students will be subjected to. This will ensure that assessment of learners as well as process of teaching and even the materials used are assessed so as to allow for improvement in future.
- Remarks: A column used by the teacher to fill his/her comments about how far the topic/specific objectives have been achieved as well as appropriateness of materials and process.