Learning Outcomes and Planning for MFL in the New Junior Cycle.

It's already happening. This year's first years are the first batch. It's on.

So, with my first JCT MFL CPD (!) done, here's the first thing of what I've taken away and what I'll be doing as a result.*

Learning Outcomes

Sure, we all thought "great, a bunch of new buzzwords!", when we first heard about these, but take a look at them properly. If all your students could do all those things, at a level appropriate to their age and stage, wouldn't that kind of be everything you'd hope for them? Take a look here:



In summary there are three strands: Communicative Competence, Language Awareness and Socio-cultural knowledge and Intercultural awareness, and we're encouraged to focus on three or four LOs together, taken from across the three strands.

This poster is a pretty great visual summary. Get it here. (You probably already have it)

That's all well and good...what do I do with this now?
I'm so glad you asked 😉

Most helpful strategy taken from the Training Day

Right after our morning coffee break we settled down to some planning work in groups. Our group was given Strand 1 and asked to pick a Learning Outcome to work from.

We went with:

1.13 ask and answer questions and exchange ideas, emotions and information on familiar topics in everyday situations 

From there we pooled our ideas about HOW students would reach that learning outcome, and how we would know they had. And we built a few lessons around that HOW.

It was normal stuff.

I mean, it was great to share thoughts between schools and I think most of us heard an idea we hadn't used before, but there was nothing life changing in the strategies and exercises we shared. And yet, this exercise stands out from the rest of the day for me, as the most helpful, because it TOTALLY changed the way I think about planning. Here's the difference:

Old me:
I want them to be able to count to 20.
We'll learn to count to 20.
Then I'll test them on counting to 20.**

New me: 

I'm going to focus on Learning Outcome 1.14 Understand and use numbers as appropriate in everyday situations such as shopping, exchanging numbers, sequencing events. 

Hmmm, well I want to get 1-20 in pretty early in 1st Year, so perhaps shopping is a little advanced. I could so something with "How old are you?". Then again, shopping could be done if we just left out non numerical vocabulary...
Right, which other LOs can I match with this? 

These ones look relevant: 

1.11 interact in routine exchanges with pronunciation and intonation which is clear enough to be understood and with appropriate non-verbal language.

2.5 compare grammar and vocabulary of the target language with that of other languages they know, making connections and distinctions as appropriate 

3.10 compare and contrast the use of numbers in the target language country/countries and in their own, with regard to familiar topics such as prices, age, dates, seasons

Sooooo.... that's obviously not just going to be a 40 minute class on numbers. I think I'll try to combine parts of age, dates, seasons, birthdays, something about seasons in Chile being different since it's in the southern hemisphere, and get that done in a few classes. 

We'll do x for this and y for that (now we're into the methodologies that we've used all along, though with an extra focus on pair and group work, thanks to 1.11 and 1.14), and there will be this self assessment and this formative assessment and this summative assessment...

I'm trailing off there in my example because I don't actually want to plan that unit right now.

The point is: I'm no longer thinking "Gosh, I hope that when I've got through the first year book, we've somehow met the Learning Outcomes along the way", or even "Let's start in Chapter 1".

Instead in going to (endeavour to) start with the Learning outcomes every time I plan, and be a bit more willing to jump around the book and create "units" that work over a series of lessons, rather than individual lessons.

Like I said, most of it isn't life changing, but the change to the planning process is what I'm embracing here, and over the next few weeks I'll be posting my own first Learning Units planned in this way.

(There are official examples of Learning Units here, and a planning page in the CPD Booklet on page14.)







*MASSIVE disclaimer: I am in no way representative of the JCT team and, like everyone, I'm learning this new Junior Cycle as I go. Some of what I'm saying may be incorrect despite my very best efforts to get it straight, and if that's the case, please weigh in in the comments. I'll happily take corrections or enter into discussion with non-jerks. :)

** Perhaps this makes me look bad, but it's an oversimplification and I think if we're honest we've all been doing a little of it.