CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This precept is quite popular, being one of Stephen Covey’s seven habits of highly effective people. However, we’ve also come to consider it a guiding principle in developing a thematic learning package.

Based on our experience, having comprehensive course guidelines from the get-go is a helpful way to get primed for the task. As we proceeded with the development process, we found it important to have a general idea for how the learning package would work as a whole. This, in turn, meant that we visualized the lessons as we planned them, keeping anchored on the essential learning that we wanted to be achieved.

In the process, it seems we got to apply and appreciate backward design (McTighe & Wiggins, 2014). In a nutshell, this means that we started by identifying what would be learned, considering the big picture of learning and then narrowing down our objectives. We then considered how we would assess the learning, setting expectations for what the learners would demonstrate. And only then did we plan for relevant teaching-learning activities. Ultimately, we found that this flow helped ensure that the learning package would be internally aligned and that the learning would be authentic and meaningful to our target learners.

Throughout the course, we were encouraged to develop the learning package as an open educational resource (OER). Indeed, there seems to be an emerging trend in using such resources to make learning accessible (Baker, 2012). The need for quality OERs is warranted as we consider the changing needs and trends for 21st Century Readers (OECD, 2021). Furthermore, as reading instruction evolves, there is a persisting and growing demand for quality instructional materials that are not only aligned to learning standards, but also responsive to learner diversity (Chan, 2022).

As educators who share the same goal of delivering quality reading instruction, we believe we shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. And so, we sought to prepare lesson plans that could and would be used, featuring relevant and quality open access materials as much as possible.

Reading is relevant to many fields of interest and is part of other subjects in the curriculum too. And so, reading lessons can serve as opportunities to communicate ideas and insights, sparking inspiration and even imparting lessons for life. As the lessons are text-based, they also serve as opportunities to pass on literature we know and love.

These ideas were useful as we chose our theme and our texts. Even as we prioritized considerations for what would be relevant, timely, and interesting to our target learners, we realized that there is an abundance of subject matter that could serve as source material. Reflecting on our own reading experiences also guided us in searching for appropriate texts, especially those that would likely be available as open access material.

Evidence-based practice is a relevant trend even in education (Pittman, 2022). The term “evidence-based” often alludes to objective evidence such as that from quality research (Great Schools Partnership, 2016). While it is useful to start with good research, evidence-based instruction is not necessarily limited to what the published documents say. Insights drawn from teaching experience are still important to ensure that lessons are appropriate and responsive to learners.

Over the course of developing our learning package, we referred to relevant documents, course materials, and other references. We realized that although we’ve been equipped with materials throughout our course/s, we still needed to exercise judgment to develop authentic and relevant lessons.

As one of many known theoretical perspectives on learning, constructivism suggests that learners can be active in the learning process. This is useful to consider when planning reading lessons as we aim to foster readers who love to read and learn from what they read.

We believe it is important to have lessons that truly engage learners; having materials of interest and incorporating effective teaching-learning strategies would be crucial to facilitating engagement. In our learning package, for instance, we developed lessons around texts which we considered developmentally appropriate and relevant to our target learners’ interests. We also made use of interactive/dialogic reading, strategically incorporating text-based questions that tap into different levels of comprehension. We were deliberate in our designs as we intended to help learners develop metacognitive processing and higher order thinking skills even as they enjoyed the reading experience.

Developing a thematic learning package is a complex task, but it can be managed especially when the team has a strategy for work. Compartmentalizing is one such strategy we learned in the early phases of our development process. Essentially, we compartmentalized by breaking down the requirements into smaller sub-tasks and by setting realistically flexible deadlines.

Delegation and task limits made the requirements more manageable for the team. It helped to consider that the components of the requirements differed in how much work they would require. As such, we decided on who and how many members would work on certain parts. Agreeing on task limits (e.g. rough time allotments for parts of the lessons, number of items to include in certain sections) also helped to keep things in perspective to avoid getting carried away with meticulous planning.

We also realized that the "deadliest deadline" is not enough to ensure that the task will be accomplished. Deciding on our own deadlines was useful as a way of setting priorities and minimizing procrastination. We also found it important to have enough leeway for unexpected circumstances and to have opportunities to review and revise as a group.

Communication is essential to teamwork. It’s not enough to presume everyone understands the task the same way. Members may be from different backgrounds and cohorts. Instructions and underlying principles may be interpreted differently. Furthermore, it’s important to establish rapport, acknowledging that the team is a group of human beings and not just working entities.

Communication within the team was admittedly a work in progress throughout the development process. As early as the first requirement, we decided to meet synchronously at least once in a while and it proved to be an effective strategy. Realtime communication really made a difference as it gave us a sense of urgency for tasks and also opportunities to get immediate feedback. The opportunities to interact informally also let us get to know each other and get a rough idea of our circumstances; the rapport was helpful to keep the team moving forward in spite of how daunting the tasks had seemed. Interaction also gave us chances to ask help from one another, to share references, and to brainstorm effectively.

In hindsight, we also realized that there were some ways we could have communicated better. It would have helped to have a bit more transparency – especially with regards to changes in individual circumstances – as it really could make a difference in how tasks and deadlines are planned. Some tasks could also have been accomplished more efficiently if operational definitions were clarified from the start. Also, it could have been useful to allot more time for scholarly discussion; it would have been nice to have a more balanced experience between accomplishing requirements and learning collaboratively.

The word “collaborate” embeds the concept that the WORK is done TOGETHER. In other words, collaboration for a thematic learning package entails mutual support while accomplishing tasks. Each member has strengths and weaknesses which s/he may or may not be aware of. And so, it is important that the team acknowledges what the members bring to the table and how it would affect the work.

In our experience, it was helpful to let members volunteer for tasks. That way, each one could be confident and accountable in contributing to the team’s success with the requirements. At the same time, it was also helpful for the group to come to a consensus for who would best manage certain tasks. This solidarity could be very encouraging and may even give members the opportunity to learn more about themselves.

We acknowledge that there is still room for improvement for our learning package, especially as there are anticipated changes in the learning setup for our target learners. In fact, at the time of preparing this conclusion, there is a pending mandate from the Department of Education for increasing the capacity of face-to-face classes (Fernandez & Orejas, 2022). And so, modifications and adaptations may be warranted to maximize the lessons.

As our lesson plans were designed based on the Four-Pronged Approach (Ocampo, 1997), it may be useful to extend the lesson plans to include other components of this framework. For instance, having enrichment activities may broaden the scope and relevance of learning. The current lesson plans feature the first two prongs of the aforementioned approach; it may be helpful to develop content for the remaining prongs so that the lesson plans are more readily incorporated in classroom teaching. Also, in considering potentially larger class sizes, it may help to streamline lessons a) by distributing Q&A between During reading and Post-reading discussions and b) by using small group activities to delegate parts of the discussion.

As developers of the package, we can attest to how the lessons have been meticulously planned for our target learners. However, no amount of our testimonies can substitute for practical insight. And so we would also recommend conducting a pilot study for this learning package. A pilot study would serve as a good opportunity to assess the efficacy of the package, providing valuable bases for refining the package with appropriate modifications.

Our learning package currently features lesson plans for only three of our six selected texts. Still, these lesson plans were developed presuming the remaining texts could cover pre- and co-requisite insights that would elaborate on our theme and topics. And so, we recommend that related lesson plans be developed for the other texts.

Here are some of our ideas on how the remaining texts would fit into the thematic learning package:

• For topic 1, starting with “All Things Bright and Beautiful” would set the stage for appreciating what nature provides. Priming the learners with appreciation of nature would add impact to the insights from “Outside in” as it, in turn, emphasizes that there is much that can be lost and missed.

• For topic 2, “Anak ng Pasig” concretizes the effects of irresponsible consumption, an issue that is subtly introduced through “The Giving Tree”. It would serve as an overview of the problems that require the solutions promoted through topic 3.

• For topic 3, “We Are Water Protectors” illustrates how to advocate for Nature. It presents the concept in a relatively simple and realistic manner, preparing the learners to appreciate the insights that may be extracted from “The Lorax”.

We hope these insights may at least serve as a rough guide in planning the expressive objectives for the pending lesson plans. By having a complete set of six lesson plans, this learning package may potentially provide a more well-rounded reading and learning experience for the target learners.