Scheme Planning, Artificial Intelligence and Student Teachers: A Cautionary Tale

The authors delve into the critical role of lesson planning in developing effective teachers, highlighting how it integrates pedagogical, curricular, and subject knowledge. They discuss the shift from teachers creating personalized lesson plans to relying on predesigned schemes—a trend accelerated by the introduction of the Mastery curriculum in 2014 and the COVID-19 pandemic. While acknowledging efforts to reduce teacher workloads, Gretton and Lea caution that over-reliance on ready-made plans and artificial intelligence tools may hinder student teachers' ability to understand and meet their learners' diverse needs.