Primary Years Programme Making the PYP happen - ITARI

Making the PYP happen
Where will we find the time
Time, or more properly lack of it, is one of the most difficult
problems faced by schools and districts engaged in restructuring.
Watts and Castle, 1993
As any administrator or teacher will confirm, there is never enough time. Set out below are some practical
suggestions for finding, making or buying that precious commodity, time.
Guidelines for implementation
Release time
! Release teachers during assemblies.
! Teach a class yourself to enable a teacher to work with a colleague.
! Encourage team-teaching, which may allow one teacher to take a larger group, so releasing a
colleague.
! Schedule early release or late start days so that teams can plan together; build these into the
calendar or weekly schedule.
! Use college interns, teamed with a qualified teacher, to work with combined classes.
! Design shared units involving teachers, parents and students.
! When planning themes, share the work; let each person prepare one aspect for everybody.
Rescheduled time
! Make sure that the schedule allows for common planning time between members of a grade
level team; for example, add minutes on four days, and release students early on the fifth, or
start the day later for students, and earlier for teachers.
Better use of time
! Many schools have an orientation week or days at the beginning of a school year. Keep
administrative details to a minimum and use the time for planning together.
! View each staff meeting as a professional development opportunity. Handle administrative
issues in other ways—memos, daily bulletins, a read-and-pass-on file.
! Reconsider how best to use inservice days. Recognize that the one-off consultant is not always
effective in bringing about lasting change and that training days may be better used simply by
providing time for teachers to plan together.
Purchased time
! Use more of the budget to release teachers to plan and reflect together; for example, pay
substitutes or pay staff for part of their own time.
! Take the whole staff on a weekend retreat away from school and spend the time discussing,
planning and reflecting.
100 © IBO 2000