A designer speaks: Charles Lovitt and Doug Clarke

Look at any 10 classroom lessons. Two might be quite forgettable, about six might be passable, but one or two might, by general acclamation from teachers, be considered outstanding.

By analysing what we consider to be high quality lessons, we contend that it is possible to distil out a set of practical design features and qualities that are generalisable and transferable to many lessons. We would claim that in this process, working alongside teachers, there is the opportunity to empower them to create their own “rich” and “balanced” classroom lessons.

We will analyse three selected lessons chosen from classrooms. Each in our opinion passes the test of being both rich and balanced.