Page 233 - Making Instruction Work

chap 18 3/11/97 5:14 PM Page 219

course procedures 219

written down, and many of them are fictional. They are only
things that everyone believes. Question them.
Another thought. There are many things that you can do dif-
ferently without ever having to ask for anyone’s blessing or
approval. After all, you’re being paid to exercise your best judg-
ment to get the job done. If you go to your administration or to
your management for approval of every change you want to
make, you’ll soon earn a reputation for being unable to do any-
thing on your own. So think about it. If you can change the
color of the paper on which your tests are printed without
requiring anyone else’s approval, you can change the rules by
which you operate your course. And if you can change some of
your practices without demanding approval, you can come
closer to implementing ideal instruction just by deciding to do
it.

A Simpler Way

Here is a simpler way to derive course procedures. Use the
model set of procedures listed below as your guide. It is a set of
procedures used by those who are in a position to implement
most or all ideal characteristics. Imagine that this will be the
set of procedures by which you will implement your course.
Where you see a procedure that you cannot implement, only
then will you need to answer the questions above and make
changes. The closer you can come to following these proce-
dures, the closer you will be to applying what is known about
making instruction work.