Lesson Planning in Competence-based Syllabi/ Curriculum: How to write statements of teaching objectives and learning outcomes

The competence-based approach has been adopted to drive innovation in the Vietnamese education system. However, the approach has presented challenges to stakeholders, among which planning competence-based lessons seems to be a hurdle to teachers. To specify, the lessons stress a set of outcomes that students are expected to execute rather than merely to know upon participation in learning activities. As a result, teachers probably find it puzzling to state teaching objectives and learning outcomes in their lesson planning. The workshop is conducted to facilitate teachers of English at diverse levels to write statements of teaching objectives and learning outcomes that support effective lesson planning and lesson delivery within outcome-based syllabi. For the first 15 minutes of the workshop, with a sample lesson plan, the facilitators engage the participants in distinguishing teaching objectives and learning outcomes, followed by an analysis into SMART (Specific- Measurable- Achievable- Relevant- Time bound) qualities of a learning outcome and the A-B-C-D model of constructing a learning outcome statement. Then, the participants are divided into groups of 4, spending the rest of the workshop writing statements of teaching objectives and learning outcomes for selected lessons in common English textbooks. The theoretical ground for the workshop is "constructive alignment" (Biggs, 2014) in which the design of teaching, learning and assessment practices is aligning and complimentary to foster teaching and learning. The workshop would bring both theoretical insights and practical value to those who are syllabus designers or practitioners in English language education.