Transforming Lesson Planning: A Shift to Competencies
- vanessa speigle
- Sep 25
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 7
Rethinking Lesson Planning: Moving Beyond Content
Most teachers know the drill: you sit down to plan, open the syllabus or textbook, and map out how to “get through” the content. But too often, this leaves you and your students feeling rushed, overloaded, and disconnected.
What if lesson planning didn’t have to be about covering material? What if it could start with the skills and competencies you want your students to develop? Let the content serve that bigger purpose.
This shift doesn’t just change your plans. It transforms your teaching energy, your students’ engagement, and the outcomes you see in the classroom.
🌍 The Rekla Lens: Why Competencies Come First
In Finland, the focus is not on memorizing every fact but on cultivating skills that last: communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, self-efficacy, and well-being.
By planning with competencies at the center, teachers:
🎯 Give students agency — learning becomes active, not passive.
🌱 Build transferable skills — what you can do matters more than what you can repeat.
🪴 Reduce stress — less pressure to “cover it all,” more freedom to go deeper.
🌍 Connect to real life — planning isn’t about a chapter; it’s about how today’s activity builds tomorrow’s citizen.
This approach doesn’t erase content; it anchors content inside competencies.
✏️ A Practical Example of Competency-Centered Planning
Let’s consider a science lesson on plants.
Traditional content-first planning: Students memorize plant parts, label diagrams, and take a quiz.
Competency-centered planning: Students work in small groups to investigate how plants grow in different conditions. One group tests seeds in light vs. dark, while another uses more or less water. Each group records observations, creates a simple chart, and shares their findings with the class.
This way, students still learn plant parts and functions, but they also practice:
Collaboration (working in groups),
Critical thinking (asking questions, analyzing results),
Communication (presenting findings),
Creativity (designing ways to show their results).
The content is still there, but it’s woven inside a competency-driven process.
🌱 What This Means for Teachers
Shifting to competency-first planning can feel overwhelming at first. But it doesn’t require new textbooks or more hours. It requires asking different questions as you plan:
What competency do I want students to practice?
What activity will let them practice it?
What content fits naturally inside this experience?
How can assessment be ongoing and continuous, so that instead of ending with a quiz or exam, students produce learning artifacts that show what they know?
This could look like:
A short video explaining their process,
A group presentation,
A model, sketch, or chart,
Or even a reflection journal.
The goal is to make learning visible throughout the journey, not just at the end.
To make this practical, I’ve created the From Content to Competency Bundle, a teacher-ready resource with sample lessons, planning templates, and adaptations for large classes and low-resource settings. It gives you real examples of how to start with competencies and weave content in naturally, the way Finnish teachers do every day.
🌟 Embracing the Change
Transitioning to a competency-first approach may feel daunting, but remember, every great journey begins with a single step. Embrace this change as an opportunity to ignite passion in your students.
Imagine a classroom where students are not just passive recipients of information but active participants in their learning journey. They will thrive, and so will you.
🎥 New Resources to Explore
A new YouTube series started on Wednesday: Preschool the Finnish Way. Check out the premiere video in the series.
This is just the beginning of a new way of thinking about education. Together, we can create student-centered, joyful, and sustainable learning environments worldwide. Let’s embark on this exciting journey together!
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