Outlines and Curriculum Development
One of the challenges of
developing curriculums for childbirth preparation classes is that each hospital
or each community class setting has a slightly different arrangement for their
classes, or a number of different formats. So, an educator has to figure out
how to present the same information in 8 hours, or 12 hours, or 16 hours. I
have developed several different outlines for different formats, which I share
here. Please feel free to use these as springboards for ideas about organizing
your own classes.
Curriculum Development
When I began teaching, I would
make three versions of each outline:
a) A script. My full notes where
I really thought through every different section of the class: exactly what I
wanted to cover, how I wanted to cover it (making sure that each class had a
balance of lecture, videos, hands-on practice, and interactive learning), and
how long each section would take. I would practice each section at home to make
sure my timing estimates were in line with the reality.
b) My brief notes summarizing
this… the brief notes are what I actually took to class to work off of as I
taught. These sometimes got cut and pasted on computer, as you’ll see here, sometimes I copied them out onto index cards.
c) The class
outline. A handout hat students get, or that is
written on the board, which summarizes the plan for class.
If you are working at a
hospital or in a setting which has a pre-ordained class outline, you start
there, then flesh it out to a full script, then back
to your brief notes.
Yes, this is a time consuming
process. Doing each of these three levels takes a lot of prep work prior to a
class. But I found all that time to be worthwhile, because when it came time to
actually stand up in front of class, I knew exactly what I was going to say,
and felt really prepared and competent. And if the inevitable surprises arose
during class (the VCR breaks, I forgot to bring some supplies from home), it
was easier to problem-solve that one little detail because I knew everything
else was under control.
These days, I am thoroughly
grounded in all the different ways to cover any given topic and exactly how
much time each will take. So, if I need to develop a new class, or want to
rearrange my lesson plan, I can do it in a few minutes of scribbling out ideas
on an index card. I also frequently adapt my plans as a class goes on,
depending on the needs of the day, and on my own whim. But that degree of
confidence and flexibility has only come as a result of all the earlier focused
preparation.
Childbirth Preparation Classes
The first two formats contain
sections on newborn care and breastfeeding. The rest of the childbirth prep
series cover only pregnancy, labor, and birth.
7 week childbirth preparation seminar
(14 hours of class time.) I have my full notes
for the class and also the outline I give out to the students. (word doc, pdf,)
4
Saturdays Childbirth Preparation Series (12 hours of class time)
A One-Day
Childbirth Preparation Seminar (8 hours).
Includes outline that is given to students as well as
my personal notes. Lunchtime Labor Review (word, PDF)
4
Evenings Childbirth Preparation Series (8 hours of class time.) My brief notes to myself.
2 Saturdays Labor and Birth Class.
(8 hours) The students’ outline, and my version with
notes on timing.
6 Evenings
Childbirth Preparation Series (12 hours).
I haven’t actually ever taught this format, but developed the outline
long ago as a practice exercise.
Pain Meds: a 45 minute presentation on
pain medication. (New to website: posted 8/06)
Breastfeeding and Newborn Care
Breastfeeding Class. Outline, Notes, Handouts, Review
Quiz (2.5 hour class)
Notes for 90 minute class. Powerpoint for
75 minute presentation on Infant
Sleep.
Newborn Care Class. My notes. Review Quiz. (3 hours)
Newborn Prep Class (6 hours) My notes, plus students’ outline.
More recent revision of outline.
Review quiz: 2 page version, 3
page version.
The outlines on this page are
all freely available for you to use and adapt in whatever way you would
like.
If you find that you are
making extensive use of my outlines, I would encourage you to consider making a
donation to the
organization I work for, Great Starts Birth & Family Education in
Note, some of these outlines
were developed four or five years ago, and may need to be updated. Some are
fairly complete outlines, others are my notes from
curriculum in development.
All outlines developed by Janelle Durham,
MSW, ICCE, LCCE, CD.