DepEd Order • Lesson Planning • Learning Design
DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026 introduces a new direction for lesson planning and learning design in basic education. It keeps lesson planning as an essential professional task, but shifts the focus from rigid compliance to purposeful, learner-responsive, evidence-informed, and less burdensome instructional planning.
Quick Summary
DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 does not remove lesson planning. It simplifies and reframes lesson planning through the ILAW Framework: Intentions, Learning Experience, Assessing Learning, and Ways Forward. The Order also clarifies the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, provides a transition period from previous DLP/DLL formats, and guides instructional leaders in supporting teachers through coaching, collaborative planning, and technical assistance.
Who This Guide Is For
This guide is written for teachers, school heads, head teachers, master teachers, learning area coordinators, and other instructional leaders who need a clear and practical explanation of DepEd Order 016, s. 2026. It may be used for personal study, school orientation, Learning Action Cell sessions, technical assistance, and school-level planning.
What Is DepEd Order 016, s. 2026?
DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, titled Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design, updates how lesson planning should be prepared, reviewed, and supported in basic education. It applies to teachers and Alternative Learning System implementers and gives guidance to school heads and instructional leaders on how lesson planning should be used to improve teaching and learning.
The Order recognizes that lesson planning remains necessary, but it should not become a paperwork burden. A lesson plan should help teachers make better instructional decisions. It should clarify what learners need to learn, how they will experience the lesson, how learning will be assessed, and what actions should follow based on evidence of learning.
In simple terms, the Order tells schools to move from format-centered compliance to learning-centered planning.
Why This Order Matters
Lesson planning affects the daily work of every teacher. When lesson planning becomes too focused on forms, boxes, and signatures, teachers may spend more time preparing documents than improving instruction. DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 addresses this concern by emphasizing the real purpose of lesson planning: to support effective teaching and meaningful learning.
The Order also matters because it recognizes teacher professionalism. Teachers are not expected to simply complete templates. They are expected to make sound instructional decisions based on the curriculum, learner readiness, available learning resources, classroom realities, and assessment evidence.
Key point: A long lesson plan is not automatically a good lesson plan. A good lesson plan is clear, aligned, responsive, teachable, assessable, and useful.
The Biggest Change in Lesson Planning
The biggest change introduced by DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 is the shift from a fixed lesson plan format toward a flexible learning design framework. The focus is no longer on whether every teacher follows one rigid template. The focus is whether the lesson plan shows clear instructional thinking.
A lesson plan should clearly show:
- what learners are expected to learn;
- how learners will experience and process the lesson;
- how the teacher will check learning during and after instruction; and
- what the teacher will do next based on learner progress.
This is why the ILAW Framework is important. It gives teachers a clear structure without forcing lesson planning to become unnecessarily heavy.
The ILAW Framework
The main framework under DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 is the ILAW Framework. ILAW stands for:
Intentions
What learners are expected to learn and why the lesson matters.
Learning Experience
The activities, resources, interactions, and flow that support learning.
Assessing Learning
How the teacher checks learner understanding and gathers evidence of learning.
Ways Forward
The reflection, intervention, enrichment, remediation, or next step after the lesson.
ILAW is not just a new label for an old template. It is a planning logic. It helps teachers connect objectives, activities, assessment, and follow-up action into one coherent learning design.
I: Intentions
Intentions refer to the learning direction of the lesson. This includes the learning competencies, curriculum standards, learning objectives, learner context, and the purpose of the lesson.
A teacher should be clear about what learners are expected to know, understand, demonstrate, or produce by the end of the lesson or series of lessons. The learning objective should not be vague, overloaded, or disconnected from the curriculum.
Guide Questions for Intentions
- What learning competency or standard will be addressed?
- What specific learning objective should learners achieve?
- What prior knowledge or skill do learners already have?
- What learner needs, interests, strengths, or barriers should be considered?
- Is the objective realistic within the available learning time?
The intention gives direction to the entire lesson. Without clear intentions, activities may become disconnected, assessment may become unfocused, and reflection may become shallow.
L: Learning Experience
Learning Experience refers to the activities, interactions, resources, and instructional flow that help learners achieve the intended learning. This is where the teacher designs how learners will engage with the lesson.
A learning experience may include pre-lesson activities, review, motivation, presentation of concepts, guided practice, independent practice, group work, contextualized examples, integration with other learning areas, and use of appropriate learning resources.
What Makes a Good Learning Experience?
- It is aligned with the learning objective.
- It considers learner readiness and context.
- It uses available and appropriate learning resources.
- It follows a clear and teachable lesson flow.
- It gives learners opportunities to think, participate, practice, and apply learning.
- It includes support for learners who need additional guidance.
- It connects learning to real-life, local, cultural, or community contexts when appropriate.
Important reminder: A lesson should not be a random collection of activities. Each activity should help learners move closer to the intended learning.
A: Assessing Learning
Assessing Learning focuses on how teachers gather evidence of learner understanding and progress. Under the ILAW Framework, assessment should not only happen at the end of the lesson. Formative assessment should be integrated throughout the learning process.
Formative assessment helps the teacher determine whether learners are ready to move forward, need clarification, require remediation, or are ready for enrichment. It also helps teachers adjust instruction based on actual learner responses.
Examples of Formative Assessment
- oral questioning;
- exit tickets;
- short written tasks;
- quick quizzes;
- observation of group work;
- performance checks;
- peer discussion;
- individual practice exercises;
- learner reflection prompts; and
- teacher observation notes.
Assessment should generate useful evidence. It should help answer this question: Are learners learning, and what should the teacher do next?
W: Ways Forward
Ways Forward refers to the teacher’s reflection and next steps after considering what happened during the lesson. This may include remediation, reteaching, enrichment, adjustment of strategies, additional practice, or extended learning opportunities.
This component is important because learning does not end when the period ends. Teachers need to reflect on what worked, what did not work, what learners still need, and how the next lesson should respond to the evidence gathered.
Possible Ways Forward
- reteach a difficult concept using another strategy;
- provide additional practice for learners who need support;
- give enrichment tasks to learners who already mastered the objective;
- adjust the next lesson based on learner performance;
- refer learners for additional support when needed;
- revise learning resources or examples for clarity; and
- share insights with co-teachers during collaborative planning or LAC sessions.
DLP and DLL Transition Under DepEd Order 016, s. 2026
DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 repeals DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016 and other inconsistent issuances. However, it also provides a transition period. Teachers may still use the DLP or DLL formats specified in DO 42, s. 2016 until the end of the first term of School Year 2026–2027.
Full implementation of the revised lesson planning guidelines begins in the second term of SY 2026–2027. This transition gives schools time to orient teachers, conduct LAC sessions, provide technical assistance, and gradually align school-level practices with the new lesson planning guidelines.
School implementation warning: During the transition period, schools should avoid forcing teachers to prepare both old and new formats at the same time unless there is a clear instructional reason. Double documentation defeats the purpose of reducing unnecessary workload.
Lesson Plan Format and Template
One important point in the Order is that lesson planning should not be reduced to one rigid format. The guide provided in the Order may help teachers organize their lesson plans, but the bigger requirement is that the essential elements of learning design are present and aligned.
Schools should therefore be careful not to create additional local templates that make lesson planning more burdensome. The direction of the policy is simplification, flexibility, and instructional usefulness.
What a Lesson Plan May Include
- lesson title;
- learning area;
- name of teacher or teachers;
- grade level and section;
- number of sessions;
- references and learning resources;
- declaration of AI use, when applicable;
- learning competencies and curriculum standards;
- learning objectives;
- learner context;
- pre-lesson activity;
- lesson flow;
- opportunities for integration and contextualization;
- formative assessment;
- extended learning opportunities; and
- reflection and next steps.
These parts should not be treated as boxes to be filled out mechanically. The real concern is whether the teacher has intentionally planned a coherent and responsive learning experience.
Artificial Intelligence and Lesson Planning
DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 also provides guidance on the use of Artificial Intelligence in lesson planning. AI may support teachers, but it should not replace teacher thinking, professional judgment, and instructional responsibility.
Fully AI-generated lesson plans are not allowed. Teachers remain responsible for defining learning objectives, unpacking competencies, designing learning experiences, choosing instructional strategies, responding to learner needs, and validating all materials before classroom use.
Acceptable Support Uses of AI
- grammar and spelling checks;
- formatting support;
- improving clarity of language;
- translation assistance;
- organizing teacher-prepared ideas; and
- refining text after the teacher has already made the instructional decisions.
Uses of AI That Should Be Avoided
- letting AI decide the main learning objectives;
- letting AI unpack competencies without teacher review;
- submitting fully AI-generated lesson plans;
- using AI-generated activities without checking alignment with learner needs;
- copying AI outputs without validation; and
- using AI to replace teacher reflection and professional judgment.
Teachers should declare AI use when AI was used in preparing the lesson plan. This supports transparency, accountability, and responsible technology use.
What Teachers Should Do
Teachers should treat the new guidelines as an opportunity to make lesson planning more meaningful and less mechanical. The focus should be on instructional clarity, learner needs, evidence of learning, and ways forward.
Recommended Actions for Teachers
- Study the ILAW Framework and understand the purpose of each component.
- Start with the learning competency and clarify the specific objective.
- Consider learner readiness, context, and possible barriers.
- Design activities that directly support the objective.
- Integrate formative assessment throughout the lesson.
- Use evidence of learning to plan remediation, enrichment, or adjustment.
- Use AI responsibly only as a support tool, when appropriate.
- Reflect on the lesson after implementation.
What Teachers Should Avoid
- copying lesson plans without adapting them to learners;
- submitting fully AI-generated lesson plans;
- writing long lesson plans that do not improve instruction;
- using activities that are not aligned with the objectives;
- forgetting formative assessment during the lesson;
- ignoring learner context and readiness;
- using the same plan repeatedly without reflection or adjustment; and
- treating lesson planning as paperwork only.
What School Heads and Instructional Leaders Should Do
School heads, head teachers, master teachers, learning area coordinators, and other instructional leaders play a critical role in implementing DepEd Order 016, s. 2026. Their role should not be limited to checking whether lesson plans are submitted.
Instructional leaders should provide coaching, mentoring, technical assistance, collaborative planning opportunities, and professional conversations that help teachers improve lesson planning and classroom instruction.
Recommended School-Level Actions
- Conduct an orientation on DepEd Order 016, s. 2026.
- Explain the ILAW Framework using simple sample lessons.
- Allow teachers to use DLP/DLL during the transition period.
- Gradually align lesson planning practices with the ILAW Framework.
- Use LAC sessions for collaborative lesson planning.
- Use the lesson planning rubric as a coaching and self-check tool.
- Clarify acceptable and unacceptable AI use.
- Conduct non-rated classroom walkthroughs focused on instructional support.
- Provide additional assistance to newly hired teachers or teachers handling new learning areas.
- Archive lesson plans for reference, reflection, and professional learning.
What Schools Should Avoid
- requiring additional local templates that increase teacher workload;
- checking lesson plans only for completeness of boxes;
- using the rubric mainly as a rating or compliance form;
- requiring excessive attachments or documentation;
- treating all teachers the same regardless of experience and support needs;
- discouraging teacher professional judgment; and
- misunderstanding the proper role of AI in lesson planning.
Using the Lesson Planning Rubric
The Order includes a Lesson Planning Rubric that may be used by teachers for self-checking and by instructional leaders for coaching. The rubric looks at whether intentions are clear, learning experiences are coherent and inclusive, assessment strategies generate evidence of learning, and ways forward are actionable.
The rubric should not become another compliance-heavy checklist. Its better use is to support reflection, mentoring, instructional conversation, and continuous improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Lesson planning remains a professional responsibility. What changed is the approach. The Order emphasizes flexible, responsive, and meaningful lesson planning instead of rigid compliance with one format.
Yes. Teachers may still use the DLP or DLL formats during the transition period until the end of the first term of SY 2026–2027.
Full implementation of the revised lesson planning guidelines begins in the second term of SY 2026–2027.
No. The lesson planning guide should not be treated as the only national template. Schools should avoid imposing unnecessary formats that increase teacher workload.
Teachers may use AI as a support tool for grammar, formatting, clarity, organization, and translation. However, AI must not replace teacher judgment. Fully AI-generated lesson plans are not allowed.
School heads should review lesson plans qualitatively, focusing on alignment, learner context, learning experience, assessment evidence, reflection, and ways forward. Review should lead to coaching and technical assistance, not unnecessary compliance pressure.
The main message is that lesson planning should help teachers teach better and help learners learn better. It should be purposeful, responsive, evidence-informed, and less burdensome.
Final Thoughts
DepEd Order 016, s. 2026 is a significant shift in lesson planning. It respects teacher professionalism while still requiring clear instructional thinking. It also challenges school leaders to move away from document-centered supervision and toward meaningful instructional support.
The success of this policy will depend on how schools implement it. If schools simply create another long template, the intent of the Order will be weakened. But if schools use the ILAW Framework to promote clear intentions, meaningful learning experiences, formative assessment, reflection, and ways forward, then lesson planning can become less burdensome and more useful for both teachers and learners.
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