Target and Goal Setting

Growth

Ownership

Awareness

Learning

Without setting how goals, how will students know when they are learning and improving? We certainly cannot rely on grades to be a measure of growth. In fact, grades measure compliance more than student growth. Grades are teacher directed and involve no collaboration. On the other hand, goals should be collaborative decisions made by the teacher and the student and include various measurements of progress along the way.

Through goal setting, students become owners of their learning. They are not able to be passive participants who await for the teacher to determine if they have mastered the learning objectives. When students own their learning, they understand the standards that have been set, and through scaffolding and support from the teacher, they have a clear path on how to improve.

Goal setting helps students to be more aware of the learning that they are expected to experience. This awareness helps students to be engaged in the learning process. Mastery-oriented goals give students the opportunity to focus on learning standards and their own growth. Without goals, student motivation and engagement decreases because students are not aware of what they should be learning and have no idea about their role in the learning process.

Learning cannot occur in the absence of feedback. Goal-setting with students must be accompanied with individualised, targeted feedback. Goals without feedback will not increase student achievement. Choosing a limited number of goals will help teachers focus on the most important needs of the student, and will help students focus on the most critical areas of their learning. Goals should be individualized for each student, and an entry point that is challenging but attainable for the student is a great starting place when it comes to setting goals. When students experience success, they are motivated to continue to push themselves.