In this course (Dr. Briscoe's section) we have looked at the interaction between goal setting and self-regulated learning and creating our own distal and proximal goals for a project of our choosing.
My distal goal: Using current research and internal expertise, collaboratively develop a definition of excellence in teaching and learning for our school.
What is it about this goal that interests me?
This goal resonates with me as it is a core national standard for the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) organization, of which our school is a member. CAIS schools are peer reviewed and accredited every 6-7 years, and our next review process begins in 2019. While we have a strong mission at the school, and an articulated academic vision, we need to begin the process of developing an articulated definition of excellence in teaching and learning. Enter my goal for the year. To do this properly, it must be done collaboratively and engage all stakeholders meaningfully in the process. Indeed, the full CAIS effective practice reads:
3.1 Through an ongoing consultative process, the school has published a definition of excellence in teaching and learning that encompasses current research.
To that end, this goal becomes more distal; I could write this statement up tomorrow and email it out to faculty, but that fails to meet the consultative process and will ultimately fail as our highly invested faculty will not have built the definition of excellence together.
How will this goal improve my professional/personal situation?
Creating this goal will of course help the school meet the aforementioned effective practice 3.1 for the CAIS accreditation. But of equal, ongoing importance, having an agreed upon definition of excellence in teaching and learning will provide a foundation for other policies and procedures. Once we have defined what the School declares as excellence, we can then build professional development workshops, new faculty onboarding programs, and faculty feedback mechanisms with this definition as the foundation. Much can be built once the foundation is secure so I am highly motivated to do this process right.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2006). New directions in goal-setting theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 265-268.
Schunk, D. H. (2001). Self-regulation through goal setting. (ERIC/CASS Digest ED462671). Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED462671.pdf
Schunk, D. H. (1990). Goal setting and self-efficacy during self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 25, 71-86.
Wolters, C. A. (2003). Regulation of motivation: Evaluating an underemphasized aspect of self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 38, 189-205.
Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2008). Motivation: An essential dimension of self-regulated learning. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 1-30). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41, 64-70.