I Still Can't Write Learning Goals
The back and forth over the best way to direct learning in the classroom.
Learning Goal: By the end of this article, I will understand the different perspectives on learning goals and will be able to create an effective learning goal for my classroom.
Maybe.
Success Criteria:
Identify the trends in learning goals
Understand the different perspectives on learning goals
I can describe effective learning goals…
Or is it explain effective learning goals
I can be successful
Listen to the teacher and complete question 1 a), 2 ii), and 3 B).
Create better success criteria
(and less success criteria)
Learning goals ironically were rarely mentioned during my university lectures. At some education lectures, we were presented with general learning aims but the objectives locked away in the course profile did not edify the direction of our learning.
Everyone from Marzano to Hattie and more practical subject-specific books offers their thoughts on learning goals. You would be forgiven for thinking that the Australian Curriculum offers any learning goals within the achievement standards, content descriptors, and elaborations, or within the QCAA (or whatever your flavour of state body) outlines as course objectives. What exactly are students learning?
The beauty of teaching feels suffocated behind astronomical expectations, scrutiny and compliance. Learning goals can be an expression of that distant beauty where a teacher knows the content or skills students need to learn, where they are on their journey to mastery, and the way in which they can demonstrate that ability. Professional expression is vital to creating adequate learning goals.
Listening to the conversation on learning goals reveals a more abject reality, goals vary wildly in their form and substance:
The generalised goal: Understand how metaphors create meaning.
The more specific but still general goal: I will understand how metaphors create meaning in Macbeth.
The over-it goal: Quietly complete questions 3, 4, and 6 on p. 243 in your book.
The just-read-a-book-about-teaching goal: To be able to state at least three phases of the moon and describe each phase in one sentence.
All of these goals have some merit; they suit a time, a place, a teacher, and a class. The dynamics of a classroom shape the teaching.
Marzano’s work has described several ways of creating learning goals:
Declarative goals: the knowledge students should acquire
Students will understand the effect of population density on public transportation infrastructure
Procedural goals: the skills students should acquire
Students will be able to use persuasive devices to persuade an audience.
The levels of Marzano’s goals:
Retrieval Goals: Student has a basic recognition of information and execution of procedures.
Comprehension: Student has the ability to identify critical features of knowledge.
Analysis: Students makes inferences that go beyond what was directly taught, sometimes referred to as “higher order.”
Knowledge Utilization: Student is able to use new knowledge to address real-world issues.
Retrieved from ‘Tips from Dr Marzano’
Looking at the topic of figures of speech in poetry, one may organise their learning goals in this order:
Retrieval: I will be able to identify metaphors and similes within a poem.
Comprehension: I will be able to explain the meaning of a metaphor within a poem.
Analysis: I will be able to evaluate the effect of a metaphor on the audience’s understanding of a poem’s theme.
Knowledge Utilization: I will be able to analyse a poem’s use of metaphor to communicate a message to the audience.
In practice, I feel that Marzano’s taxonomy is difficult to measure nor do the goals direct the learning activities clearly. While the approach is useful and proper, it does not seem grounded in a classroom reality. My school has 45-minute lessons, so a deep engagement with learning goals is out of the question due to time constraints. I would rather have students speaking, reading, and writing. Taking minutes to write multiple learning goals and success criteria on the board is hard to juggle while facilitating student engagement.
Reflecting On My Learning Goals
Here are some of my learning goals:
I will understand how population density impacts infrastructure.
I will be able to write a paragraph describing how a character is represented through STEAL in Boy Overboard.
Learning Goal: I will be able to analyse a character by listing at least 3 traits of their personality in the STEAL framework.
I will be able to evaluate the extent to which Islam ethically condones violent war.
I will be able to differentiate between traditions through how their beliefs and practices influence ethical decision-making.
I believe I generalise the concept the class are learning. I typically will substitute the lack of detail in the learning goal with some success criteria loaded with cognitive verbs that I hope assuage the problem. It’s an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach.
Searching for the Right Approach
Successful Science Teaching by Paul Spenceley outlines a concrete approach to learning goals. I first heard Paul talk on the Education Research Reading Room (ERRR) podcast (find the episode and materials here) where he discussed formative assessment. His ideas on formative assessment were inextricably aligned with proper learning goal design.
Even though I do not teach science, Spenceley’s book provoked a change in my approach to planning learning goals. I created a flow chart to help with planning which distils Spenceley’s ideas into a planning flow.
Learning objectives can be broken down into the SMART goals framework but with a particular flavour. Plenary is a borrowed term from the Brits, but it is essentially the formative assessment. For me, the real challenge was thinking about the starter before the learning activities. Figuring out what students know is a powerful thing to consider. I found that mindset was far better than thinking of how I can ‘hook’ students with a starter. A ‘hook’ makes me think of being entertaining which is fine for some but it does not lead the learning. Finally, the teacher designs the learning activities to lead into the formative assessment so students are successful.
Here is a fleshed-out lesson plan based on my reading of Successful Science Teaching.
Year 7 English
Context: Students are about to begin studying Morris Gleitzman’s novel, Boy Overboard, which is about a boy and his family escaping from Afghanistan and journeying to Australia. It covers their journey across the desert and sea. This lesson’s aim was to establish a universal understanding of what a refugee and asylum seeker was as that is central to comprehending the motivation of the characters in the book and the central themes.
Learning Goals:
I will be able to define the terms refugee and asylum seeker in a simple sentence.
I will be able to state at least one difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker.
Starter
Discussion: What would cause you to leave Australia for a different country? (Tied into our Geography focus on livability.)
Learning Activities
View the videos on refugees and asylum seekers.
Create two mind maps as a class that explore the two key terms of the lesson, refugees and asylum seekers:
What is a refugee?
What causes people to flee their country?
Why do people become refugees and asylum seekers?
How do people find refuge and asylum?
Resources:
Plenary
Think, pair, and share: Define the terms refugee and asylum seeker in one sentence each:
An asylum seeker is...
A refugee is...
One difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee is...
Write the sentences in your workbook at the end of the activity.
Students were able to explore these key concepts, participate in discussions, and then work independently to grasp the concept of refugees and asylum seekers. Personally, I enjoyed the limited scope of the lesson and found the intentional focus on formative assessment to keep me on track. All students wrote their sentences as exit tickets. They were given feedback on their sentences to correct any misunderstandings and the quality of their sentences.
Plenary
Writing learning goals correctly will always be contested. What is right will depend on who is in vogue and at the helm of schools. Teaching can be a dark art and what works for professionals in their classroom is as valid as any metanalysis. When trying to overhaul teaching and learning in a school, learning goals are a low-hanging fruit, but this is misplaced. Teachers should be given the responsibility to craft them carefully rather than a formula book.
What do your learning goals look like?