Setting goals

Te Mana Kōrero 3

• How do teachers let students know what (and why) they are learning, and what constitutes good achievement? What does this look like? How does this enhance student engagement in the learning process? How do teachers let whānau know what (and why) their tamariki are learning, and what constitutes good achievement? What does this look like? How does this enhance whānau engagement in the learning of their tamariki? [Note examples at Hiruharama School of:
  learning goals/intentions and success criteria (which have been collaboratively established) being shared explicitly with students through Task Board displays. Note the comment of one student, “I think the Wall is very important. So we know what we’re learning and we can set goals for the future and move up in our levels.”
• students sharing their learning intentions and the Task Board with whānau at the PPP (panuipukapuka/pjs/purini) evening
• students reporting to whānau on their progress and achievements through digital portfolios.

[Note particularly the parent stating how he knows what his daughter is trying to achieve in reading, and how he can help her, after seeing and reading a learning intention with some success criteria in her reading book.]

• How do teachers let students know what they are achieving in relation to expectations and what they need to do to make better progress? What does this look like? How does this enhance student engagement in the learning process?

[Note example at Opunake School of students receiving some maths results from national standardised testing and discussing with each other what aspects of maths they need to improve in. Note also the comments that this helps motivate students and helps them set high achievement expectations for themselves.]

Taihape Area School Case Study: Goal setting, Relationships for learning, and Leading me to lead my learning

• Why do you think Taihape Area School has established goal-setting and learning celebration processes?

[“Basically, we identified that goals were an important part to student achievement.”]

• What is involved in the goal-setting and learning celebration processes at Taihape Area School?

[“It’s the negotiation of what we can both do to help the child achieve.”
Think particularly about the goal-setting and celebrating learning meetings – who attends the meetings, what happens in them, and what appear to be the roles and responsibilities of each participant?]

• What do the benefits of goal-setting and celebrating learning appear to be for learners?

[Note the teacher, the parent, and the iwi educational representative’s comments about motivation and engagement, confidence building, and direction setting. In particular, note the junior student’s comment “It helps me get a little push into my work” and the senior student’s comment “All the goal-setting kind of motivated you to want to … learn more.”]

• What do the benefits of goal-setting and celebrating learning appear to be for teachers?

[“It makes me more focused in what I’m doing with the kids. I make sure they know exactly what they are learning and why they learn it … because … sometimes as a teacher you get very very busy, and you can get quite focused in on what you are doing and forget about the why we are doing things. And so it’s really good to have a learning celebration to keep you sort of accountable.”]

• What do the benefits of goal-setting and celebrating learning appear to be for families/whānau and iwi?

[“So for [parents] to come into school and have their child tell them where they are at, and have their teacher back up what the child is saying, it’s a really positive experience for them.

Note also the parent’s comments “I’m learning myself so it’s huge” and “I feel really proud of him, watching him show me what he is learning, what he needs to improve on, I feel very proud of him.”]

• How has the establishment of goal-setting processes at Taihape Area School affected classroom practice?

[Think about the teacher’s statement “In the classroom, things have changed in terms of enabling students to make a lot more decisions about what they are doing and how they are doing it. It’s more about teaching the concepts, and the students, they go and choose the context that they want to explore those ideas in. And that gives them ownership and choices, and lets them make decisions about their learning.”

Think also about the iwi educational representative’s statement “There’s some equity happening with teachers and students – the teachers are also learners, and the learner’s also a teacher.

What are the implications of these statements for student engagement and teacher practice?]

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