Teaching a goal-oriented mindset is crucial for students to reach both academic and social-emotional success. The process of planning, achieving, and reflecting on performance, effort, and outcome can assist in creating and reaching attainable goals, which leads to a sense of self-efficacy and overall well being.
Research indicates that students who strive to accomplish learning goals, which are defined by Carol Dweck 1980 as, “a goal that focuses on overall learning, particularly how mastery of a skill or concept will develop understanding and ability to subsequent learning and challenges," demonstrate a greater understanding of the acquisition, application, and generalization of knowledge and skills.
SMART Goals are a great way to monitor progress, successes, and failures with children. While end results are typically highlighted in the goal setting process, it is particularly important to emphasize the process, effort, progress, and skill-sets utilized by a child to strive towards their accomplishment. Reflection is also a vital skill which fosters self-awareness, grit, perseverance, and resilience. These traits are helpful when assessing the effectiveness of a goal and also when identifying plans and strategies that will result in the same or similar outcome.
