The SMART Way to Learn

When setting academic goals—especially when implementing SMART goals for students—it’s crucial to establish clear parameters for accountability.

That’s why it’s a good practice to get kids into the habit of setting SMART goals. These are much more tangible goals that give kids a timeline in relation to achieving them.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-based

A quick Google search for ‘SMART goals’ will return numerous pages, and not all are targeted at the student population. This is important for kids to note, so that they understand goal setting is not a patronising method of organisation targeted towards a specific age group, but is beneficial to everyone: from students and their parents, to teachers and tutors, job seekers and employers, blue-collar professionals to manual labour workers and so on.

We’ve discussed the benefits of implementing SMART goals into your child’s and family’s life at length in a previous blog, ‘Resolutions for Kids’; but let’s now break it down to a base level.

Let’s take a look at an example of a university student’s SMART goal:

To increase my confidence during class discussions this semester, I will raise my hand two times in each class to respond to the teacher’s questions.

How does it meet the SMART criteria?

Specific

The objective is clear. The student lacks confidence in public speaking and wants to achieve a base level of confidence. To do this, the student will raise their hand two times per class.

Rule number one when developing your SMART goals is to avoid vague or multi-layered goals. If the student’s goal read, ‘I will increase my confidence by raising my hand more at university,’ the student would lose motivation and have a higher chance of failure to achieve the goal.

Measurable

The goal is measurable, because each time the student raises their hand to contribute, they have made progress towards their goal.

It is understood that kids who know the feeling of accomplishment are more likely to pursue success in the future. Dr. Edwin Locke examined the relationship between motivation and goal setting in the 1960s, and noted that people were more determined when given clear and structured goals – especially when they received feedback on their performance afterwards.

By having clear SMART goals formulated for them, a sense of accomplishment is far more likely to be experienced by your child or student even before the goal has been fully achieved; this is because measurable markers are provided along the way, offering reassurance that the goal is being successfully pursued.

Achievable

Due to the repetitive nature of the action within the goal, the student will become accustomed to raising their hand and contributing to discussions. Therefore, they will have less fear in doing so in the future.

According to Edwin Locke and Gary Latham’s goal setting theory, students with similar skills and background can have vastly different results depending on their goals. In this way, Locke and Latham argue that goals and how they are developed ultimately determine a person’s ability to succeed.

As part of their research, Locke and Latham noted that with every student who set clear goals came a strong sense of autonomy, which led to better decision-making and higher levels of motivation to pursue their studies.

By setting goals that are achievable and offer opportunities for improvement through their implementation, kids can develop behaviors and routines that benefit their academic progress in the long run.

Realistic

The student will find that by contributing to class discussions, their learning improves and so too does their overall confidence in the subject.

It is important to ensure your child’s goals are realistic. If the university student’s goal had read ‘Be totally confident to contribute in all classes by the end of the week’, this may have led to disappointment and a lack of motivation to seek self-improvement in the future.

For some students, using scaffolds and written reminders to direct their goal setting is beneficial to long-term success. Researchers Lawlor and Hornyak noted whether students had reached their goals in their study, which used SMART goal worksheets. The students focused on achieving good grades, building confidence in presenting information to peers, and receiving positive feedback.

If your child benefits from visual reminders and structure (as many do), it is important to work with them to create realistic goals they can access physically, whether that be in a school diary or a poster on their bedroom wall.

Time-based

The goal is realistic. The student calculated that to achieve confidence in speaking publicly, they would need to raise their hand twice per lesson over the duration of one semester (typically six months). It gives the student an end point at which to reflect on their progress in achieving the goal, and ultimately a sense of achievement.

You may have noticed by now that each part of the SMART goal intersects with another. While the university student produced a goal with a time frame, it is also specific and realistic.

Children who are open to setting goals with a parent or tutor may benefit from being asked, “When would you like to achieve this goal?” However, it’s crucial to follow up by ensuring that their chosen timeline is realistic and attainable. This approach encourages children to think about their goals more thoughtfully and promotes a sense of accomplishment when they succeed within their own expectations. To do this, work together to devise a goal that measures their progress over time and is realistic regarding the time needed to see meaningful results.

Above all, students and children should refrain from comparing their goals to those of their peers. While it may be true that certain objectives seem easily attainable for one student, it does not necessarily follow that the same goals are suitable or realistic for another. In other words, individual aspirations should be tailored to personal strengths and circumstances, rather than being shaped by external comparisons. For this reason, it’s crucial to focus on personal progress and celebrate achievements as they come.

If you’d like more information on SMART goals and how you can help your child build confidence in specific areas of their learning, contact us at Choice Education Group using the link below.

https://www.choiceeducationgroup.com/ 

Resources:

Locke and Latham’s goal setting theory

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232501090_A_Theory_of_Goal_Setting_Task_Performance

Research conducted by Lawlor and Hornyak.

https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2016/07/using-smart-goals-to-make-scientific-progress