Goals
What are SMART goals?
George T. Doran (1981) first wrote about using SMART criteria to aid in developing effective goals. Different organizations and authors have changed the criteria from Doran's original, but the most common, according to a chart of all the various changes (Wikipedia, 2021), are
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
What are the benefits and limitations of SMART goals?
When writing a goal this way, you address all aspects of the process, but they can be challenging for many students to write meaningful SMART goals independently. In previous iterations of my curriculum I was very explicit about expecting the students to write SMART goals, but I have since abandoned this practice with Art 1 students because it overwhelmed them. More advanced students may be more capable of understanding their goal writing process in these terms.
Why goals?
Some choice proponents don't frame this kind of work as goals, instead having students write out a plan for independent work (Purtee & Sands, 2021). Any sort of planning could be considered a goal for the purposes of a choice-focused curriculum, but I prefer to use the goal terminology because it is more consistent with what students may experience in other subject areas and the workplace. For example, in Texas, teachers are all asked to participate in an evaluation system that requires them to formulate and work toward self-determined goals each year. By expressing this work in terms of goals, students can connect what they're doing in the art classroom to learning and working to improve oneself in general.
It's also important that students understand why they're setting goals (Carmody, 2019). Dewey (1990) expresses this importance in terms of students valuing the content they're learning because of it's application at home and in future careers. Carmody (2019) observed, and I personally experienced, the disengagement that is a result of students not making that connection. It is fundamental to success when teaching students to set goals for their own learning. The way in which the goal is connected to the student may vary depending on their motivation for taking the class in the first place, but you can always make it clear that the process can help them to learn things they're interested in outside of school
time
Goals can be set for any length of time. They could be weekly or daily like Taylor (2019) describes or stretch them over an entire year. The formally written goals in the Plug and Play curriculum are 1-2 weeks long depending on the time of year. At the Art 1 level, I set the time frame by creating an assignment for each day of the process.
Students who have grand ambitions are asked to break their ideas into smaller pieces that can be accomplished in the given time. If they need a bit more time, they can take it. There is time built in to the end of the grading period to allow for students who get "behind." Breaking up the process of a big idea helps students to value the process instead of just the final piece and experience successes as they complete smaller goals along the way.
If a student feels they've finished early, they are expected to go beyond their original plan to spend the minimum amount of time on their goal. I have found that using shorter goals up front allows students to understand and experience the process as a whole before spending more time on later goals. Once they understand the process, they are less likely to get lost or lose focus on those longer goals.
don't provide resources
Teachers are often encouraged or explicitly told to provide resources to students in choice-focused environments (Carmody, 2019; Douglas & Jaquith, 2009). Carmody (2019) explains that teachers must do this in order to save time. While I agree that it is far more appropriate to provide resources at an elementary level since their time in the studio is often limited to once a week and objectionable internet content is more of a concern, I do not agree that skipping this step is time saved. I admit it is absolutely time consuming to teach students where to find quality resources and how to judge their usefulness. However, to skip over learning this skill is detrimental to students being able to apply goal setting outside the classroom. If they do not acknowledge and experience the time consuming nature of the research process, they are likely to get frustrated when they are not able to find quality resources quickly on their own.
Thomas and Brown (2011) illustrate a shift from "what" to "where" through an example of a group of students who may not know the location of Iraq on a map, but know where to find that information. This concept is not new. We've been faced with students who can get an answer on their phone far quicker than they can work it out or recall it for many years now. More recently, they don't even have to be able to spell what they want to know. They can simply ask Siri. As a response, we have shifted our content away from simple facts and onto more complex understandings of the interplay between those facts. The "where" is important in a world of constant change, as students need to not only learn where to find resources but also to judge their usefulness to them in answering their questions (Thomas & Brown, 2011). It may be tempting to think that students already know how to find quality resources, but I can assure you through experience, you cannot make that assumption. (See example in sidebar)
If we provide all the quality resources a student could want, as others have done (Sands, 2020; Taborda, 2016), they remain dependent on the teacher for the information they need. Therefore, I do not give students resources, but instead, attempt to guide them in learning how to find quality resources and be able to recognize them when they find them.
What if they can't find a good resource?
If students are struggling to find quality resources, I will do some searching with them. I ask them to search different terms, explain why I'm having them click on different search results over others, and talk out loud as I evaluate the resource. If after that, quality resources cannot be found, we then decide on a next step. It may be that I teach them what I know one-on-one and act as their resource, I may recommend another student or teacher to ask for help, or I may provide a resource for them. If none of these options are satisfactory, the student may need to acknowledge that the goal they've chosen may need to wait until a resource can be found and choose another goal for the time being.
For Example:
When I tasked my students with their first goal, there were quite a few who chose to learn about one-point perspective. As you can imagine, there were plenty of videos demonstrating how to draw various scenes using that skill. However, one of the search results demonstrated it in terms that could only be applied to that specific scene and several students chose it as their primary resource. It did not use a horizon line and used an "X" from corner to corner to create a vanishing point in the center of the page. I've created a quick re-creation since I couldn't find the original.
This demonstration was obviously not ideal, so I explained that they should continue using the resource for the day's practice, but look for a better resource tomorrow. I further reminded them that they should understand what one-point perspective is before choosing a tutorial. The next day, the student found a website that explained how one-point perspective drawings start with a horizon line and vanishing point, after which he was able to find a video that started with those two things.
goal setting and self-determination theory
Deci and Ryan's (2000,2008) theory of self-determination lists three needs that must be met in order to attain self-determination. Goal setting obviously addresses the autonomy aspect of Self-Determination theory by giving students agency over their learning. When giving students opportunities for intrinsic goal-setting in an autonomy supportive environment, students were much more successful than when given extrinsic goals or were placed in a controlling environment (Deci & Ryan, 2008).
What is less obvious is how goals satisfy student's needs for competence and relatedness. When students work on individual goals, the teacher is not the "sage on the stage." Students are expected to aid each other in their endeavors. The teacher can help to facilitate those connections by making others aware of individual student successes.
"Hey, Sarah! You've got to check out what Shawn is doing. He figured out a cool way to solve that problem you were having."
But, even beyond that, students make connections on their own when they are free to express their interests, move around the room, and help each other achieve their goals.
The goal process also aids in satisfying the competence need in that goals are tailored to the students current skill level. When they complete a goal, they are able to see the growth they made and feel successful. That success then leads to competence and the development of a growth mindset.
Application to the Plug and play curriculum
There are two types of goals in the Plug and Play curriculum: skill goals and expression goals. Hetland and her colleagues (2013) stress not teaching skills independently of expression, but in my experience teaching students using the SMART goal format pictured above, trying to write goals that link skills to expression when they have little to no experience with either, made for very frustrated students. When they would finally come up with a goal, they would struggle to focus on both expressing their idea in a way the viewer would understand and the skill they were attempting to improve. Their focus would typically be on one or the other.
It also doesn't seem natural to me as an artist to always link skill with expression. There are definitely times when I recognize a need for a skill in order to better express myself through my work, but often I simply see a new tool or technique and want to try it out. It becomes another tool in my toolbox that can help me with expression at some unknown point in the future. It's also a lot of pressure to always link skill with expression. Coming up with ideas for meaningful artworks is not easy for beginner artists, so to give them the freedom and time to simply improve their skills, is less stressful.
That being said, students are introduced to the expressive aspects of artmaking before beginning the skill goals, and they are asked to create an artwork at the end of each of these goals. However, I do not assess their ability to create art at this point. These creations may or may not be art, and I am able to address the inclusion or absence of expression with them in a risk-free environment, so they understand better later when expression is expected and assessed.
Skill goals
These first goals introduce students to the process that will ultimately become fully student-directed.
To begin, students choose an art skill from a list and work through a prescribed artistic process. After writing a goal based on the skill they chose, they then research and practice before using their newly developed skill to create an artwork. Each day, they reflect on their work in their digital journal with a photo and at least 3 sentences. When they're done, they reflect on the process as a whole.
expression goals
After practicing the goal process and participating in some content units on expression and copyright, the goal process shifts from one focused on skills and practice to expression and planning.
The goal process continues to require students to reflect on their work each day in their digital journal, but they are now responsible for deciding when and how much they need to practice and research. For these goals, critique is also added to the process.
discussion
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references
Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70, 35-36.
Carmody, R. (2019). Using student goal setting and feedback to encourage independent learning. Australian Art Education, 40(1), 135–154.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1449618
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Facilitating optimal motivation and psychological well-being across life's domains. Canadian Psychology, 49(1), 14-34. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxy.library.unt.edu/scholarly-journals/facilitating-optimal-motivation-psychological/docview/220818810/se-2?accountid=7113
Dewey, J. (1990). The school and society and the child and the curriculum. United States: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published in 1900,1902).
Douglas, K. M., & Jaquith, D. B. (2009). Engaging learners through artmaking: Choice-based art education in the classroom. United States: Teachers College Press.
Hetland, L., Winner, E., Veenema, S., & Sheridan, K. M. (2013). Studio thinking 2: The real benefits of visual arts education, second edition. United States: Teachers College Press.
Purtee, M., & Sands, I. (2018). The open art room. United States: Davis Publications, Incorporated.
Purtee, M., & Sands, I. (2021). Making artists. United States: Davis Publications, Incorporated.
Sands, I. (2020, February 27). The art portal. The Art Portal. https://theartportal.weebly.com/
SMART criteria. (2021, June 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria#cite_note-Frey-8
Taborda, J. (2016, October 18). Art of OHS. Art of OHS. http://artofohs.weebly.com/
Taylor, J. (2019, March). Break it down choice [PowerPoint Slides]. National Art Education Association Convention, Boston, MA, United States.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. United Kingdom: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.