Selasa, 15 Januari 2008


What Learning Objectives Should I Write in my Lesson and Unit Plans


Subject: Re: Learning Objectives
From: Lisa
To: Dad
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 15:33:21 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Dad,

Thanks for your comments about performance objectives. I’ll have to think about them some more. But if performance is one type of objective, and expressive objectives are different, what sort of outcomes should expressive objectives aim for? You know what I’m asking, don’t you?


Love, Lisa



Subject: Re: Learning Objectives
From: Dad
To: Lisa
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 20:17:31 -0500 (CDT)

Dear Lisa,

You ask an important question. Instead of harping on performance objectives, let me put the issue more positively: what learning goals should we Christian teacher aim for? Bloom’s Taxonomy might give us one clue. He suggests three domains of learning goals: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. But be careful: Bloom’s Taxonomy distinguishes too sharply between “cognitive” and “affective” domains. By the “affective domain he means such things as feelings, beliefs, and attitudes. I don’t like this term “affective”, Lisa and I equally dislike the implication that somehow we can bottle up feelings and beliefs and attitudes into a distinct domain. The fact is, there is no knowledge without belief and feeling, and there are no beliefs and feelings and attitudes without knowledge. All knowledge is coloured by what we believe and how we feel.

As an alternative to Bloom, let me suggest at least six general areas of learning objectives. Each one of these areas should be addressed somewhere in your unit plan. Some will require more emphasis, depending a bit on the subject matter, but none may be disregarded or neglected. These “goal areas” should not be viewed as separate unrelated categories: they overlap and interact. Most importantly, each one of these goal areas should contribute to the overarching goal of equipping for discipleship.

The first of these areas concerns of contents and skills, the sort of thing most lesson objectives are about. If you want to write performance objectives, I suspect most of them would fit in this category.

Second, I suggest you pay special attention to developing the children’s capacity to think critically. I know this emphasis is getting to be a fad nowadays, but we need to remember that we want our youngsters to be able to distinguish sharply and evaluate soundly.

A third category of learning objectives should aim at the children’s creative and imaginative abilities. Too often, I fear, the creativity of our youngsters is thought to be the responsibility of art and music teachers. Not so, of course. Every teacher, no matter what the subject, should provide plenty of opportunity for the exercise of creativity and imagination. Creative writing, drama, improvisation, sketching, composing, and the like are appropriate to virtually any lesson you may wish to teach. In fact, I suspect that every part of the curriculum can be dramatized or turned into a creative activity.

The fourth goal area may remind you of the old “psychomotor domain” of Benjamin Bloom. It has to do with physical, hands-on learning. We can easily get stuck in classroom routines of seatwork and cerebral labour. So we must think of ways to engage the children in concrete, physical activity. Don’t leave this job entirely to the P.E teachers. Manipulatives in math are an excellent beginning. Some of the creative activities suggested above lend themselves to bodily actions. And don’t hesitate to get the children involved in hands-on learning. Look for opportunities to have them construct and build, to forge and to assemble. From what you’ve said, Keith might be a crime candidate for this goal area.

A fifth set of learning objectives focuses on the social and emotional development of your children. For Marci such goals may be much more important than academic skills. Marci needs to develop a positive attitude towards herself and others. These are relevant emotional and social objectives. At times it will be important to teach your student to express righteous anger. In social studies and science, for example, it is not enough to simply have the youngsters understand the breakdown of the family and the effects of air pollution. They should be upset about such evils and want to do something about them. We are talking about direct consequences of sin, and sin is something to be angry about! The Lord certainly is!

I suggest, Lisa, that a key emotional goal should be that your students will enjoy your class. I mean genuine enjoyment and satisfaction from meaningful learning, not superficial entertainment. If you write at the top of your lesson plan – “the students will enjoy this lesson” – you will be motivated to teach in more creative ways, I’m sure. Now is this a measurable performance objective? Of course not. But you surely can tell whether the students are bored to tears or having a good time learning.

A final, very important category of learning objectives focuses on servanthood skills. Again, hard to measure, but not so hard to judge. Be sure to give students like Stephanie, who are a joy to teach, many opportunities and incentives to help Marci and others like her. Teach them to encourage each other, to listen to each other, to respect each other, to pray for each other, and to really love one another.

Meanwhile, you are faced with the principal’s decision to focus on performance objectives. What should you do? I would take the following steps: Talk to the principal, and colleagues as well, about some of the themes we have just discussed. Ask him how he can help you maintain your commitment to the whole child. Don’t argue about performance objectives. Agree to abide by his decision, comply with his requirements, then try to meet other goals as well. Remember, patience and gentleness are to important fruits of the Spirit. Keep me posted, okay?

As always, Dad