Charlotte Danielson (1996) pointed out teaching is not a random activity. It must have clear purpose. In other words, a teacher must be goal directed.  There are times when the students are also involved in these goal setting. This happens when the class behaves as a community of learners.

In instructional goal setting, the teacher must, as Danielson pointed out, among others, set goals which are “worthwhile and represent learning central to a discipline as well as high-level learning for the students.” This is to prevent learning becoming nothing more than a trivial pursuit game. It must have importance to the students.

Instructional goals must be spelt out clearly and they must be stated in terms of what students will learn. This may be concerned with skills, thinking, in addition to knowledge and understanding.

Instructional goals should also be measurable. This does not imply only the use of traditional pen-and-paper examinations. Alternative modes of assessment become important to measure the differing skills, thinking and conceptual understanding that the student is supposed to learn. Teachers and students alike must be clear what is the learning that is supposed to take place and how this earning is going to be measured or assess. It is even necessary sometimes for teachers to show how the assessment is to be done through samples of student work.

Instructional goals should also reflect that diversity of skills and abilities of the students under the teacher’s charge. A one size fits all approach is an injustice to the learners. It will also mean that the teacher does not take into account the differing levels of the students. The instruction will therefore be skewed toward either the better or weaker students or  the teacher may choose to adopt what the teacher considers to be the median level to accomodate the different learners.  All three option will mean that no one student will be taught according to his level which is against all known pedagogical principles. It makes teaching a farce.

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