Mapping Future Goals
Concrete plans for the future, based on retrospective analysis, as a component of the professional activity of teaching
In a professional context, one major reason for reflection and self-analysis is to identify strengths that can be ampilified and built on, while noting possible weaknesses to mend and opportunities for further growth. These might be made explicit in a statement of future goals.
Goals may be short-term (revising a course the next time it is taught, or introducing a new teaching technique in the upcoming year) or long-term (overhauling a curriculum to adapt to new teaching strategies, learning about and refining innovative teaching methods, or developing a major instructional resource). They may focus on specifics regarding courses or teacher-student relations, for example, or on general teaching skills or development of "teaching capital," or even on plans for funding large educational projects.
Indeed, at some point in the future, we might want to use a teacher's own goals (including the level of their ambitiousness) as a benchmark for assessing that teacher's later achievements: did he or she demonstrate deliberate and effective--and personally meaningful--professional development?