1. What is meant by the idea that teaching is a goal-oriented activity?

Teaching is a goal-oriented activity. One doesn't teach just to talk about meaningless information; there is a purpose and meaning behind it. Teaching and coaching are a like in that they both have goals that are similar. For example, a coach might have a goal (broad outcome) for his/her athletes to improve in that particular sport. Similarly, a teacher might have a goal for his/her students to improve in a particular subject. More specifically, a physical education teacher may have an objective (more specific outcome) for all of his/her students improve their mile time by ten seconds in two months. Without goals teachers would have a difficult time assessing their students' improvement in a certain area and also a difficult time developing a meaningful curriculum. Goals not only give the teacher motivation but also the students. There needs to be motivation for the student to participate and goals for them to shoot for a certain level.