Applied educational practice and research development of ‘goals of best practice’ (GsBP): philosophical inquiries and conceptual analysis for consideration

In educational settings, the notion of ‘achieving optimal best’ in a subject matter (e.g., an elementary school student's achievement in her Year 6 Science project) is relevant for educators to consider. Optimal best, or optimal functioning, reflects the proactivity, positivity, and motivation of a person. How does a student achieve optimal best in Calculus? Our extensive research of optimal best has recognized the potency of the process of human optimization, which may operate to explain a person's successful experience and achievement of optimal best. Recently, researchers have considered another theoretical concept, which is termed as ‘goals of best practice’ (i.e., abbreviated as ‘GsBP’). Goals of best practice, in brief, are personal goals that a person may construct and set for a particular context. Specifically, however, a ‘personal goal’ may indicate and espouse a person's plan of intent to either remain on course without any desire or aspiration (i.e., ‘goal of actual best’, denoted as ‘GAB’) or, alternatively, to strive for maximization (i.e., ‘goal of optimal best’, denoted as ‘GOB’). This article is theoretical and conceptual, reflecting the use of the paradigm of philosophical psychology to advance the study of the concept of GsBP. Specifically, we contend that our conceptual analysis of GsBP, entailing both GAB and GOB may provide a logical basis and rationale for the proposition of educational implications for consideration and inquiries for continuing research development.