The current situation in school.
Let’s think of a hypothetical scenario. A primary school kid does not understand multiplication. Ignoring that, she is expected to solve word problems that require multidigit multiplication. Similarly, in the next levels she has to move on to learning more complex topics like quadratic and linear equations.
What kind of outcomes can take place? She can get scared of mathematics as a subject.
Bad grades, feeling lost in class discussions and a feeling of failure start to surround a child and this causes disengagement. At this point, a child may simply say that they’re bad at that subject. They can feel that they just don’t have a mathematical, scientific or literary brain. Of course, we all have our favorite subjects and ones we’re better at than others, but it’s simply wrong for a child to assume they can’t succeed in something. No one’s grades are imprinted in their DNA; we all have the potential to understand and grasp a subject to a certain degree, we just need to be taught it correctly at our own pace.
What is meant by mastery learning?
Mastery learning is the approach of focusing on making sure a child masters a certain area of a subject before moving on to the next stage. It’s how we traditionally learn subjects outside of school, such as musical instruments or dance. On the contrary, within school walls, we are still forcing children to learn and then move on all together. This is expected even if a proportion of the class has started to fall behind.
The current education system is heavily focused on moving to the next grade without getting to work on missed concepts. This leads to a clutter of confusion because of the huge gaps in learning. Every step in the process has its own prominence and cannot be skipped if the goal is to attain excellence. A paradigm shift in the delivery of material and the presentation of fundamentals. Moreover, the calculation of outcomes has to be there in order to stay relevant with the ever-changing times.
Mastery learning focuses on filling the gaps in learning before moving further in a self-paced and flexible manner. It requires tracking what is learned and what is not. According to the report of weaknesses of a learner, the plan can help them work on them. This can be implemented until there is a good grasp over them. That too, without an assumption that someone can be less capable at a given subject.
“In mastery learning, assessments are not a one-shot, do-or-die experience; instead, they are part of an ongoing effort to help students learn.” Thomas Guskey, 2010
Why Learning for mastery important ?
At Ribbons we strive for nourishing lifelong learning and a growth mindset. Which means:
Lifelong learning : Teaching for mastery encourages lifelong learning. When students are given time to learn and succeed, they’re more likely to value perseverance, have confidence in their skills and understand their own learning needs.
Growth mindset : Growth mindset reminds students that their abilities can be improved with continued effort. When a student fails or gets less than expected marks in a subject, they feel defeated. In a mastery based approach – there is no weightage to failing or getting less marks. All that you need to do is – try again till you learn and understand.
How mastery based learning help the students?
When a learner goes through the subject matter with the intention of exploration and getting an expertise, then the shift goes from fear of bad grades to adoring progression. The student is then the captain of learning rather than being someone just getting the required grade.