Conclusion

Chapter 3 Culture of Mastery

I am entirely certain that twenty years from now, we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so primitive. —John W . Gardner

In mastery-based-learning schools, students work with teachers to choose tasks they feel let them display their proficiency with standards or learning goals based on learning progressions expressed as proficiency scales. They no longer simply complete assignments to plow through curriculum. Rather, learners are able to tap into their personal experience, knowledge, and cultural context to create learning plans or personal projects that empower them. This equates to students taking control of their own learning by expanding on their learning and applying previously mastered material to new learning objectives. It is this way that mastery-based learning is closely aligned with trauma-responsive schooling and culturally responsive teaching.

This chapter centers around cultivating a culture of mastery, which empowers students to demonstrate proficiency on high-level learning goals. The chapter also presents a vehicle for addressing traditional curriculum and standards through the effective use of proficiency scales, which results in higher engagement of students and teachers. In addition, nurturing a robust culture of mastery also helps build relationships through learning partnerships that are inherent in mastery-based-learning models. Furthermore, creating a culture of mastery aligns with the belonging and esteem levels on Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy. You can assess your school’s efforts toward this change by using the “Culture of Mastery Proficiency Scale” (page 81).

Cultivating Relationship and Engagement

Relationships and engagement are critical components of trauma-responsive schooling. In our examination of numerous schools and districts that have implemented mastery-based educational practices, students strongly express that their level of engagement is far greater due to the fact that instructors in the [mastery-based learning] model teach differently and respect their individual styles of learning more effectively than they had experienced in their traditional classes (Heflebower, Hoegh, Warrick, & Flygare, 2019; Ruyle, 2019).

All students, to some extent, attempt to master skills and understand content, and they all yearn for positive interpersonal relationships (Ryan & Deci, 2020; Strong, Silver, & Robinson, 1995). Students want and need work that empowers them to practice and demonstrate skills independently and at a high level, which helps improve their sense of themselves as competent and successful human beings. This is the drive toward autonomy, mastery, and purpose that Daniel Pink (2011) asserted are the hallmarks of motivation. As students notice their progress and feel autonomous, masterful, and purposeful, they are likely to believe they are capable of further learning (Pink, 2011).

Traditional schools, however, often create classroom cultures that make truly personalized approaches to learning and instruction difficult to implement. Students in industrialized educational systems are part of a typically passive learning environment. They often take little ownership of their own learning in that they are grouped based on their chronological age, respond to teacher direction, and submit required assignments to earn enough credits to move through school and, eventually, graduate. Accordingly, the core practice of teachers often tends to reflect an antiquated system of beliefs in which the classroom remains teacher centered or curriculum centered. Far too often, as UCLA distinguished professor of education Pedro A. Noguera (2008) stated, students find discrepancies between their beliefs, values, and effort and the support they receive from their teachers and the broader traditional school culture and structure.

That these models tend to facilitate deeper individual teacher-students relationships is one of the most exciting benefits; they also increase engagement and motivation (DeLorenzo et al., 2009; Priest, Rudenstine, & Weisstein, 2012; Ruyle, 2019). Designed for flexibility and personalization, mastery-based learning practices encourage teachers to adapt to the unique needs of their individual learners, which leads to higher levels of student engagement and deeper trust in relationships between students and teachers.

As one high school student in California stated:

In mastery-based [learning], kids have more of a chance to get motivated because they can follow their own interests. It’s liberating to be able to think differently and do what I want. I’m encouraged to do better because I’m able to. I already know if the work I do is good enough or not. I really don’t need for the teachers to tell me, because the learning goals and proficiency scales have already spelled it out. (R. Franz, personal communication, May 9, 2018)

A middle school learner in Vermont reinforced the difference between educational models:

In my last school, I was just in the middle of a big herd of people, and we were moved along like cows. In mastery-based [learning], I get to choose my own path and move that way. It’s so much more interesting and motivating. And now I’m doing better in school and am getting better grades! (A. Flynn, personal communication, May 30, 2019)`

Students and teachers in successful mastery-based-learning schools continually speak to the deeper level of connection, relationship, and engagement in the model. Teachers in mastery-based-learning classrooms haven’t necessarily changed their strategies, but they have altered how they implement and execute their strategies, as well as review the frequency with which they use a particular strategy. In any group of students, individuals will be at different points in the learning sequence, so it makes sense for teachers to focus whole-group instruction on cognitive and metacognitive skills but use smallgroup instruction regularly to meet students where they are any given moment. It is for this reason that we assert the argument that mastery-based learning, when effectively practiced is, in itself, trauma responsive as well as culturally responsive.

Our continued research and conversations with students in mastery-based-learning K–12 models reveal the following commonalities that are especially important to learners’ increased academic engagement (Dyer, 2015).

• Increased pride in their school: Students in mastery-based school systems demonstrate and report higher engagement than when learning in more traditional models, and they demonstrate higher engagement than peers who are in traditional schools (Guskey, 2008, 2010; Ruyle, 2019).

Students and teachers in mastery-based-learning schools also consistently report greater motivation and believe all learners can achieve at high levels, leading to increased pride in themselves and their schools (Guskey, 2008; Marzano, Norford, et al., 2017; Ruyle, 2019). Motivation is a critical element in the learning process, and it is molded by foundational skills and

elements of the learning environment (Cantor et al., 2019). Empowering learners to tap into their own motivation is also a foundational piece of trauma-competent systems. • Personal connection and mentoring: Students consistently rate the individual attention they receive in mastery-based learning systems the most important factor in their engagement and ultimate success (Ruyle, 2019). The personalized guidance students access to reach more advanced levels of skill and knowledge is foundational in mastery-based learning systems. This connection and mentoring lead to a conscious creation of learning partnerships that are a fundamental component of culturally responsive teaching.

Developing Learning Partnerships

To truly develop learning partnerships in the classroom, it is necessary to know who you are as a teacher and who your students are personally. This attention is foundational to creating culturally responsive teaching practices. The knowledge of oneself and one’s students is the building block to deepening relationships and ultimately creating a climate and culture that engender motivation, shared risk taking, and accountability in the learning process. Consider the fact that “identities play a powerful role; students are motivated to think and act in ways that are congruent with their identities, which, in turn, are contextually situated” (Oyserman, 2009). If we ignore the importance of understanding how specific identities are portrayed and how that portrayal can impact student success, we can unintentionally marginalize and undermine students’ success.

All students begin school as dependent learners by virtue of their age and development, but a disproportionate number of students from historically disenfranchised groups typically remain dependent indefinitely because of inequitable educational practices that result in less effective instruction and a less robust curriculum (Medin & Bang, 2014b; Vander Ark & Liebtag, 2020). In other words, many students of color continue to receive the pedagogy of poverty. This approach suggests that the students are the ones who are broken and need to be fixed. This deficit thinking limits opportunities given to students of color and reduces their interactions with the teacher to one of compliance or silence, because in traditional systems it is viewed as the only way to reach the desired outcomes. To develop independent learners, use mastery-based learning to organize curriculum and instruction and engage students actively in authentic, challenging work. Students achieve more academically when they feel competent and become confident and in charge of their own learning (Deci & Ryan, 2012). The goal for teachers, therefore, is partnering with students to increase their competence.