Why Mastery Learning?

Given enough time and intervention, all students are capable of mastering content.

Mastery Learning, also known as Learning for Mastery (LFM) and Mastery Education, is an educational philosophy that shifts the definition of student aptitude. In the traditional approach, content is taught for a set amount of time, and a student’s aptitude is based on how much they learned in that amount of time. In Mastery Learning, a student’s aptitude is based on how long they need to master the content, and all students (given enough time and intervention) are assumed to be able to eventually master the content.

The purpose of Mastery Learning is to ensure that students truly master each course’s subject material before moving on to the next course.

What is the Purpose of Mastery Learning?

The purpose of Mastery Learning is to ensure that students truly master each course’s subject material before moving on to the next course. In a traditional model, students who do not master the content in the set amount of time are rarely, if ever, given additional time and opportunity to re-learn what they missed. These students often fall farther and farther behind, which leads to many seeing themselves (and being seen by others) as unable to learn successfully.

However, grading students via Mastery Learning removes this stigma, as the learning for mastery model provides students with as much time and intervention as they need to truly understand, and thus master, course material. This ensures that students master the formative content necessary to move into increasingly complex material. Students who approach learning this way see themselves as capable of learning. They are often far more ready to engage with the material and more resilient in the face of struggle.

How Does Mastery Learning Work?

The Mastery Learning model works cyclically through five stages: pre-assessment, instruction, formative assessment, correction or enrichment instruction, and summative grading or assessment.

3 Benefits of Mastery Learning

Mastery Learning Sets Students Up to Succeed

In a traditional school model, teachers only have a set amount of time to teach a topic. Students who don’t grasp the content are left behind because the teacher must move on to the next topic. This system invariably sets up some students for success but more students for failure, simply because students need different amounts of time to learn material due to a plethora of variables—often outside the students’ control. In this system, there will always be students who fall increasingly behind.

A Mastery Learning model, on the other hand, focuses on every student and the journey toward growth, and ideally, mastery. It provides students with as much time and intervention as needed, so each student is ready to move on to the next level. Studies show that Mastery Learning closes the gap between aptitude levels by providing slower students with enough time to learn, and faster students with enough enrichment that they remain engaged with the material, so every student succeeds.

Mastery Learning Inspires a Love of Learning for the Sake of Learning

The shift from ability-based aptitude to time-based aptitude moves the weight of perceived intelligence off a student’s shoulders. Instead of students in the traditional model constantly competing to keep up and then potentially giving up when they realize they have fallen behind, students in the Mastery Learning model begin to understand that their aptitude is based solely on their decision to put in the time and work necessary to learn the material.

Grades are no longer a competition; rather, each student is working towards what will best set them up for mastering the necessary content so all students can move forward together. Learning is far more collaborative, and teachers often report that students engaged in Mastery Learning begin to explore the content for a love of learning, not for fear of a bad grade.

Mastery Learning Puts the Responsibility for Learning in the Hands of the Students

As teachers create learning environments that foster students’ individual learning needs to truly master the content, students begin to realize they must advocate for themselves when they don’t understand something. Teachers often report growth in students’ motivation, sense of control over their education, and resilience as students find agency in navigating through their learning process.

Students can no longer blame bad grades on bad teaching; rather, they are given as much time and as many opportunities as they need until they master the content. They work with the teacher to understand any learning blocks until they find the path that works for them to best understand and master the content.

Source: What is Mastery Learning? Definition, Principles, Examples (2022) | Otus