Mastering Mastery
I have been training to teach now for 12 months. Before that time, I was already a mum and had heard murmurings about the new curriculum and how it was becoming 'mastery' based so children would be learning things in more depth. It is not until I saw the video above however, that I truly understood what mastery was.
Salman Khan uses the analogy of a house to explain how the education system currently works. Students take tests throughout their education where they may get 75% - or if an 'A' grade student 90%. But - and here is the key thought, if those students are getting 75% correct, that means that 25% - one quarter of the information they need to know - they do not understand. If we were to take the same approach with house building it would look similar to the image of a wall above! I think we could all agree - the house would not remain standing - and I don't think the brickie would keep his job. Yet the education system expects us to move one - even with the mastery approach we are supposed to be using.
But what does that have to do with the Teachers Standards?
To teach a mastery curriculum, which is what the National Curriculum is based upon, children should have full understanding of the foundational elements of a subject before progressing. This is more prevalent in the STEM subjects due to the dependance of basics for more complex calculation and understanding of the world. It is however still relevant to English and the foundation subjects as the principle is the same throughout - without strong foundational knowledge, children will not be able to excel - and isn't that what we aspire to for all our children?
The Teacher Standards tagged are related to progress and assessment of students, in addition adaptation of teaching styles. To teach a mastery curriculum it is essential that the teacher is aware of any gaps in knowledge and make filling those gaps in a priority. To be aware of gaps is to utilise formative and summative assessment, and to infill the knowledge is to differentiate and teach accordingly.
What next?
As part of the degree programme a focus is on misconceptions in maths - which I will compile as reference material for when I have my own class. In addition I will learn more about effective assessment strategies to implement during my next placement.