As the fifth of eight children, I had the opportunity to observe many differences between myself and my siblings related to the way we learned best. An older sibling had a set of encyclopedias in his room and even as a young child, spent hours devouring them; he never needed assistance with school work. Another sibling probably had no understanding of what an encyclopedia was; from the first week he had spelling words until he was in junior high, my mother and he spent hours each night practicing and memorizing spelling words that he would completely forget before he got up the next morning. By the end of the week, he was ready for that spelling test. A third sibling apparently had a deathly fear of books and approached school as something that had to be done, while I had books hidden all over the house so that whatever task was assigned, there would be easy access to reading material if time allowed. I was a quick learner and loved a challenge. Another sibling approached learning as something that just had to be done. Although we were dissimilar in our study habits and academic ability, we all made good grades, were consistently on honor rolls, and won awards in various subject areas.
We were similar in that there was one approach that worked for every one of us. This approach is what is referred to as the mastery learning approach. Mastery learning is a process in which the materials to be learned are broken into chunks, and the student must achieve mastery of one chunk before moving on to the next. Ignite Christian Academy uses this approach in the lessons provided to the students.
Students like my first sibling succeed because they read the material and retain the knowledge. These students may spend hours devouring curriculum, making sure they learn everything they possibly can about the concepts. They correctly answer the questions, meet the pass threshold and move on.
Students like my second sibling succeed because they are able to move at a different pace. This student also may spend hours in the curriculum, not in an attempt to obtain all the possible learning, but because he needs more time and effort to process the concepts. This student may not score well the first time through the material but keeps going back through the curriculum in an attempt to learn the material. It may take several attempts to master the concepts, but when the student moves on, real learning has taken place.
Those students who are like me succeed because the curriculum is seen as a challenge to be conquered. The concepts found within the material are picked up on quickly. Some lessons may need to be repeated, but many are mastered the first time through.
Some students are like the fourth sibling in that they are not motivated by the learning or the challenge; these students simply learn because it has to be done. The ability of this student to learn varies. If this student approaches the concepts correctly, learning will take place. This student may experience success at varying levels, depending on the support system available. The student's pacing may mirror that of any of the above mentioned students. Still, mastery learning works for this student because the topic must be addressed until success is achieved.
Two of these student types need a strong support system in order to ensure learning; the other two learn with or without that support system. Used correctly, the mastery learning approach worked in all four situations. The major difference is the pace at which the learning takes place. Those who love to learn, those who struggle to learn, those who learn because they have to, and those who love to conquer learning all are able to achieve academic success.
Deborah K. Secord, Ed.D.
Assistant Principal