Tag Archives: Benjamin Bloom

Mastery Learning – The case for jumping from A to C

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Firstly, let me say that I am a huge fan of Mastery Learning, after all, what’s not to like. In simple terms all that is required is for the student to fully understand a topic before moving onto the next. They must master ‘A’ before moving to ‘B’, and ‘B’ before ‘C’. To skip ahead would of course be mad. To those who have not thought too much about this before, you might assume this is how all learning works, until you reflect on your own schooling, where progression was based on age, and not understanding!

TL;DR – the short audio version

But it’s not the only way to learn. Much of what we learn is not linear, in fact knowledge might be better thought of as a web, that you can come at from many directions rather than a ladder.

Mastery learning
Developed by Benjamin Bloom of Blooms taxonomy fame, Mastery Learning was driven by the 2-sigma problem – students receiving one-to-one tutoring outperformed classroom peers by two standard deviations, effectively moving from a grade C to a grade A. By fixing the standard rather than the time, he believed most students could reach levels of achievement traditionally reserved for the few.

This depended on formative assessment and corrective instruction. Low stake tests are used to identify knowledge gaps with the student needing to score around 80% – 90% before they can move on. If not, they receive “alternative” instruction rather than repetition. This continuous feedback loop was Bloom’s way of bringing classroom learning closer to that which can be achieved by one-to-one tutoring.  The word alternative is important here, the student does not simply go over the same material again, instead they are given a different explanation or re-taught with another method, for example pairing the student with those who have already reached mastery.

Sal Khan has adopted Mastery Learning in Khan Academy, here he makes a compelling case for its use with characteristic clarity – TED talk from 2018.

Jumping from A to C with no B
To help understand how we might pull off this magic trick, let’s look at the work of Lev Vygotsky, he developed the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). It makes a distinction between what a learner can do on their own, and what they can do with the right support. The gap between those two is not a barrier to cross, it’s where learning happens.

When a learner jumps to C with appropriate support, they do not completely ignore B they look back on it in the context of what they are about to learn in topic C. Because B now has a purpose, it tends to be learned and remembered more deeply than if it had been drilled in isolation.

The sequence flips: C with support → encounter B in context → C independently. The gap doesn’t have to be filled before you advance. It gets filled through advancing.

This approach is supported by Robert Bjork’s research on “desirable difficulties”, introducing challenge before a learner feels ready improves learning. Struggle is not always a sign something has gone wrong – it’s an opportunity for good learning.  

Horses for courses
This is not an argument to use the A – C approach over Mastery, there are situations where they can both be beneficial. It depends on context, for example early maths and reading benefit from attention to sequence, here Mastery should be used, but where personal developmental and social skills are the objective, the A-C approach might work best. Secondary school learners benefit from a blend, of both as well as project-based challenges, which helps develop problem solving skills. Adult professionals should be trusted to identify and fill in their own gaps, however where large amounts of knowledge and skills are required in a short period of time, as is the case with many high-stakes professional exams, Mastery is preferred.

Conclusion
The problem with Mastery Learning as an overarching model is that it presents a highly believable story as to how knowledge is actually acquired. Real learning, the kind that sticks and transforms, has always been messy. It involves confusion, premature exposure, partial understanding, backtracking, and sudden reorganisation. It might mean you are thrown into C before you feel ready and finding, to your surprise, that you manage.

Mastery is often described in terms of building strong foundations to support your future learning that sits on top. But knowledge is not a foundation, that once in place remains solid and strong, you never fully master anything, there are always gaps that over time without use will decay. Learning is less of a solid foundation and more like a piece of cheese, full of holes, and if left unattended, will only acquires more.

It is not always necessary to wait until you feel completely ready, in fact, the truth is many students never do. There are times when you just need to jump in, struggle, backfill, and push forward. The good news, you will develop a stronger and more resilient understanding of the subject – messy and illogical it might be, but its also hugely effective.

Effective learning = Affective learning

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When we think of learning, we often focus on acquiring knowledge and developing skills. But there’s a third, often overlooked dimension, the affective domain. These are our attitudes, motivation, values, and emotions. It’s easy to view them as somehow less important and yet they are what transform knowledge and skill into true expertise.

Imagine two students sitting in a maths class, both are taught about addition (knowledge). They are then asked to add several numbers together, which they do successfully (skill). But one of them believes they are not very good at maths and that the subject is boring. The other likes the subject and is looking forward to the next class. It’s not hard to figure out who will learn more, not because they were in some way smarter but because of the difference in their attitude, levels of motivation and beliefs.

I’m trying something different this month – a two minute video explainer of the blog, enjoy

How to play the violin
One way to understand how knowledge, skills and the emotional side of learning fit together is to consider how you might learn to play the violin.

“When you play a violin piece, you are a storyteller, and you’re telling a story” – Joshua Bell

First you need to be able to read music, this is the knowledge phase. It’s not easy of course, and in some ways may feel a little abstract and lacking in purpose. Next there is the physical skill of being able to play the violin. Reading music is a prerequisite but its practice and repetition that will help you improve. And lastly, you pick up the violin and play a piece of music, this is when the affective domain becomes important. How confident are you there will be no mistakes, do you feel sad when playing, what emotion are you trying to pass onto your audience. To deliver a great performance will require the combination of knowledge, skills, and emotions, interwoven so closely they cannot be separated.

“Music is the language of emotions” – Emmanuel Kant

The research – There is a large body of evidence supporting the impact of emotions, attitudes, and beliefs on learning. In 2014 Reinhard Pekrun published Emotions and Learning, in it he demonstrated that positive emotions like enjoyment and pride enhance learning by increasing motivation, engagement, and cognitive flexibility. In contrast, negative emotions such as boredom and anxiety can suppress learning.  Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset (2006) further reinforces this idea. She showed that learners who believe effort leads to improvement are more likely to persist through challenges. These beliefs rooted in the affective domain shape how students respond to setbacks and how resilient they become in the face of difficulty.

Another Bloom’s taxonomy!
Many will have heard about Blooms taxonomy but what you might not know is that there are three of them. The first is Cognitive, the Bloom most of us have seen before (The pyramid), the second Psychomotor domain, that looks at physical skills, and lastly the Affective domain that defines behaviours that correspond to attitudes and values.

This affective domain has five levels:

  • Receiving – The willingness to attend or listen, giving your attention  
  • Responding – Actively participating, effectively engaging
  • Valuing – Attaching worth to an idea, making it personal, forming the belief
  • Organisation – Integrating the values into your belief system, embedding the belief
  • Characterisation – The learning becomes part of your identity

Why it works – Bloom sets out the hierarchy of development but the reasons our brains respond and change are, firstly emotion directs attention and strengthen memory. Our brains evolved to prioritise emotionally charged information. Secondly, positive feelings boost motivation. When learners feel valued and capable, dopamine release reinforces effort and persistence. And lastly supportive environments reduce cognitive overload, freeing up working memory for reasoning and problem-solving

What does this all mean?
Understanding that there is a third aspect of learning is important, if not educators will spend disproportionate amounts of time on knowledge and skills, which of course is often the case! When in fact they should be thinking about how to use affective techniques to deepen learning. For students it gives an insight into the human side of learning, you are not ChatGPT able to simply scan content and recall it whenever needed, you are a human being who needs to feel, connect, and value the material for it to stick. That emotional and motivational component is the fuel you need for long-term mastery. Simply knowing that can make a big difference.

Want to learn more – Listen to Nick Shackleton-Jones talking with John Helmer about affective learning, and a lot more.

Roger Federer the Master – Mastery learning

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Roger Federer is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time and often referred to as a master of tennis. His extraordinary talent, remarkable achievements, consistency, and longevity in the sport have solidified his status as a tennis legend. He also seems to be a very nice bloke!

Relevance to learning?
To improve your position in the tennis rankings, you must first prove yourself at the lower levels before you move to the higher ones, which seems like a pretty solid idea, and yet that’s not how it works in education. If you think back to your school days, although there were different recognised levels of ability within a year, everyone progressed to the next stage of learning based on age. This could mean that you were studying something at a higher level having not mastered the basics at the lower one.

What is Mastery
Mastery learning is an educational approach where learners are expected to achieve a high level of proficiency or mastery in a particular subject or skill before progressing to more advanced material or a higher level. In other words, you must demonstrate mastery of the current material before moving on. For example, in a math’s lesson learners may be required to demonstrate proficiency in solving algebraic equations before moving on to more advanced topics such as calculus. Similarly, in English, learners must demonstrate their proficiency in grammar and punctuation before progressing to writing essays.

Benjamin Bloom, remember him, is often credited with pioneering the concept of mastery learning. In the 1960s. Bloom proposed the idea as a response to the limitations of traditional instructional methods, which often resulted in some learners falling behind while others moved ahead without mastering the material. He emphasised the importance of ensuring that all learners achieve a solid understanding of core concepts before progressing to more advanced topics. This approach required personalised instruction, continuous assessment, and opportunities for remediation to support every learner in reaching mastery. An example of this type of mastery teaching can be found in the personal tutor market, where parents pay an expert to coach and mentor their children so that they will be able to ace high stake tests.

There is also substantial evidence supporting the effectiveness of mastery learning. Several studies have highlighted the advantages, indicating that learners taught using mastery typically exhibit superior academic performance, greater retention of information, and deeper comprehension compared to those instructed using traditional methods. For instance, a meta-analysis published in the “Review of Educational Research” in 1984, analysed 108 studies on mastery learning and concluded that learners consistently outperformed their counterparts on standardised tests and other metrics of academic attainment. 

Mastery grade – Although the emphasis in mastery is on ensuring that learners understand and can apply the material, rather than achieving a specific grade, if the assessment method includes questions, then there has to be a “pass mark”. Although the exact percentage may vary, I saw 80% – 85% mentioned, the consensus seems to be 90% or higher.

“Ah, mastery… what a profoundly satisfying feeling when one finally gets on top of a new set of skills… and then sees the light under the new door those skills can open, even as another door is closing.” Gail Sheehy

The impact of technology
While we have seen that the effectiveness of mastery learning has been proven it is not without its challenges. One issue is the increased time needed, the result of personalised tuition, and additional resources e.g. more questions and course materials. This can put a significant strain on any organisation that might result in them cutting corners in practice. However, this is where technology can really help, we are now in the age of AI and adaptive learning which has the potential to offer the high levels of personalisation required to deliver at scale on the mastery promise. Which could mean that mastery and all its benefits becomes well within the reach of everyone rather than a privileged few.

But, but, but the devils in the detail
In practice there are of course other problems, what role if any will teachers play, will there need to be significant retraining? Who will pay for all of this, and what of the social stigma that may result for those held back because they are not “bright enough”?

Three bigger questions:

  • Firstly, there is the argument that by focusing on mastering the component parts of a subject, the wider learning is lost, for example the cultivation of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In addition, attaining genuine mastery for all learners within a given timeframe poses challenges where the demographic is more diversified in terms of learning styles, backgrounds, and abilities.
  • Secondly, how do we really know if a subject has been learned, let alone mastered. Although someone might have moved to the next topic having scored 92% 3 months earlier, what if the test itself wasn’t sufficiently robust for the level of understanding required at the higher level?
  • And lastly, we know that as we progress our tendency to forget increases, unless of course that original information is revisited, think here about the forgetting curve. While the speed at which we forget varies greatly, the consistent observation from decades of research is that, with time, we inevitably lose access to much of the information once retained.

Now there are answers for most of these, however there is the potential for well-meaning organisations to promote so called “mastery courses” when in reality they are fundamentally flawed.

What does this all mean
For learners – Mastery is compelling and should be kept in mind when studying. Going back over something to make sure you understand it will not only reinforce what you already know but builds a solid base from which to move forward. However, there will be times when you don’t fully grasp something and time runs out, leaving you no alternative but to move on. The secret here is not to worry, it might be that this particular piece of knowledge or skill is not required in the future and if it is, you can always go back and learn it, again!

For educators – Mastery is certainly something worth pursuing but be careful, it’s very easy to get caught up in the ideal and create something that looks like it’s working but it’s not because of a lack of attention to the detail required to make this work in practice.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything about mastery from Roger Federer, but I’m sure he would wholeheartedly endorse this by a master with a different skill.

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” Michelangelo