Running head: IN SEARCH OF A USEFUL DEFINITION OF MASTERY

In Search of a Useful Definition of Mastery

Brooke Petro
Cornerstone University

IN SEARCH OF A USEFUL DEFINITION OF MASTERY

Summary
When taking a deeper look at the article In Search of a Useful Definition of Mastery, it is
evident that the authors, Thomas R. Guskey and Eric M. Anderman, are promoting the
importance of defining and determining mastery within the educational domain. In the beginning
of the article, the authors discuss mastery in relation to competence and soon after they discuss
Benjamin S. Blooms take on mastery. From these sections readers see the importance of
mastery in education because it displays expertise in both knowledge and performance. Next,
they consider the motivation researchers claim towards mastery and the very definition of
mastery. From this part of the article readers see that mastery is often the main goal for students
and it requires large amounts of practice and skill. The author then concludes the article stressing
the importance of acknowledging mastery within assessments including: percent accuracy,
professional judgment, implications for practice, and complexity calling for judgment. This
section is important because it shows future teachers how to apply this concept of mastery to the
classroom.
Response
My professional opinion regarding some of the key points of the article include concepts
that I both agreed and disagreed with. Although the article was arguing the point that mastery
and competence are very different, after looking up their definitions for myself these terms
seemed to be very similar in my opinion. They both involve expertise; mastery is the advanced
knowledge or skill in a particular concept while competence is ability to successfully perform a
particular concept by displaying great skill in it. Despite my slight disagreement, I tended to
agree with most of the article. In fact, the article displays a great truth while stating, First, if
teachers want students to achieve mastery on a particular task or assignment, they must make

IN SEARCH OF A USEFUL DEFINITION OF MASTERY

sure students understand the goal and must clearly articulate to students what constitutes
mastery (Anderman & Guskey, 2013). I agree with this statement because the students cant
reach mastery in anything unless the concept of mastery has a clear standard that needs to be
reached. Mastering something requires high standards; otherwise it would be a task that any
amateur could be capable of as well.
Along with my agreements and disagreements, there are also many advantages and
disadvantages to this information, many of which impact my future teaching career. The results
that motivation researchers accumulated on the concept of mastery within the classroom are very
influential as a future teacher. They found that the things teachers do in class can aid their
students towards embracing mastery goals. In fact, there are three steps to this process. (1)
allow them to resubmit assignments that need more work; (2) do not pressure students by
consistently talking about grades and assessments; and (3) encourage self-comparisons and avoid
comparing students' achievement with that of other students (Anderman & Guskey, 2013). The
disadvantage of knowing this knowledge is that it means teachers have to do a little more work
by making appropriate judgments, having opportunities/time available, and providing specified
expectations for the attainment of mastery so that the student understands and can successfully
master the given task. Though this is viewed as a disadvantage, I believe that the hard work will
be more than worth it in the end when teachers see their students grow as they strive towards
mastery.
Just as this hard work will reap its advantages sooner or later, the information from this
article will also be important in my future teaching career as it prompts me think about how I can
grow as a teacher. The article does this by showing me how to make judgment calls and change
my grading scale so that I can display an accurate percent grade that is appropriate when

IN SEARCH OF A USEFUL DEFINITION OF MASTERY

considering the many other factors involved. These factors may include problem difficulty,
specific details I failed to communicate, etc. I was also reminded that I need to give opportunities
to retake assessments as many times as students need to and I need to clearly communicate to
students what I am looking for as I grade so they understand what they need to accomplish to
achieve mastery.
As I contemplate how I want to teach in the near future, I also think about different ideas
that can be utilized in the future classroom. In fact, from this article I was inspired to want to
make my classroom into a place where mistakes are okay and where I encourage trying again,
and again. I order to do so it would work if I had the opportunity available for students to repeat
assessments without penalty. I would also want my classroom to be a place where I constantly
encourage my students that the percent or grade they receive on an assessment or assignment can
always improve and most importantly, does not define their worth. My students will be rewarded
for hard work and perseverance by receiving positive feedback if not from their grades, then
through my words. Grading them solely on their talent to achieve mastery instead of the
knowledge, ability, and experience that they have attained overtime to achieve it wouldnt work
as an effective tool for learning in the classroom. My classroom should be a place where the
steps leading to mastery are clearly understood and the drives toward it are unstoppable.
Continuing the idea of what I hope my future class will entail, there is also information
that I could implement into the classroom. I could try to convince students that the more they try,
the better grade they will receive and the more they will learn. Yet, this concept becomes
difficult to convey when students dont feel like giving up their time to learn when they could be
doing something else. Most students arent very excited when they need to stay at school longer
than usual and spend time on the same problem they worked on the day before. To counteract

IN SEARCH OF A USEFUL DEFINITION OF MASTERY

this unwillingness of students, the teacher (me) should come up with fun and creative ways to
engage students and make the same problem look different every time. Students are then less
bored and, therefore, more willing to stay and learn more and try harder because they dont view
it as work but rather as fun.
I hope to share the valuable information I learned from this article to both my students
and colleagues in my future school. I can display this information to my students by teaching
them with the methods that I have learned work best and that lead to successful mastery. I could
also share these methods and creative ideas that I learned to adopt as a teacher with my
colleagues by notifying them of the research educators have presented regarding affective
teaching styles, classroom environments, and learning content. In order for my future school to
be a successful learning center, all the teachers need to define, determine, and encourage mastery
through the way they teach and live.

IN SEARCH OF A USEFUL DEFINITION OF MASTERY

References
Anderman, E. M., Guskey, T. R. (2014, January). In search of a useful definition of mastery.
Educational Leadership, 71(4), 18-23.