Friday, 26th
October 2012 I attended the third meeting of MMSEL course. At that time the
class was divided into three groups. Each group was given a reading material
that should be discussed and then should be represented by either mind map or
pictures. The materials were about Class Structure, Self-Regulated Learners,
and Teacher Characteristics.
In my group, I focused
on the Class Structure. The class structure was about the types of classroom
environment; mastery-focused environment (MFE) and performance-focused
environment (PFE).
Mastery-focused
environment was defined as an environment build by the teacher which focuses on
mastering the content, continuous improvement, and students’ effort in learning.
In contrast, the performance-focused environment emphasizes on high grades,
public displays of ability, and students’ performances.
There were some
characteristics for each environment. Some of them are:
1) MFE is defined success if the students are mastering
the content, having effort to learn and to improve their knowledge, and the
improvement itself. Meanwhile, PFE is defined success if the students are
having high grades, doing better than others, and demonstrating a high ability.
So, I think the PFE doesn’t appreciate all students who have improved
themselves from the low level to the higher one. It only appreciates some
students who do well and “win” the others.
2) MFE views the error as a part of learning, while PFE
views it as a basis of concern and anxiety. We can see directly how “angle” the
MFE is and how “evil” the PFE is. The reason is because the MFE forgives any
kind of error. When a student makes a mistake, it’s a part of improvement on
her/him, so it’s like what I have explained in point 1 and it doesn’t to be
afraid. Meanwhile, the PFE always anxious for any mistake, so individually is
asked to do better and better, forbidden to do the mistake; it’s so evil, isn’t
it?
3) MFE views the ability as an incremental and alterable,
while PFE views it as an entity and fixed. It shows how MFE appreciates each
individual, and PFE doesn’t. MFE appreciates the individual’s improvement and
views the ability can be improved by learning and letting the mistake as a part
of it. Meanwhile, PFE views it as an entity and fixed mean that it doesn’t
appreciate each individual.
