Schools place too much emphasis on speed and not enough on mastery. In subjects such as math, a child should not move to the next topic before the previous (underlying) concept has been mastered. To do so is comparable to building a house on a shaky foundation. All children should work within a zone where they are challenged, yet adequately supported until they master the material and are ready to move on.
The Importance of Mastery vs. Speed
Remember the story of the Three Little Pigs? Ever wonder why two of the pigs built houses out of straw and twigs, only to be blown away by the Big Bad Wolf? And what possessed the third little pig to build one out of brick? Was the third pig smarter – born with more talent – better genes? Actually, they were brothers, all from the same litter. And no, they weren’t that different in intelligence; they were pigs for goodness sake. But the first pig went to a school where speed was emphasized. He won top honors for being the “speediest” pig. He ate fast, wallowed fast, walked fast and built houses faster than anyone. Building them out of straw definitely helped with the speed thing, because it was available right on the job site. The second pig went to a school where he learned to build the best house in the time allotted. And that was what he did. He built a very fine house of twigs and came in under budget, with a half day to spare. The third pig went to a school where nothing got done on time, because everything had to meet a certain standard before it was complete. Naturally, the third pig was unemployed after graduation, because he took too long to finish projects. Consequently, he was left to build his own house in all his free time. And so it went, with each row of bricks slowly added, but only after the row below was set and secure. And you know the end to this story. Good houses like good scholarship rely upon securing each level before adding the next. A good education is like a good house, it has to rest on a solid foundation. So how is speed an essential factor in building a solid foundation? Ask the first two pigs.
What is more important, quality of work or speed to completion? If I am paying by the hour, maybe speed. But for surgeon, songwriter, barber, and telephone advisory person – I have to go with quality. In fact, if I am paying for successful completion of the job, speed is not my concern. So why is speed such a big deal in school? Why are tests almost always timed?
I had a Chemistry professor in college who gave untimed tests. At the end of the semester, I went to turn in my test and he asked, “So how did you do?” to which I responded, “Couldn’t get the last problem” to which he responded, “Then sit down and derive it”. Bless his heart. He sat there another forty minutes in the empty classroom, while I figured it out. He knew I could and he wasn’t going to let an arbitrary deadline keep me from showing it.
If you have an assembly line running, of course you want workers who are speedy. But if you have a brand name to protect, you don’t want your product recalled due to poor workmanship. If you commission a work of art or a new website, you aren’t paying for speed, you are paying for quality.
Speed comes with competence, but speed should not be a measure of competence. And for those who are just naturally speedier – walk faster, talk faster, think faster – do they deserve special status? When I go to my doctor, I dislike waiting too long, but I dislike even more, an appointment that is rushed, where I am not carefully listened to, where the doctor does not think deeply before offering an answer to my questions.
A focus on speed often has to do with the need to keep up. Keep up with the rest of the class, get done within the 50-minute class period, and be ready to start the next unit on Monday. But every child is different and every child learns at his or her own rate. Therefore, setting the pace at which they must progress through the course is a set up for half the class feeling bored and half the class feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, convinced they are “just no good at math” or “hate math” or “have math anxiety”.
Effective instruction and learning takes place within the zone of proximal development – at a level just beyond what the child can do independently but not at a level where the child is overwhelmed, even with support. By working within the ZPD, the needed support is gradually withdrawn as mastery is achieved. The scaffolding provided by the teacher, tutor and the text allows the child to take on the challenge of new and unfamiliar material. With practice, the child learns to handle the material with increasing independence until reaching the point where no outside support is necessary because the concept has been truly mastered. Only then should the child move on, with a ZPD adjusted upward, new challenging material introduced, the support needed in place, with the foundation of concepts mastered securely in place. Yet a focus on speed and meeting some schedule totally undermines the process of working within the ZPD and moving at the pace of mastery. To do so leaves the student trying to build a house on a shaky foundation. Math is not difficult when each concept is mastered before moving on. Math is hell when a child is expected to learn new material without the proper foundation in place.
Designing a class that allows for self-paced learning is a challenge – one many teachers cannot or will not undertake.