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ABSTRACT
As teachers begin to respond to educational reform efforts that stipulate the use of research-based practices in the classroom and translate them into feasible everyday approaches in the secondary classroom, many have turned to the field of educational psychology for guidance. This article uses educational psychology research on achievement goal theory and the TARGET conceptual framework, originally proposed by Ames (1992) and Epstein (1988), to model how research in these areas can help teachers create classroom environments that are focused on meaningful learning. By briefly considering the relevant research and the examples that illustrate the application of the research, teachers should be able to create learning environments that focus on mastery goals.
ACHIEVEMENT GOAL THEORY
According to achievement goal theory, two very different messages can be conveyed in the classroom depending on whether the environment is characterized by mastery or performance goals (Ames, 1992; Dweck, 1996; Pintrich, 2000). Mastery goals are goals that are focused on engaging in achievement behavior with the purpose of developing one's competence, while performance goals are ones where the purpose of engaging in achievement behavior is to demonstrate one's competence or avoid the demonstration of a lack of competence (Kaplan, Middleton, Urdan, & Midgley, 2002).
Within environments that emphasize mastery goals, teachers convey the belief that greater effort will lead to better outcomes. Mastery-oriented environments encourage students to set standards for their own performance, to view the development of new skills as a necessary outcome of learning tasks, and to accept, and persist in, challenging learning situations. By contrast, in environments highlighting performance goals, students often perceive trying hard as indicative of a lack of ability. Performance-oriented environments define success relative to others' performance and often discourage students from taking on challenging achievement experiences (See Pintrich and Schunk, 2002, for a review of relevant studies). Because students are so concerned with "looking smart," in such environments, they often avoid seeking help and may even avoid academic tasks that are too challenging. These behaviors can result in academic struggles and may eventually lead students to drop out of secondary classrooms (Kumar, Gheen, & Kaplan, 2002).
In a recent investigation of high school students' perceptions about achievement goals, students reported that teachers used practices that conveyed performance goals more...