Many readers probably believe that there is a natural opposition between something as structured as mastery learning and something as apparently unstructured as play. Block (1984) is one of the original advocates of mastery learning; but he is also a major advocate of play as a key component of effective learning.

We experience flow only when we perceive a match between the challenges posed by an activity and the skills we possess to meet those challenges.

 

Block argues that play and serious study are not necessarily contradictory. The movement to make education more businesslike, he says, may be misdirected, especially if it reduces the play-like elements in education. He focuses on the concept of flow, which refers to engagement in activities that are perceived as voluntary, exciting, and personally meaningful. People experiencing flow enjoy what they are doing and cease to worry about whether the activity will be productive and whether it will be rewarded. They tend to concentrate their attention on a limited stimulus field, forget personal problems, lose their sense of time and of themselves, feel competent and in control, and have a sense of harmony and union with their surroundings.

We experience flow only when we perceive a match between the challenges posed by an activity and the skills we possess to meet those challenges. If the skills exceed the challenges, then boredom results. If the challenges exceed our skills, then we experience worry or anxiety.

Block argues that a good system of mastery learning can turn education into a flow experience. Learners attempt to master clearly communicated objectives, which are matched to their own level of previous achievement. The objectives are challenging, but within reach. If students are allowed to approach these objectives within a framework of flow, they are likely to meet the objectives enjoyably and without resistance. In general, this means that the students should perform the activities voluntarily and that they should be of personal interest. Feedback should be frequent and concrete.

These ideas are still being developed by Block and his colleagues. (See Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1989)