Page 33 - International Journal of Process Educaiton (Special Issue)

Table 1 Components of Performance with a Performance Example of Birdwatching

Component Definition

Identity As individuals mature in a discipline, they take on the shared identity of the professional
community while elevating their own uniqueness.

example While a birdwatcher may start by wearing certain clothes and carrying a camera, binoculars,
and a notebook, taking on the shared identity of a birdwatcher might include joining a club,
‘birding’ with others, etc. The identity is as a ‘birder’ or ‘birdwatcher.’

Learning Skills Specific actions/abilities that are transferable across contexts and allow individuals to improve
their mastery of subject matter

example Learning Skills for bird watching would include:

cognitive: observing, recording, predicting, categorizing, searching, validating completeness,
strategizing, selecting tools, identifying missing knowledge

social: illustrating, sharing knowledge, belonging, collaborating, planning, documenting,
valuing communities

affective: being curious, being active, persisting, responding to failure, managing resources,
being self-disciplined, preparing, trusting self, valuing nature, being patient

Knowledge Knowledge involves facts, information, concepts, theories, or principles acquired by a person
or group through experience or education.

example Learning types of birds in an area, their habits, how to identify them, interpret behavior, etc.,
are all potential aspects of birding knowledge.

Context This component includes variables associated with the situation in which the individual or
organization performs.

example While one might perform bird watching alone, one might also perform bird watching in the
context of a group outing or as part of a club. Bird watching in a wetlands environment is also
a different context from bird watching in a forest or desert.

Personal Factors This component includes variables associated with the personal situation of an individual.

example If a birdwatcher has limited funds, travel to exotic environments would be prohibited. Perhaps
a birder lives in a region with a smaller assortment of bird types or is unavailable to go bird
watching during the morning hours, when many birds are active.

Fixed Factors This component includes variables unique to an individual that cannot be altered.

example If a birdwatcher is deaf, for example, he or she cannot use birdsong or calls to help identify
birds and must rely purely on visual cues or input from others.

forms of knowledge. Horton helpfully speaks to personal & Hurley Lawrence, 2009) a text aimed at students;
factors, the vast majority of which are personal rather than Chapter 1 is titled, “Improving Performance.” It gives
fixed, in Identifying At-risk Factors that Affect College students the opportunity to dissect the performance of a
Student Success (2015). Put in terms of performance, model student, working with each of the components of
Horton identifies personal factors that can jeopardize the that student’s performance, as they learn to appreciate
successful performance of college students. their own performances as students. Once they can
identify the components of performance, they can begin
While the goal of educators is to help students improve their to target those components and improve their overall
educational performance, Process Education recommends performance. Beyond this direct engagement with the
shifting ownership of learning to the learner. For this learner, the design of Foundations of Learning also uses
reason both the Theory of Performance and Performance the Performance Model as a guide for the development of
Model are included in Foundations of Learning (Redfield each chapter. The chapter begins with a description of the

International Journal of Process Education (February 2016, Volume 8 Issue 1) 31