It’s the end of the school year and if your weeks were filled with kids who don’t care because “nothings graded now”. Or you heard “is this graded?” over and over again. included any of these questions:
You witnessed performance culture in action! Which sucks, because performance culture is poo for actual learning and psychological needs.

But with the right understanding, you can shift toward a classroom/school culture grounded in MASTERY—not just performance.

This blog post will break it down.

Performance Focus: The Proving Game

Students try to LOOK smart, over actually BEING smart.
They want the grade, the praise, the ranking.
And they avoid failure at all costs.

Why It Happens

• Traditional grading rewards top performance
  

• Test prep pressure

• Adults reinforce it: “You’re so smart,” “Best essay in class,” “Honor Roll only”
  

Short-Term Perks

• Students try hard—when the stakes are obvious
  

• High-achievers stay engaged
  

Long-Term Costs

• Less risk-taking
  

• Surface-level strategies (cramming, memorizing)
  

• Anxiety, perfectionism, disengagement when they can’t “win”
  

Mastery Focus: The Improving Mindset

Students are focused on learning over acknowledgement of performance.
They value process, feedback, and personal growth.

Why It Works

• Builds academic resilience
  

• Encourages flexible problem-solving
  

• Creates shared, safe learning culture
  

• Especially critical for ND students who often feel like school doesn’t work for them
  

How It Meets Student Needs (Based on Self-Determination Theory)

• Autonomy: “I own my learning.”
  

• Competence: “I can improve with effort.”
  

• Belonging: “We’re all growing here.”
  

So Why Do We Slide Back Into Performance Mode?

• The system is built around grades 🤷♀️(I said what I said)
  

• Habit (and stress) kicks in: “There’s a test next week!”

• Even praise can reinforce the wrong focus and our culture is VERY praise oriented
  

❌ “You’re so smart.” → Fixed ability (praise natural intelligence)
 ✅ “You worked hard on that.” → Growth mindset (praise effort and resilience)

The Shift: From Proving to Improving

Here’s how to do it—with tools that meet real needs:

1. Start With Needs

Ask: Does this task meet autonomy, competence, and relatedness?

Example: “You can explain your thinking by writing, recording, or illustrating.”

If you have the Neurodivergent Toolkit-read the Behavior and Needs Detective Ebook to fully understand how these needs influence motivation and regulation.

2. Set Growth Goals

“What did you learn from this?” > “What grade did you get?”
“How did your strategy evolve?” > “Did you finish first?”

 3. Use Feedback That Fuels

Make it actionable.
❌ “This isn’t good.”
✅ “Your intro is strong—let’s tighten the transitions.”

Try a 3-column feedback sheet:

• What You Did Well
  

• What to Try Next
  

• Your Plan to Improve
  

4. Normalize Mistakes

Run routines like “Fix-It Fridays” for revision and reflection.
Show them you revise too!!

5. Celebrate Progress, Not Rank

Start a class Wins Wall:

• “Tried a new strategy”
  

• “Revised after feedback”
  

• “Asked a brave question”
  

Final Thought: Motivation is Moldable

Students don’t show up wanting grades—they respond to the environment we create.

If the message is “Growth matters,” they’ll engage. If the message is “Perform or else,” they’ll shut down or explode 🤷♀️.

Let’s stop measuring who’s ahead—and start designing so every student moves forward.

Try this this week:

 ✅ Shift one routine to highlight growth
✅ Offer one meaningful student choice
✅ Revise one piece of feedback to focus on improvement

Need support? Grab the Neurodivergent Toolkit and it will walk you through the process of emphasizing mastery and meeting psychological needs! Get it HERE