Learning and 'performance'

I was struck by this statement on page 28 of Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority...

a focus on learning can enhance performance, whereas a focus on performance can depress performance

This is, in fact, a quotation from Learning about learning enhances performance, a paper by Chris Watkins that you can access directly here.

There has been such a strong emphasis on results and performance in recent years that the focus of thinking in schools, colleges etc. has moved away from learning as such. Chris Watkins paper suggests that even those whose primary concern is educational  'performance' would do well to concentrate more on how we can promote real learning.