Learning from mistakes

 by Olga LaPlante

Well, this is not an earth-shattering statement, although in the view of the current education policies and trends it might as well be.
This teacher doesn't say anything new, but why aren't more teachers embracing this idea and this approach? Granted, ditching your traditional views is difficult – and I am all for being careful about it too. Sifting through the methods and techniques will take time. But as I said, there is nothing earth-shattering in this story. It's just told well.
We all know – teachers or not – that this is how we learn, by doing. Yet, when you walk into a classroom, it often just flips the switch – and you often feel that half the time it's the learners who have already grown accustomed to a particular – lecture-type – style of doing school. So, you have to fight with them – sometimes – to have them start learning the way they are designed to learn. What's up with that?

On Making Mistakes

Persistence is a simple process:

1. What's the next step?
2. What's in the way of taking that step?
3. Remove, disregard, or ignore the obstacle.
4. Take the step
5. Go to #1

~ source unknown

At The Learning Curve, Kern Kelley speaks of working/playing with his young son on putting puzzles together. The question is: When do we assist versus allowing others to learn from their mistakes? Where do we strike the balance?

A related question might be: How do we grow life-long learners who are able to persevere in solving problems and feel empowered by this ability?

Related Post

Perseverance Resources at LIM Resources Wiki