Birching or getting back on track - how to deal with mistakes in a learning environment | Paul

Pointing out people’s mistakes is supposed to be conducive to learning, and is a mainstay of traditional education systems.
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​In British schools until the mid-twentieth century, you could expect to be punished for mistakes. Not just for breaking school rules, but for getting things wrong academically; for example, if you got facts, sums or vocabulary wrong when you were supposed to know them by now. In Dickensian times, the punishment might be a harsh beating.

There is value in noticing when students make mistakes within a curriculum, as the errors may indicate the current level of learning. These assessments function as border indicators and alert the teacher and student as to where to put their attention for what to learn next.

This is the ‘trial-and-error’ method, in which under controlled conditions, you have a go, then see if your answer is right or wrong, close or distant; and you adjust accordingly to get back on track.

For that purpose, there’s no need for the mistake to carry any negative emotional charge. And few would now argue it’s a valid moment to reach for the birch, create a source of shame, embarrassment or any other special mention.  

Instead, we can treat the errors lightly or gently; as an opportunity to have another go, to find a more accurate way of getting the problem solved, the phrase translated, or the facts right. 

The danger of these myths is that they encourage mistakes in the wrong contexts. And they blind us to the infinitely greater learning from getting things right. So let's learn to learn from success and getting things right.