The Power of Our Mistakes

Often when we make a mistake our heart sinks and we think it means we are 'rubbish' at something but research suggests we should be treating those "Doh!" moments differently. Mistakes are inevitable when we are tackling a new skill and in fact we learn more when we make them.

My dad is fond of the phrase "He who never made a mistake - never made anything" and this is so true. If we want to make things or learn things then we have to be prepared to make mistakes and celebrate them.

When we make a mistake it fires off many more connections in our brains than when we get something right which means the learning is hard wired more successfully. As long as we recognise that we have made a mistake, or someone is there to show us our mistake and how to correct it, then getting it 'wrong' will teach us far more than getting it 'right'.

With maths people often assume that if they don't get 10/10 when answering questions then they are "rubbish at maths" but in fact real maths is all about learning from our mistakes and having another go. Working mathematicians, at the boundaries of new mathematics, spend much of their time doing maths that 'doesn't work'. They make mistakes everyday and learn new things about how maths and the universe work.

Of course we want to get things right in that important exam but we should celebrate the mistakes we make during the learning process. For a teacher they can give insight into the learner's thinking processes and misconceptions whilst for the learner they are the clearest signal that learning and progress are taking place.

#Advice