Reflection- Mistakes and learning

What is the relationship between mistakes and learning?
I think that mistakes are a crucial aspect to the learning process. I also think that mistakes are not seen by many people as an important part of learning. Recently we made a big mistake in how we used the pod computers at school, this mistake has stimulated a lot of really indepth discussions and questions about how we need to become more responsible as a team.

It has reinforced to me the need to recognise and support mistakes as they happen, and then the importance of what we do AFTER the mistake. It has also reinforced to me the importance of trying to avoid making some mistakes- for example ones that really affects others.

The laptop experience has been, and is continuing to be, an awesome learning experience. The things that are happening as a result are natural inquiry.

I try really hard to use the mistakes I make to help myself improve for next time, but sometimes I tend to worry too much about the mistake itself. An example of this is how I felt about us breaking the two laptops last week- I spent too much energy stressing about the actual event rather than looking for ways to problem solve. The next step in my learning is to first understand when I'm worrying too much, and second to act differently when I realise I'm worrying.

I found this article about mistakes, learning and maturing which might be worth reading...

Mr Clarke