Rethinking the Role of Mistakes in the Classroom

Creating a mistake-friendly classroom is a goal for many educators. We encourage students to use mistakes as part of the learning process and strive to help students learn from failure.  

But if we solely focus on students’ learning from mistakes, the potential for teacher growth is overlooked. An intriguing 2022 study of eighth- and ninth-grade math teachers highlights how student mistakes impact teacher perception and instruction. Although the teachers expressed the idea that errors were opportunities for learning, only one in three demonstrated this belief consistently (as illustrated over the 50 hours of classroom observations). 

The study motivated reflection on my own classroom experience, leading me to explore how I frame mistake-making, my perception of students who make mistakes, and my learnings along the way.  

Unpacking Your Own Views on Mistakes in general

Examining our views on mistakes is important for a number of reasons. It can shed light on the way we process, communicate, and make decisions related to mistake-making.   

Understand connotations. What connotations do the words mistake or error hold for you? 

On the one hand, I am drawn to the inspirational mantras highlighting the power of mistakes, such as “They who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” But I must be intentional in dedicating time and space to recognizing these discoveries. For instance, when a student misunderstood the need for citations, I saw this as an opportunity to increase plagiarism awareness (via educational links on the class resources page and online class announcements). I also began encouraging students to use their own words more in their written assignments—as a way to show a deeper understanding of the material instead of just repeating information or quotes from the textbook.   

On the other hand, I must also acknowledge counterproductive connotations. For example, I associate accident with the term mistake. When a student’s mistake is deemed “accidental,” it seems unintentional or random. This line of thinking inadvertently positions the student as helpless (with no ownership in causing or fixing the mistake) and the teacher as the savior. Awareness of this challenge is the first step in working toward shifting this perception and giving students ownership over the learning process.  

Gain a better sense of language. Feedback on mistakes shapes how students perceive the mistake and how they may perceive our help. Lately, I try to normalize errors via my feedback and often say things like “It may take a few readings or a few attempts to really get this concept.” I continue to search for creative ways to help students overcome the awkwardness of help-seeking in the face of mistakes. I’ve learned to avoid explicitly offering “help” in my outreach to students to minimize their feelings of embarrassment or shame. Instead, I ask, “When can we chat?” or say, “Review the grades online, and check in with me if something catches your attention.” 

Manage emotions around mistakes throughout the unit. Remember, students have emotional reactions to grades (excitement when they get all of the answers correct or hopelessness when they miss multiple questions even if they studied hard). When does communication about mistakes and how they make students feel occur in your classroom? Are the conversations early-lesson, mid-lesson or post-lesson? How much time is dedicated to mistakes? This data can help you think about how to be proactive about incorporating a mistake-friendly approach into lessons and supporting students through their emotions.

Investigating your own Perceptions of Student mistakes

When we value mistakes, it is important for our learning environment to cultivate skills and attitudes that reflect that openness in learners. Here are a few ideas to facilitate that.  

I admire when a student is proactive and seeks help early in the lesson, as opposed to waiting for the day before the exam. When they get stuck, I love when a student maintains academic confidence (or when we set the checkpoints for confidence to grow). It is powerful when students think about their own mistakes and can speak to the type of mistake and what may have contributed to the mistake. This allows students to take more ownership in the learning process. For students more reluctant to make mistakes, I am still toying with ideas to make risk-taking less scary and perfectionism less attractive.

Once you identify the skills you want students to demonstrate, the tricky part is finding ways to develop the qualities in students. It takes time and patience, but talking with colleagues, trial and error, and professional development can all help.  

Acknowledge initial assumptions. It only takes a moment to label work as careless or lazy. Instead of succumbing to confirmation bias, work to remain neutral. Then you can work to gain a better understanding of the students’ needs.  

Consider consistency for expectations. Are we holding all students to the same standards when assessing mistakes? Unfortunately, research shows that some students are graded more harshly (due to ethnicity bias), and some are given more opportunities for re-grading (due to gender bias). Utilize assessment tools that eliminate or decrease grading bias such as anonymous grading.  

Acknowledge your own heightened emotions. We may feel a sense of sympathy or empathy when students with specific circumstances make a mistake (students with exceptionalities, students with socioeconomic needs, etc.). Monitor how this shows up in the classroom. Do we encourage these students more than others? Do we extend more second chances (with revisions and make-up assignments)? Are we more likely to round their grade up? As an academic adviser, I often speak with students about course placement and try to stay mindful of which students I nudge to withdraw versus which students I explore options for remaining in classes.

Similarly, when offering placement recommendations (Advanced Placement or Gifted and Talented programs), we must check in with ourselves to monitor which students are included and which are shut out. To help strike a balance between my feelings and actions, I find consulting with colleagues and administrators helpful. Adopting systems (checklists and rubrics) has been useful as well. 

Making space to monitor our judgments and feelings is necessary in investigating how mistakes impact our classroom. Examining the meanings we attribute to mistakes and how mistakes impact our view of students provides the foundation needed to move closer to our goal: building a more mistake-friendly classroom culture.