Often in class or in an exam, making a mistake can be seen as detrimental by both students and parents. The goal is always to achieve correct answers, with full marks and exemplar answers. Of course, this is what everyone is striving for, but in my experience, often when people set the bar this high, and they just fall short of it, they neglect reflecting on their mistakes and where they actually fell short. I believe this is a massive fault of many students, as reflecting on mistakes is where improvement arises.

Sometimes a correct answer can be misleading. The student may have taken a shortcut in getting to their answer or potentially guessed due to a lack of understanding, and the question may not be given a second thought since the student got it correct. Whereas a mistake actually exposes a student’s thinking, revealing where confusion and gaps in understanding exist, and then revealing areas for improvement.

Mistakes ensure the student undergoes self-reflection, asking themselves why it happened and how they can fix it. This is extremely beneficial for the student in the long run, as they begin to fully grasp and understand a certain concept, developing a durable understanding. It improves the student’s problem-solving skills and reduces the likelihood of making the same mistake again in the future.

There is a significant amount of personal development that has to occur for students to come to terms with making mistakes from time to time. They have to accept that to improve, they will make mistakes and may have to come out of their comfort zone, rather than continuing to choose easier tasks that do not challenge them. Over time, this will build resilience and ultimately confidence.

The key thing with mistakes is that they only become valuable once a student reflects on them and understands where they went wrong. Without this process of reflection, it will be difficult to have continued improvement.

Hayden McCarthy