Many students come to math tutoring with an ingrained fear of making mistakes. They’ve internalised the idea that mathematical ability is fixed and that errors reflect a lack of talent rather than part of the learning process. I’ve noticed that deliberately creating safe spaces for students to work through problems incorrectly can transform their relationship with mathematics.
When a student attempts a problem and reaches an incorrect conclusion, rather than immediately pointing out the error, I’ve found it valuable to suggest exploring their thinking. By walking through their reasoning step-by-step, students often discover their own mistakes. More importantly, this process helps them understand why they made those mistakes and how their thinking evolved. The key is maintaining genuine curiosity about their problem-solving approach, treating their incorrect solutions as valuable windows into their understanding rather than failures to be corrected.
This approach does more than just help students learn from mistakes – it fundamentally shifts their perception of what mathematical thinking entails. They begin to see that even incorrect approaches contain valuable insights and that the process of analyzing errors deepens their understanding. Students who initially apologized for every mistake gradually become more willing to take risks, share incomplete thoughts, and engage in mathematical exploration.
The most rewarding moments come when students who once feared being wrong begin to say things like “I think I made a mistake here, but I understand my struggle; could you aid me in that step?” This shift from avoiding errors to embracing them as learning opportunities marks a crucial transformation in their mathematical journey and often leads to accelerated progress in their understanding.
Thea Macarthur-Lassen
