Learning from Mistakes

I was listening to a TED Radio Hour podcast while travelling the 930km distance to my favourite place on Earth, the photo of which is the background image of this blog. The topic was about mistakes made by physicians. The mistake made by the speaker resulted in the death of a patient. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes. A physician would certainly want to learn quickly.

The TED speaker believed that it was important to speak publicly about mistakes, both from personal cathartic reason like that of a confessional and also so that others can learn from their mistakes.

I thought back over my thirty plus years of teaching and the many mistakes I have made. I do wonder what impact my mistakes have made on children’s lives. Thank God there have been no fatalities but maybe that is more luck than planning.

Darren was new to my class in about 1983. He didn’t talk a lot and didn’t have many friends but he was tough and took on any physical challenge with gusto. The obstacle course I designed was certainly challenging and included climbing through the shelter shed window and traverse hand over hand across the rafter and slide down the support pole. What I overlooked was the concrete floor. Darren was swinging across until he missed a hand hold and fell 3 metres landing flat on his side. He was so badly winded that I feared he had broken ribs. Had he hit his head he could have done serious injury.

I learnt to assess risk carefully.

I planned an exchange to Kangaroo Island and sought sponsorship from local businesses. Parents gave consent for students to go to neighbouring businesses with a letter of introduction from me and a prepared speech which had been rehearsed by the children.

All students were sent out in pairs and returned during the next hour with varying degrees of success – torches, cups, even cash donations. All students, apart from two returned in the allotted time. Nearly 2 hours later, and just before I called the Principal and then the police, the two boys returned very pleased with themselves carrying boxes of bounty. They had walked to businesses well over 4 kilometres away! To say I was relieved was an understatement.

This taught me duty of care. Any of the children could have been injured, knocked down by a car or even kidnapped. It was a lesson I was lucky to learn without mishap.

Another teacher and I were rehearsing for a musical production with 90 children after school. The students were predictably excited but as the time progressed a few children’s inappropriate behaviour became so disruptive that it began to derail the rehearsal for the other 60 children present. My response was one that I will never forget. Amongst all the noise, I told David, one of the boys mucking up, to “Play along with me”, pinned him up against the wall and yelled at him to stop. There was sudden silence and the kids fell into line. It achieved its aim… but at a cost. A group of children came to me to say how inappropriate my behaviour had been. I explained to them that it was a setup and that I was not being aggressive. What I did not know was that David never understood what I had said to him and therefore was very upset with the way I had treated him.

I learnt of the importance of always modelling appropriate behaviour. Regardless of whether it was a dramatic ruse, the perception is the reality. I inadvertently modelled that threat and violence was a solution to a problem. I did not model respect. I did not model an adult in control solving problems calmly.

Looking back, I can see how these mistakes helped me learn about myself and my responsibilities as a teacher and a role model. I would rather have learnt these lessons in a way that did not potentially put children at risk.

Perhaps others can learn from my mistakes rather than having to make their own. What can I learn from others’? Nothing if we don’t share.

Only make new mistakes!

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