On 5/24/16, Alice wrote:
> Hello teachers,
> I am doing a research project on risk taking linked with
creativity in the classroom.
>
> I'd love to hear from teachers their opinions and
strategies regarding fostering safe
> learning spaces and classroom cultures where ideas are
shared and students feel
> comfortable taking risks.
> How do you ensure mistakes are not stigmatised and a 'fear
of failure culture' does
> not develop?
>
> Looking forward to your response,
> Alice
Nowadays, I feel that our students are 'victims of
excellence' as there is so much emphasis placed by schools
and parents on the achievement of high marks that a child is
led to believe that errors made have no value. I strong feel
that it is a mistake not to use mistakes as learning tools in
our classrooms. If students are afraid of making mistakes, it
basically means that they are afraid of learning something
new, will stick to rigid routines and would rather prefer the
teacher to spoon-feed that 'answers'. Thus, their higher
order thinking skills, which have a direct correlation with
their problem solving and reasoning skills do not get
developed effectively. Strategies such as the 'no hands
strategy' and traffic lights signals can be productive in
eliciting more active participation from students as it
lowers the fear of failure.
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