Ignorance is Knowledge

Here is an extract from a nice poem about teaching.

The magical thing
about teaching
is
that when one thing
doesn’t work
you get to
try something else!
There are no
failures
in the classroom,
just a series
of
exciting experiments
leading to
wisdom and knowledge.
Sometimes
the students learn
sometimes
the teacher learns.
Sometimes
students and teachers
learn together.

One of the weak points of my character is that I hate to make mistakes, and I hate to admit it when I make mistakes. I would prefer to imagine myself as perfect. Of course, this is inaccurate. It would be more realistic and less frustrating to accept my flaws.

Mistakes can be good things. Sometimes, we learn more from our mistakes than we learn from our successes.

Teaching can be an intimidating profession, if I fear making mistakes. On the other hand, teaching can be a great profession, because it is a rare profession that encourages mistakes, and encourages people to utilize their mistakes.

I heard a hockey commentator mention that the managers and coaches of the Detroit Red Wings, one of hockey's most successful teams, follow a philosophy that assumes players are bound to make mistakes. Detroit's players are not punished for making mistakes, they are supported when they do make mistakes, and they are encouraged to play an aggressive, risk-taking style of hockey.

Photo by libraryman.