Finland Math is a collection of tools and methods that aim to develop students’ 21st-century skills. It is the best that Finland education has to offer. We think of this as ‘future-proofing’ so that our learning fits with what’s to come. An aspect of 21st century learning is to make mistakes and learn from them without shame or fear. This is also a vital component of growth mindset.
Consider the following scenario as a teacher or parent: Your student or child has just scored full marks on their math test. A natural response could be all or one of the following comments. “Wow! Everything correct — well done, you’re so smart! You’ve definitely got the math gene! I’m so proud of you! Keep up the good work!
Most of us (especially parents) would naturally react like this. However, something is missing from the style of communication above. There’s no room for mistakes and it doesn’t promote a growth mindset.
Children with a fixed mindset want to be perfect and look good on the outside. They think performance and achievement are a way to show how skilful and talented they are. They might even avoid some tasks because they are afraid of failure. A typical mindset for a fixed mindset person is that if there is a chance of failure and one’s reputation could suffer — it’s not even worth trying.
A person who possesses a growth mindset wants to continuously try and learn new things. The central issue is not whether they feel smart or gifted in certain areas, but how they approach new things and learn. ‘Growth mindseters’ believe that capability can be continuously developed by hard work and solution based learning. This mindset also allows for mistakes, as an excellent way to develop further.
Mistakes are important! We need to start becoming comfortable with them. As educators and parents, how do we create environments where mistakes are allowed?
4 Tips to Help Make Mistakes Magical Rather than Shameful
1. Check your own mindset
Young people learn mindsets and behaviour models from us. At first, it’s worth thinking about what kind of attitude and mindset do you reflect?
Good questions for developing your own mindset are:
In which areas have I developed over the years?
When did I leave something undone, because I was afraid of damaging my ego?
What mistakes did I make last week and what did I learn from them?
Does my home and work environment allow me to experiment and make mistakes?
2. Move from problem-focused to success-focused thinking
A good way to support our students (and each other) is to develop success-focused thinking and feedback: Concentrate the focus on things that have gone well. The 80/20 rule is a good guide here.
3. Ask Learning Questions
What went well today?
What have you learned today?
What hasn’t been so nice today?
What kind of mistakes did you make today?
What did you learn from your mistakes today?
What did your mistakes teach you?
4. Favour feedback on effort rather than final results.
When you give feedback, try to give focus on the learning path, patience and resilience that was required for the task. Try not to label students as smart, intelligent or talented too often. (P.s. It’s Ok to praise outcomes, but try to keep it balanced with effort.)
Can you implement any of these top tips into your teaching or parenting practice today? Start small, it’s not an overnight switch. In our next blog, we’ll share more about tip no.4 and how to optimize your feedback in the classroom.
Until then, stay curious.
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Hey, did you know that we also have a podcast about Finnish Education Perspectives? All of our guests are the best experts in Finnish education. Listen to it through your preferred podcast channel here.
