SA PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE 1

Signature Assignment: Proposal for Change

Emily E. Pompa

Arizona State University: Mary Lou Fulton

SED 322: Classroom Leadership/Secondary Schools

Dr. Monica Eklund

November 28, 2021

SA PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE 2

Proposal for Change

All types of change come from one direct source that will start the thread of possibilities

that allow change to become a reality. In this case, the teacher is the key facilitator in ensuring

that students have a deeper understanding of what it means to make mistakes. The ideology that

learning is unsupported without error is pertinent to a student’s ability to come to a productive

struggle (NCTM, 2014). Such a struggle can cause frustration and folding under pressure, yet

conditioning their minds to see their mistakes as good can help students to conceptualize

mathematics in new ways (NCTM, 2014).

As a way of securing such beliefs within students, there is a large amount of support that

must come from all branches of the student’s life in and out of school (Joe, 2021). As teachers

are the main proponent of cultivating a culture of error, their support must be extended onto the

parents, as well as the school administration. The level of support that parents conceive when

their child is at home will aid in spreading the positivity needed to help students, as well as

administrators believe in learning from error (Vukovic, Roberts & Green Wright, 2013).

Utilizing a Direct Support System

As the teacher starts the notion of a productive struggle, they must also be the ones to

carry the idea on to the students, as well as their parents and the school as a whole. Seifried and

Wuttke (2010) believe that a teacher's capacity to properly evaluate and leverage mistake-making

in the classroom provides a foundation for building a strong support system. Furthermore,

Seifried and Wuttke (2010) concur that without such doings, there is no basis for a productive

struggle amongst students. Without such a foundation, there will be a lack in ability to

accumulate the proper support needed when learning mathematics.

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When successfully carrying out the implementation of a culture of error, students begin to

take the idea of learning from error home with them. When bringing this ideology home, parents

make a choice to support their child through the frustrations of making mistakes or they take

every opportunity to rescue them from struggle (NCTM, 2014). This is where the parents must

aid in relieving student frustration through learning, rather than rescuing (Vukovic, Roberts &

Green Wright, 2013). Tying the support from home into the support from the classroom can start

a visible incline in student success within mathematics and further bring administrative support

into the culture of error that is being cultivated (Curwin, 2014).

Combating Frustration

As mentioned previously, there is importance in the ways that students are delivered

content by means of a productive struggle. Without the elicitation of strong questions and

discussions when aiding students in making mistakes, there will be no learning that comes from

such errors (Shaughnessy et al., 2020). This reason alone calls for a teacher that is well versed in

identifying possible mistakes before they occur. Lemov (2015) supports this, given that they

discuss the importance of planning and how being prepared for possible error allows for better

questioning and guidance when error occurs.

Through proper planning and execution of a productive struggle amongst students,

teachers can provide new ways of thinking for students. The National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics (2014) believe this to be true as well, so long as the teacher can provide support,

rather than answers. A student cannot rely on the provision of answers, as it takes away from the

importance of working through a difficult problem (NCTM, 2014). Frustrations are to be

expected, yet embraced, as the reward of solving a difficult problem translates into great

problem-solving skills.
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Initiating a Strong Culture of Error

With all of these ideas taken into consideration, a strong culture of error can be

implemented in any classroom. The ability to expect struggle and frustrations is critical in the

support that students need in order to succeed from making mistakes. The anxieties that present

themselves amongst students within mathematics can be relieved given immense support in and

out of the classroom (Vukovic, Roberts & Green Wright, 2013). Encouraging determination

within a student’s mindset can allow them to push their limit on learning and reach new bounds

within mathematics. Embracing frustrations in learning mathematics makes way for the

possibility of taking strides towards a world where students can conceptualize mathematics in

ways that were once unimaginable.

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References

Curwin, R. (2014, October 28). It's a mistake not to use mistakes as part of the learning process.

Edutopia. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/use-mistakes-in-learning-process-richard-curwin.

Joe, N. (2021, July 15). Embrace mistake making in math. Teach. Learn. Grow. Retrieved

September 16, 2021, from

https://www.nwea.org/blog/2021/embrace-mistake-making-in-math/.

Lemov, D., & Atkins, N. (2015). Teach like a Champion 2.0: 62 techniques that put students on

the path to college (Second). Jossey-Bass.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2014). Principles to actions: Ensuring

mathematical success for all. NCTM.

Seifried, J., & Wuttke, E. (2010). Student errors: how teachers diagnose and respond to them.

Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 2(2), 147–162.

https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03546493

Shaughnessy, M., DeFino, R., Pfaff, E., & Blunk, M. (2020). I think I made a mistake: How do

prospective teachers elicit the thinking of a student who has made a mistake?

Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 24(4), 335–359.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-020-09461-5

Vukovic, R. K., Roberts, S. O., & Green Wright, L. (2013). From Parental Involvement to

Children’s Mathematical Performance: The Role of Mathematics Anxiety. Early

Education and Development, 24(4), 446–467.