I really don’t get this attitude. I’ve taught many classes, and making mistakes is just part of teaching. Unless you’re just reading from a textbook (and even those can be wrong), you’re going to make some mistakes. I’m a human being; sometimes I’m going to get stuff wrong. I try to minimize the errors, and it’s not like I’m teaching subjects I’m unqualified to teach. But to err is human. Maybe it’s different because I’ve taught undergrad students rather than K12, but IDK. I just really don’t get the attitude of an educator that feels they need to conjure up an aura of unerring perfection.
if I make a mistake in some derivation, I’ll just admit it, usually with some self-deprecating humor. A few things I’ve said to address it when it happens:
“Whoops! Guess the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet!”
“Whelp, contrary to popular opinion, I am not infallible!”
“Well, I’m clearly not infallible, guess I’ll never be pope!”
<Delivered with obvious sarcasm.> "No, you see, that was intentional! i was just testing you to see if you would notice my error! Obviously it can’t be that I made a mistake!’
“Whelp, as you can plainly see, I am clearly drunk!”
I’ve said all these and other things in front of entire classrooms of students. I don’t make mistakes often. But if you teach enough, it does happen. And it’s always a bit annoying to the students, as they have to back up, maybe correct their notes, etc. And I try to lighten that annoyance with some levity. So I try to make my lectures as correct as possible. But when mistakes do happen, i just try not to make a big deal about them, I dismiss them with some light humor.
Honestly, I’m glad I make mistakes. I wouldn’t want to teach if I didn’t. Part of teaching is making students feel confident that they have the ability to wrap their heads around concepts that may be very challenging. And if even the instructor can make mistakes? Well then students hopefully won’t feel so frustrated and demoralized about the ones they make.
It’s a fine line to walk while teaching. On the one hand, you want to be an authoritative source of knowledge on whatever topic you’re teaching. On the other, you need to be human. And part of that is not trying to portray yourself as some infallible god. Because ultimately that’s not what you are. And kids are clever and perceptive; they can see through your bullshit. If you make a mistake and try to cover it up, they will see through it, and they will lose respect for you. Aside from a few reprobates, most kids have enough emotional intelligence to realize that ultimately you’re just a human being trying to do your best, and that some errors are inevitable. Students are perfectly willing to forgive imperfection. They’re far less willing to forgive dishonesty.
These teachers are just teaching from the same cloth they were taught from.
The teacher is always right.
If the teacher is wrong, refer back to rule number one.
The teaching goals in this system are to teach obedience, not information. It’s highly useful when training the next generation of factory workers, not thinking individuals. The teachers are teaching a mindset.
And it varies from school to school, locale to locale. It depends on what the admin views as productive and necessary, almost like a culture in a sense, and is the difference between an inner city school vs a private elite school.
I really don’t get this attitude. I’ve taught many classes, and making mistakes is just part of teaching. Unless you’re just reading from a textbook (and even those can be wrong), you’re going to make some mistakes. I’m a human being; sometimes I’m going to get stuff wrong. I try to minimize the errors, and it’s not like I’m teaching subjects I’m unqualified to teach. But to err is human. Maybe it’s different because I’ve taught undergrad students rather than K12, but IDK. I just really don’t get the attitude of an educator that feels they need to conjure up an aura of unerring perfection.
if I make a mistake in some derivation, I’ll just admit it, usually with some self-deprecating humor. A few things I’ve said to address it when it happens:
“Whoops! Guess the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet!”
“Whelp, contrary to popular opinion, I am not infallible!”
“Well, I’m clearly not infallible, guess I’ll never be pope!”
<Delivered with obvious sarcasm.> "No, you see, that was intentional! i was just testing you to see if you would notice my error! Obviously it can’t be that I made a mistake!’
“Whelp, as you can plainly see, I am clearly drunk!”
I’ve said all these and other things in front of entire classrooms of students. I don’t make mistakes often. But if you teach enough, it does happen. And it’s always a bit annoying to the students, as they have to back up, maybe correct their notes, etc. And I try to lighten that annoyance with some levity. So I try to make my lectures as correct as possible. But when mistakes do happen, i just try not to make a big deal about them, I dismiss them with some light humor.
Honestly, I’m glad I make mistakes. I wouldn’t want to teach if I didn’t. Part of teaching is making students feel confident that they have the ability to wrap their heads around concepts that may be very challenging. And if even the instructor can make mistakes? Well then students hopefully won’t feel so frustrated and demoralized about the ones they make.
It’s a fine line to walk while teaching. On the one hand, you want to be an authoritative source of knowledge on whatever topic you’re teaching. On the other, you need to be human. And part of that is not trying to portray yourself as some infallible god. Because ultimately that’s not what you are. And kids are clever and perceptive; they can see through your bullshit. If you make a mistake and try to cover it up, they will see through it, and they will lose respect for you. Aside from a few reprobates, most kids have enough emotional intelligence to realize that ultimately you’re just a human being trying to do your best, and that some errors are inevitable. Students are perfectly willing to forgive imperfection. They’re far less willing to forgive dishonesty.
These teachers are just teaching from the same cloth they were taught from.
The teaching goals in this system are to teach obedience, not information. It’s highly useful when training the next generation of factory workers, not thinking individuals. The teachers are teaching a mindset.
And it varies from school to school, locale to locale. It depends on what the admin views as productive and necessary, almost like a culture in a sense, and is the difference between an inner city school vs a private elite school.