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Errors: The “invisible” 800 pound gorilla blocking the road to learning

Aug 26th 2006

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Errors: The “invisible” 800 pound gorilla blocking the road to learning

Marion Blank, Ph.D.

Some teenagers were discussing the ways they handle questions in class that they cannot answer. With a smile, one boy said, “You know what I do? I raise my hand.” Seeing the surprise that his comment evoked, he elaborated, “It works. If the teacher doesn’t call on me, she thinks I know the answer. And if she does call on me, I say, ‘Excuse me. I didn’t hear the question.’ Of course, she repeats the question. But she never stays with the same student for two turns. So she calls on some other student and never realizes that I didn’t know the answer.”

This student, like most students, is attuned to one of the most harmful forces that exists in the teaching/learning setting. Ironically, it is a force that goes unrecognized by almost all teachers and parents. If teaching is to be successful, it is vital for adults to become aware of what is happening and how to mitigate its negative effects. This force is one we will call error dynamics.

The error dynamic involves much more than just making mistakes. Mistakes, in limited quantities, are a normal part of the learning process. But when mistakes begin to dominate that process, their meaning is different and pernicious. Then a multi-dimensional force takes hold that includes a sense of helplessness, the anxiety of being exposed and the repeated shame of making mistakes in front of others – including powerful authority figures and one’s peers

Responsible adults, of course, are keenly aware that something is awry. Their thinking, however, is directed almost exclusively on identifying skills within the child that might be problematic. That’s why children undergo extensive testing to determine if they have problems in attention, language, auditory processing, memory, spatial relations--to name only a few. Underlying all these varied explanations, however, is a single common factor– the child is making significant numbers of errors in meeting demands that adults have placed on them!

Strangely, though, the difficulties are never discussed in terms of error. Perhaps it seems more scientific to address the issues with clinical, somewhat esoteric, names. Or perhaps adults do not want to see the role they play in generating error. Or perhaps error is so obvious that it seems unnecessary to mention it. Regardless of the reason, error is rarely given the attention it merits. It is the invisible 800-pound gorilla who doggedly blocks the path to learning.

From the child’s perspective, the situation is quite different. Consciously or unconsciously, they know they are on dangerous turf. A few feisty souls, like the teenager at the start of this article, are emboldened to create ploys to deal with the error dynamic. For many others, however, the following comment summarizes what often happens.

School had been unremitting torment for him... The scars left by his school experiences reached down to his very soul. No amount of love or admiration ...ever totally erased his low self-esteem or the conviction that he was unable to learn. (Scheil, M. An Encyclopedia of Love, NY Picador 1999, p. 136).

It is not hard to see how children are so dramatically affected by this error dynamic. The potential embarrassment and shame of your peers seeing you fail can be unbearable. Think back to your experiences in the classroom when you did not know the answer and prayed the teacher would not call on you. Remarkably, that fear lingers on-- for years after our school days are distant memories. It’s why adults avoid sitting in the first row in a lecture hall—they want to make sure that just in case the speaker asks a question, they are not the ones who might be called on to answer.

Fear is not the only problem. Children who experience high rates of error see this as incontrovertible proof of their stupidity. Once that feeling takes hold, its grip is tenacious. The child’s self-esteem plummets, often never fully recovering.

Parents and teachers sense the children’s vulnerability and with the best of intentions, try to bolster their egos via compliments such as, “but you are really smart,” and “look at how many things you do well.” Unfortunately, the comments rarely achieve their intended effects. As one student put it, “If I were really smart, they wouldn’t have to keep assuring me of it.”

So what is to be done? How are we to dislodge the gorilla so that the path to learning is cleared? The answer rests with changing some of the ways we interact with children so that (a) the rate of error is reduced and (b) when errors do occur, they can be addressed more effectively.

The following three points provide a useful start.

1. Eliminate unnecessary questions.

To lessen error, we need to eliminate some of its sources. One of the simplest ways is to reduce the number of questions we ask of children. This suggestion may seem to run counter to the idea that questions are the way to get children to think. While questions can serve this purpose, it is also true that they are often overused. The end result is that conversations between adults and children are laced with abundance of superfluous questions—many of which unintentionally but systematically trigger the error dynamic.

Consider the question “What did you do in school today?” which many children hear upon returning home. The query is not aimed at getting children to think; rather it is clearly designed to start a friendly exchange about the day’s events. Frequently, that is not the way it works. As frustrated parents commonly report, the children close down, saying little or nothing.

The end result is often the opposite of what was intended. Ironically, given its purpose, the question can easily be eliminated. After all, it is offered as a greeting. That type of exchange can effectively be handled by replacing the question with a comment such as “You look great. I hope your day was as good as you look.” Comments have an enormous advantage. They free the child from having to come up with “the right answer.” With the pressure removed, there is a far greater likelihood of the children beginning to talk spontaneously about whatever they want to discuss. It’s a win-win situation with the children feeling relaxed, more confident, open and outgoing, and the parents feeling delighted.

2. Provide clear, concise feedback.

When we ask a question, we are not prepared for anything but a correct response. For example, to the question, “How much is 4 and 4?” we anticipate hearing “8.” When an answer such as “7” is offered, we are in a quandary.

Years of training have embedded in us the idea that it is ego-deflating to tell a child that an answer is not correct, and that the child must independently arrive at the correct answer. With these restrictions in place, there are not many options open. Typically, the only possibility is to follow up with additional questions such as “Do you think it is 7?” or “Do you want to try again?” or “How can it be 7?”

Not surprisingly, the questions rarely achieve their objective. The adult may have gone to great lengths to avoid the words “You are wrong,” but the children know that this is message. Had they been correct, the follow-up questions would never have been asked. Instead there would have been a comment such as “Right” or “Good work.” So the children recognize the questions for what they are—indirect ways of saying, “Change your answer.”

The problem is not in telling a child that an error has been made. There is really no way to avoid that message. The problem is in the way the message is conveyed. If it is done indirectly through a series of challenging questions, the difficulties only increase. By contrast, if the feedback is stated directly in a simple, neutral, non-judgmental manner such as “No, that’s not the answer,” the difficulties lessen significantly.

3. Demonstrate the path to success.

Human beings have a remarkable ability to learn by watching what others do and then copying the behavior. This process, termed modeling, is responsible for our learning an amazing array of skills. It’s why French children learn to speak French while our children learn to speak English. While modeling is common in everyday life, it is unfortunately not typically a major part of teaching.

Take, for example, a child who reads with a high rate of error. Typically, with each mistake, the child is stopped and told to “sound out the word.” This practice is so widespread that it seems the only thing to do. But as many a parent knows, it is slow and draining. And if used repeatedly, the reading is so slow and halting that it is impossible for the child to comprehend the meaning of what is being read. Through modeling, the situation can be dealt with in a very different manner. For example, a number of studies show that children’s reading improves considerably when they hear an adult reading a passage before they are asked to read it themselves.

A Final Note

Recognition of the error dynamic is an exciting enterprise with an enormous potential to enhance children’s learning. It will clearly take some time to devise all the techniques we need. After all, we have lived with the invisible gorilla for quite a while. But now that he is in our sights, it is not hard to envision him waddling off into the distance –opening the path to success to ways we can just begin to envision.

About the Author

Dr. Marion Blank, Ph.D. is the Director of the A Light on Literacy program at Columbia University. Dr. Blank has spent over 40 years studying how children learn to read. She has lectured extensively around the world, served as a consultant to government bureaus abroad, authored the widely used Preschool Language Assessment Instrument, developed an award-winning computer program that teaches reading, and written over sixty articles and six books on language and literacy. Her alternative method has helped thousands of children learn to read, and her latest book, The Reading Remedy, and her new reading system, Phonics Plus Five, makes the ideas behind her comprehensive program available to every parent. More information is available at www.phonicsplusfive.com.