The classroom should be a safe place for making mistakes. It should not promote an atmosphere that hails only what is correct. Because in the real world, whether we like it or not, we’ll make mistakes. We’ll fail. But what’s important is how we handle those mistakes and failures. The classroom should be an environment that will train us not how to avoid mistakes, but how to handle them gracefully.
The classroom should also be a place that respects and promotes individual differences. It should be an environment where students learn that it’s okay to have an opinion different from the opinion of everybody else. Because in the real world, it doesn’t matter what our stand is – what’s important is that we know why we are taking that stand, and that we know we can defend that stand to the very end.
And lastly, the classroom should be a place that recognizes the fact that the world is not black and white – there are gray areas. That the answer to a question is not always a solid yes or no – there will always be “buts”. That the best route is not always a straight line – there is learning in every curve and detour that we take. And that it’s not always the answer that matters, but the process by which we arrive at that answer.
Real life is a playing field that demands a lot from its players. Let the classroom serve as the training ground.
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