Title: The Value of Mistakes in Learning Process

A very good morning to our principal Pn. Dayang Laila binti Hj. Kahar, PK1 En. Atoh ak Lu, PK
HEM En. Martin bin Kijan, PK KK En. Paran Ulai and beloved teachers. Ladies and gentleman, today I
am going to talk about “The Value of Mistakes in Learning Process”.

Before I begin, I would like to share with you a story which has happened to me last week.
As you already know, I am one of the interim teachers assigned to this school where almost 80% of
its students and community is made up of Ibanese. I have to remind you that I am not an Ibanese.
Last Sunday, I went to church where the mass was conducted in Iban language. Naturally, it occurred
to me that I have to learn and master Iban language if I want to be part of this community. So I
began to practise speaking in Iban language with my friends and some of the teachers.

Unfortunately, one of my friend cannot accept the fact that I am trying to communicate in
Iban language only because we used Sarawak Malay all these times. In addition, sometimes I made
mistakes when I use Iban language. For example, using the wrong sentences structure or wrong
terms. Now I would like to ask you a simple question. Is it wrong to make mistakes?

People in professional profession like doctors, engineers, teachers, lecturers and others are
expected to be free of errors. Administrators, parents and even other co-workers judge them very
negatively for making mistakes. However, we must not forget that making mistakes is part of the
learning process.

These are some reasons why mistakes are important to achieve engagement and learning.

 We live in an era where we are a bit afraid to let children fail. But allowing age-appropriate
mistakes can increase confidence and problem solving skills. It helps them develop a
stronger sense of self.
 Besides that, mistakes are the basis of the application. They allow for experimentation.
 Furthermore, if we don’t allow students to fail in the classroom, we are setting them
up for failure in the real world. If we see knowledge as just enough to “pass a course”, then
we miss the point of learning.
 Last but not least, taking time to engage in mistakes actually allows students to move
to a deeper level of understanding. Mistakes are costly in time where it is limited in
classrooms. But if we see learning as a continuum based on the individual, rather than set
principles we must achieve, thus it breaks down this reasoning.

To conclude my speech, I’d like to emphasize that making mistakes is part of the learning process.
It is better for a person to learn from their mistakes and cope with failure as well as success. I would
like to end my speech with a quote from Ludwig Wittgenstein; ‘If people did not do silly things,
nothing intelligent would ever get done’. Thank you.