Education & Opportunity

In my newspaper column for April 24, 2008, I discuss an embarrassing moment on the salsa dance floor and what it teaches us about how to make smarter, faster, and even intentional mistakes.

What I didn't have space to mention in the column is the importance of MAKING MISTAKES MORE FUN.

Here's why: Educational researchers have demonstrated that most people organize their learning around the social communities to which they belong. The most powerful learning environments, therefore, are those in which the social dynamics of the community supports the learning process and the shared experience of learning together enhances the opportunities for group socializing.

More simply said: Because learning is largely a social exercise, if you are able to develop friendships with those in your classes, you will likely learn much more effectively.

So if you are making mistakes regularly in the name of learning, why not make the process more enjoyable by laughing over your blunders--even celebrating them--with classmates? I know from my beginning salsa class that making mistakes together can be a fun bonding experience.

On a related note, although I’m still far from a salsa sensation, I didn’t hesitate to ask that same woman from the club to dance when I saw her a few weeks later. After I managed to string together a few moves while deftly avoiding her endangered toes, she surprisingly flashed me the universal facial expression for “not too shabby.”