I had never thought about learning in this way. I attended a very strict private school for 10 years of my life where I was taught that answers to questions are pretty much black and white. You are either right or you’re wrong. Basically the school trained you to get the highest ATAR possible, but they did not prepare you for anything else that comes after the final months of year 12.

This weeks reading by Argyris pushes for double loop learning. Instead of the classic “change your approach when things go wrong” technique that is so commonly taught in schools these days, Argyris proposes that we analyse our errors and question why things go wrong. It requires people to act inquisitively and learn from their mistakes. Find out why your mistake is actually a mistake.

The theory Argyris is presenting reminded me of Albert Einstein a lot, mainly just his quotes about education, success and failure. They both stress that making mistakes are important to learn, and not to be afraid of error.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”