Lean in education: Mistake-proofing methods used by teachers at a magnet high school.

Abstract

High school teachers, like most people, make mistakes on a regular basis, but they have also developed mistake-proofing methods to negate the impact of these errors. There is currently no published research in the field of identifying common mistakes and employing mistake-proofing techniques among teachers in a high school environment. A qualitative, descriptive study describes the most common mistakes made by teachers at a magnet high school in the metro-Atlanta area as well as the mistake-proofing methods used to mitigate these mistakes. An online survey was distributed to all faculty at the high school and 30 responses were received within the four-week deadline. The most common error reported related to the grading of assignments. Teachers also struggled with personal time management, as well as classroom time management. Results indicate six common types of mistakes and their respective mistake-proofing methods that are discussed in this paper.