The problem of failure
Students often find themselves closed off when provided with new, more difficult instruction, deeming it “too hard” before they try. This is because they are terrified of failure. Failure controls a person’s ability to learn. But why? Why are we so worried about failing? Everyone fails at things from the time they are born. Your first steps didn’t come without failure. How can we teach our students that those failed attempts are what lead them to their steps toward the future?
Failure could be defined in many ways. One definition could be simply this: being unsuccessful at something. There are always going to be things we aren't successful doing... so why does it bother us so much?
Because we have a "fear of failure" (Berger, 2014.)
In A More Beautiful Question Warren Berger references the writer Peter Sims's idea that "fear of failure has been drummed into us, starting early in life: 'your parents wanted you to achieve, achieve, achieve - in sports, the classroom, and scouting or work. Your teachers penalized you for having the 'wrong' answers'... and if anything it only got worse as you moved into the business world, where... 'modern industrial management is still predicated largely on mitigating risks and preventing errors'" (p. 200).
My favorite quote that I read was this from Regina Dugan's TED speech that Berger (2014) referenced: "fear of failure 'keeps us from attempting great things... and life gets dull. Amazing things stop happening.' But if you can get past that fear, Dugan said, 'Impossible things suddenly become possible'" (p. 200).
It reminds me of the Alice in Wonderland quote by Lewis Carroll:
Because we have a "fear of failure" (Berger, 2014.)
In A More Beautiful Question Warren Berger references the writer Peter Sims's idea that "fear of failure has been drummed into us, starting early in life: 'your parents wanted you to achieve, achieve, achieve - in sports, the classroom, and scouting or work. Your teachers penalized you for having the 'wrong' answers'... and if anything it only got worse as you moved into the business world, where... 'modern industrial management is still predicated largely on mitigating risks and preventing errors'" (p. 200).
My favorite quote that I read was this from Regina Dugan's TED speech that Berger (2014) referenced: "fear of failure 'keeps us from attempting great things... and life gets dull. Amazing things stop happening.' But if you can get past that fear, Dugan said, 'Impossible things suddenly become possible'" (p. 200).
It reminds me of the Alice in Wonderland quote by Lewis Carroll:
If we could all be a little more like Alice and believe in the impossible, and question things, perhaps fear would begin to have less control over our lives.
Berger tries to offer some solutions through Jonathan Fields to help readers "take action in the face of the reality that you might fail" therefore getting past the negative connotation that exists around failure.
In addition to these steps, as a teacher we are put in a very useful position. As teachers, we fail like anyone else. It's how we accept that failure and use it to learn in front of our students that will make all the difference. What if you don't fail in front of them? (Said no teacher ever... but ok! What if it never happens?) Share a time, or two or more, that you have had a failure. Share with them that you make mistakes, too. If we normalize failure, and add in our growth mindset ideals that we can learn from our failures and move on, then our students will learn to do the same!
Berger tries to offer some solutions through Jonathan Fields to help readers "take action in the face of the reality that you might fail" therefore getting past the negative connotation that exists around failure.
- "What if I fail - how will I recover?"
- "What if I do nothing?"
- "What if I succeed?"
In addition to these steps, as a teacher we are put in a very useful position. As teachers, we fail like anyone else. It's how we accept that failure and use it to learn in front of our students that will make all the difference. What if you don't fail in front of them? (Said no teacher ever... but ok! What if it never happens?) Share a time, or two or more, that you have had a failure. Share with them that you make mistakes, too. If we normalize failure, and add in our growth mindset ideals that we can learn from our failures and move on, then our students will learn to do the same!
Multimodal Presentation
After research and team collaboration we created this Multimodal presentation to illustrate our findings.
References:
Bauer, D. M. (2007). Another F Word: Failure in the Classroom. Pedagogy 7(2), 157-170. Duke University Press. Retrieved August 13, 2018, from Project MUSE database.
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Robinson, C. (2017, October). Growth mindset in the classroom. Science Scope, 41(2), 18+. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/apps/doc/A509163059/AONE?u=msu_main&sid=AONE&xid=86a47d08
Clipart References:
Congdon, Lisa. (2012, July 27). 365 Days of Handlettering: Day 207 [blog post]. Retreived from http://lisacongdon.com/blog/2012/07/365-days-of-hand-lettering-day-207/
Financial Samurai. (2015). Perpetual Failure: The Reason Why I Continue to Save So Much [blog post]. Retreived from https://www.financialsamurai.com/perpetual-failure-the-reason-why-i-continue-to-save-so-much/
Bauer, D. M. (2007). Another F Word: Failure in the Classroom. Pedagogy 7(2), 157-170. Duke University Press. Retrieved August 13, 2018, from Project MUSE database.
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Robinson, C. (2017, October). Growth mindset in the classroom. Science Scope, 41(2), 18+. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/apps/doc/A509163059/AONE?u=msu_main&sid=AONE&xid=86a47d08
Clipart References:
Congdon, Lisa. (2012, July 27). 365 Days of Handlettering: Day 207 [blog post]. Retreived from http://lisacongdon.com/blog/2012/07/365-days-of-hand-lettering-day-207/
Financial Samurai. (2015). Perpetual Failure: The Reason Why I Continue to Save So Much [blog post]. Retreived from https://www.financialsamurai.com/perpetual-failure-the-reason-why-i-continue-to-save-so-much/