The Power of Failure

It isn't often that a Head of School writes about failure. Driven by the need to promote our schools, programs, and students, we instead often subscribe to the idea that the only things worth sharing are our successes. Whether it be test scores, college admissions, or community acclaim and awards, a casual viewer of all of this self-promotion would wonder if anything less than absolutely positive or successful ever occurs on our campuses. In fact, I would argue the exact opposite is true.

Good schools do their best work when failures are both tolerated and touted. Not the type of failures where the school's mission has not been fulfilled, or certainly not the type of individual behavioral or normative failures common to the life of every child. The type of failures I am most concerned about are those that happen dozens, if not hundreds of times each day in every classroom. These failures occur when a student does not know the answer to question, is unable to adequately understand a concept, or perhaps simply is incorrect.

Too often today, the rote memorization of simple facts and theorems encapsulated in a multiple choice or other simplistic testing method are the rule of thumb. Frequently assigned a simple numeric or percentage grade, real understanding is quickly forgotten in the race to the next chapter or level. More ominously, with the recent cutbacks in school funding and the resultant larger class sizes in a growing number of schools, such "one size fits all" methods of testing are proliferating. Add to this mix the need to meet individual state standards and the drive for a similar set at the national level, and the stage is set for more quantity than quality. Sadly, as a result, more class time may be spent in test preparation than in actual teaching and learning. 

Authentic learning lies not in the scoring details of how many answers were right and how many wrong - whatever the method of assessment. Rather, the best learning experiences arise out of the discovery that takes place when the student is asked about why something is incorrect or not quite on the mark. Good teaching takes place not only to point out the flaw, but to understand both the student's approach to the problem, as well as how and why the answer may differ from common expectations. It is in these "failures", that real learning for both student and teacher takes place.

Good schools cultivate and encourage an atmosphere where failure is seen as a natural, if not vital part of the learning process. In this scenario, students are not simply left to their own devices in their own wrong answers while the rest of the class moves on. The expectation is school wide that failures are to be expected, discussed, and ultimately learned from for maximum benefit.

History is full of examples where men and women alike have floundered at some point in their careers or chosen path, and yet the best have picked themselves up from their setbacks and defeats, learned everything there was to know about the "why" of the occurrence, and moved forward to even greater successes. Albert Einstein's "F" in grade school math, and Steve Jobs' roller coaster ride at Apple are just two examples of this ability to learn from failure.

Imagine what it would be like if we were taught throughout our school-age years, that there really was no such thing as failure - only more opportunities to learn. If getting the wrong answer was viewed as an opportunity for growth, rather than a badge of placement designed to satisfy funding or recognition requirements of an outside agency.

In other words, where the power to fail unlocks the power to learn. In short, I would imagine it would look a great deal like the Global School . . .