Throughout the semester, my classmate and I have been exploring the wicked problem “Failure as a Learning Mode”. We began our process by asking a number of questions about the topic. We used Warren Berger’s book, A More Beautiful Question, as a guiding force for this part of the process. As we narrowed our focus, we created a survey to share with our professional learning networks to find how other educators viewed our problem. This helped lead us to the conclusion that many educators felt as though failure was very important, but their students were not prepared to fail and some of their current teaching habits did not allow room for failures. Using the information we gathered, supported by research and our own experiences, we came up with a few possible solutions to this problem. Of course, this wicked problem is very complicated and every teacher will have their own ideas regarding solutions.
We chose to focus in on two manageable starting points for teachers that are interested in embracing failure: creating a Growth Mindset culture & adjusting feedback processes in the classroom. Encouraging a growth mindset in my students has been a huge focus for me this year, and I am so glad that I have put the time into it. I have seen a change in all of my students when they come upon a challenge throughout the school day. The word “Yet” has been especially valuable because it is simple enough for the kids to understand and use with one another. It is also a quick way to change the negative “I can’t do this.” statements that would typically cause the student to shut down into a “I can’t do this yet.” conversation about what are the child is going to do to get to a place of understanding. One simple word opens a lot of doors for the kids! We also discuss the importance of changing teacher and student feedback to reflect this mindset shift. My students now use “Not Yet” writing checklists that encourage them to go back and add the missing part. Teacher praise should be directed at the effort students put forth rather than praising the end result or ‘natural talent’. This shows the kids that their teacher values the learning process not just getting a good final grade. These possible solutions may not “solve” our wicked problem, but I strongly believe they are two worthwhile avenues to explore. Changing attitudes towards failure is the first step to effectively using failure as a learning mode.
We have created a website that organizes the information we have uncovered while investigating our Wicked Problem. Click the image below to visit our website! Or copy and paste http://www.embracingfailure.weebly.com into your browser.
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