Why We Must Encourage Students to Fail

From https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/21/essay-importance-teaching-failure

It has been found that self-worth is directly related to avoiding failure, because failure causes a feeling of incompetence (Zakrzewski, 2013).  This is because many students perceive achievement or failure as a direct determinant of who they are and what they are capable of.  Students who fear failure most likely also fear taking risks, trying new things, being creative and gaining new perspectives (Tuggand, 2011).  As a result, they become unmotivated to participate in class and learn what is being taught.  This can obviously be detrimental to success in school, career and personal development.

One perspective that really made me think is that of Daniel Wong, author of bestseller The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success.  In his article "How Students Can Overcome Their Fear of Failure", he explains that "the fear of failure (...) stems from teachers" (Wong, n.d).  This was a very powerful statement as I would have never thought this to be true.  However, after further research, I have realized that teachers in fact have a huge impact on the way students feel about failure.  One teacher in particular stood out, who created a ingenious way to not only encourage students to make mistakes, but to feel good about them.  Edward Burger explains in his article "Teaching to Fail" that by giving out marks on 'quality of failure' and intentionally encouraging failure, he was able to deepen the learning and understanding of his students (Burger, 2012). 

One of Burger's main points is that it is most important to focus on the process of learning instead of the end grades (summative).  Mistakes must be viewed as "an indication of what still needs to be learned, not of failure" (Tuggand, 2011).  So, perhaps it is best to not focus so much on giving out marks but on providing as much effective feedback as possible, to encourage students to learn.  Burger's unique teaching strategy creates a positive atmosphere within the classroom allowing students to feel safe, while learning that failure is a necessary part of experiencing success (Burger, 2012).  In turn, students are more likely to participate in class and share their 'authentic ideas' as well as mistakes, allowing the teacher to correct any misunderstandings and students to improve in their learning (Burger, 2012).

For more information on how to provide effective feedback to students, read the article Giving Effective Feedback to Students. 

In what ways do you promote failure and mistakes in your classroom?