Rethinking Failure

Kelly Adsit
Michigan State University

Adsit 2

One aspect of real society that our classrooms are missing is failure. There is a
place for failure in our classrooms that can enhance each students proficiency and
skills. Without presenting students with a safe and recoverable opportunity to fail,
they will have difficulty when dealing with failure and how to learn from it. Vicki
Zakrzewski presents how failure can negatively affect students when they are not
taught how to deal with it and learn, If a person doesnt believe he or she has the
ability to succeedor if repeated failures diminish that beliefthen that person will
begin, consciously or not, to engage in practices or make excuses in order to preserve
his or her self-worth both in his or her own eyes and in the eyes of others. The more
intense the effort behind the failure, the more important the excuses or defense
mechanisms become. (Zakrzewski, 2013) When integrating failure into classrooms
we should look to a few strategies that can offer a safe and productive environment to
understand how to learn from failure, these strategies include problem-based learning.
Problem-based learning provides a platform that can result in student failure,
but will also encourage students to understand their failures and then figure out how to
approach the problem in a smarter manner. Problem-based learning is an
instructional (and curricular) learner-centered approach that empowers learners to
conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to
develop a viable solution to a defined problem. (Savery, 2006, Pg. 1) In problembased learning, students are presented with a problem that they are to explore and
possibly solve. Through this students will possibly encounter success, failure, or

Adsit 3

failure leading to success. Problem-based instruction was effective when it came to

long-term retention and performance improvement. (Strobel and van Barneveld,
2009, Pg. 13) Through student exploring and attempting to solve, their performance
will continue to improve by learning from what is working and what is not. In
problem-based learning success is dependent upon learning, revising, and building
from failure. This is more realistic learning that will teach students how to take their
failing attempts and turn them into successful learning steps.
The 21 Century has made it imperative that schools teach students how to
st

utilize technology to serve their benefit and purpose. For all children there are
twenty-first-century skills that are, at least today, more often developed out of school
than in it. (Gee, 2013, Pg. 202) Gee states a real problem that faces our current
educational approach. Ignorance to recognize everything the 21 Century has brought
st

our societies and helping our students learn to tap into those skills and information is
choosing to leave our students with knowledge deficiencies in the future. (Gee, 2013,
Pg. 212) Problem-based learning gives students a prime opportunity to engage in 21

st

Century learning when using the abundance of web resources and information to bring
them closer to a solution.
The use of online resources is important to the process of problem-based
learning. Online resources can also help with communicating with others outside the
classroom, to access multiple viewpoints, manage group work, and help teachers give
and receive feedback to each other. (Ravitz and Blazevski, 2014 , Pg. 67) One way

Adsit 4

that has proven successful in classrooms is through the use of Google Docs. Google
Docs provides a platform for students to work together, giving feedback and alternate
perspectives. It also can give teachers live views of the progress each student is
making and to advise and comment on their work. Technology that allows for open
communication provides a great opportunity for students to learn and grow from each
other and their instructor in order to develop a solution to a problem. Approaching
problem-based learning without the consideration of online resources would be a
failure to introduce students to the wealth of information the web has to offer and to
restrict them from developing the necessary technological skills of the 21 Century. If
st

we want our future generations to think smarter, as James Paul Gee presents, we need
to incorporate ways for the students to develop the ability to think smarter once they
leave our doors.
In using failure in the classroom, students need to be taught how failure is not a
lack of self worth, but rather a challenge that needs to be faced with resilience. In
changing this thought process, students will be more willing to accept failure and
build from it with the support of their peers, parents, and teachers. Studies have
shown that students can be taught to attribute challenge to external factors that are
bumps in the road rather than limitations in their own level of ability. (U.S.
Department of Education, 2013, Pg. 24) The way we help students to reach the ability
to view failure in this perspective is through altering their mindset.

Adsit 5

Carol Dweck presents the idea of growth mindsets versus fixed mindsets.
Growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can
cultivate through your efforts. (Dweck, 2006, Pg. 7) In the fixed mindset you believe
your qualities are carved in stone. (Dweck, 2006, Pg. 6) Our society is stuck in a
fixed mindset, focused on the idea that one must always be right to be successful and
you are either smart or not. The idea of growth is not in our vocabulary of something
that we are capable of when it comes to academics. Changing the mindsets of
schools, students, and parents will help to facilitate the change in societys mindset of
academics and individual capabilities. If students can successfully change their
mindset, they will be able approach problem-based learning with the idea that they
will grow and learn through a series of failures before they will reach success. If a
growth mindset can develop, learning from failure will be seen as the new baseline for
success in schools and society.
Failure has become taboo in our society and it is puzzling as to why. Failure
can be one of the strongest most influential tools for learning. It has proven time and
time again to provide us with important inventions and ideas, like the light bulb and
penicillin. If we steer students away from the lessons from failure, how will they reach
the successes that will help advance our society and country into the 22 Century?
nd

Through problem-based learning we can change attitudes about what it means to fail
and how to deal with it. If we can successfully change this outlook, we will live in a
country of growth minded individuals instead of those fixed on what they can and

Adsit 6

cannot do. We need a population who believes in their ability to accomplish what
they can envision. With the pre-existing understanding that the road to
accomplishment is uneven and difficult, they can prove to be resilient and conquer
crucial goals.

Adsit 7

Bibliography
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random
House.
Gee, J. (2013). The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital
Learning. New York, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ravitz, J. , & Blazevski, J. (2014). Assessing the Role of Online Technologies in
Project-based Learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning,
8(1).
Savery, J. R. (2006). Overview of Problem-based Learning: Denitions and
Distinctions.Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1).
Strobel, J. , & van Barneveld, A. (2009). When is PBL More Effective? A Metasynthesis of Meta-analyses Comparing PBL to Conventional Classrooms.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 3(1).
U.S. Department of Education (2013, February 1). Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and
Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century. Retrieved June
28, 2015, from http://tech.ed.gov/files/2013/10/OET-Draft-Grit-Report-2-1713.pdf
Quinn, C. (2013, July 25). Research for Practitioners: Does Problem-based Learning
Work? Retrieved June 22, 2015, from
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1212/research-for-practitionersdoes-problem-based-learning-work
Zakrzewski, V. (2013, December 5). How to Help Kids Overcome Fear of Failure.
Retrieved June 22, 2015, from
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_kids_overcome_fear
_of_failure