ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

I agree that school does not teach children that failure is a part of life. When children participate in sports events, everybody is given a token gift as participant, even if they did not finish the race or were at the bottom. At least in this area, we should teach children that not everybody is at the top and that is okay. You don't get anything for participating - your reward is that you tried your best. If this begins right at a young age, children learn to accept failure as a part of life. They will not hopefully commit suicide because they did not get the 100% that they wished to achieve. Small failures teach us to get used to this concept and we will learn that we cannot be the best at everything.

I strongly support the statement of making friends with failure. Failure is associated with negativity and the only way to learn is through repetition. Try and try again until you fully get it and every individual is different in how they get it. I support the montessori philosophy of learning which is manipulating concepts independently and eliminating competition. Supporting each other through the learning process not only invites all to learn but also encourages cooperation. F(failure is our friend)A(always believe in yourself,(I)I can succeed,L(learning is fun)U(unite all people),R(remember we are different,E(everyone is important).

While I totally agree with this view, it will not happen in schools until we radically change how we evaluate students, and how we make schools and teachers "accountable". Standardized assessments are built around the concept of the right answer. It's interesting to note that Einstein had a friend of his tutor him before each math test that he was required to take. He also dropped out of a school that rigidly focused on "accountability": tests.

Another analogy is baseball--a .300 batting average is considered very successful. but it means that you only hit the ball safely once out of every three times. More misses than hits!