What makes incorporating failure as a learning mode in education such a wicked problem is the stigma that society puts on failure. The word “failure” has a bad connotation in society, especially in education. Society views successful people as winners, and everyone wants to be one of those people (Williams, 2013). As children, we are indoctrinated to succeed, win, make the highest grades possible, and shoot for the stars. Teachers fear failure because this means their instruction may not be effective. Administrators see failure as a bad reflection on the school/institution. Parents fear that if their child(ren) fail, they will not succeed in life. As you can see, there are many different views.
What society does not understand is that failure is often a part of success and is inevitable. However, the educational system does not know how to use failure to promote success in learning. David Kelly says, “If you keep making the same mistakes again and again, you aren’t learning anything. If you keep making new and different mistakes, that means you are doing new things and learning” (Berger, p. 124, 2014). So how can we get society on board with introducing failure as a learning mode in education?
In my graduate program, I researched how using failure to promote success in learning is a wicked problem in education and discovered that there are several different perspectives on how failure is viewed in society. So what is the problem? Is it society’s perception of failure that hinders us, is it the consequences of failure, or is that effort is so difficult to assess? How about all of the above? These three questions helped me frame the problem and define goals for determining a realistic approach to its solution.
I designed an infographic that displays my overall understanding of how wicked of a problem failure as a learning mode for success in education truly is. It shows how failure affects all parties involved; however, is essential for success.
References
Berger, W. (2014). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. Bloomsbury Publishin Plc.
Williams, G. M. (2013, Sep 8). Hubpages. Retrieved from The Second “F” Word-Why is Failure Such a Negative Thing in This Society?: https://hubpages.com/education/The-Second-F-Word-Why-is-Failure-Such-a-Negative-Thing-in-This-Society
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